On saturday we spent the day with DHs family and I was having a conversation with my MIL and her best friend about stuff - it was good conversation and part way through my MIL mentioned that she felt I had barriers up against her, I don't let her get close to me or open myself up much.
It's true, I've got a big share of that good old british reserve, I don't open up easily to people, but with MIL I have tried in the past to be more open but it's very difficult because we have such different personalities.
I'll talk about stuff I do with the kids, the way I resolve problems and then she'll jump in and say how she would have resolved the problem but make it sound like her method is much better then mine and I should do things her way. And also I get the impression that my MIL has a vision of what kind of person she thinks I should be and I'm constantly falling short of that - (which doesn't bother me - I didn't give two hoots about my own parents expectations of me, nevermind somebody elses. )
My husband has confirmed my feelings, she's the same way with him - she's very set in her ways and believes that if we all followed her advice we'd all be in a better place - which maybe true but it maybe not.
Anyway, I'm wondering if I should tell her all this - in our conversation she said she wants a closer relationship with me so she kind of has opened the lines of communication in this.
Thoughts?
It's true, I've got a big share of that good old british reserve, I don't open up easily to people, but with MIL I have tried in the past to be more open but it's very difficult because we have such different personalities.
I'll talk about stuff I do with the kids, the way I resolve problems and then she'll jump in and say how she would have resolved the problem but make it sound like her method is much better then mine and I should do things her way. And also I get the impression that my MIL has a vision of what kind of person she thinks I should be and I'm constantly falling short of that - (which doesn't bother me - I didn't give two hoots about my own parents expectations of me, nevermind somebody elses. )
My husband has confirmed my feelings, she's the same way with him - she's very set in her ways and believes that if we all followed her advice we'd all be in a better place - which maybe true but it maybe not.
Anyway, I'm wondering if I should tell her all this - in our conversation she said she wants a closer relationship with me so she kind of has opened the lines of communication in this.
Thoughts?