A woman who decorated her granddaughter’s home “bright with all the colors of the rainbow,” made her daughter-in-law see red by calling her the “color Grinch” after she removed her mother-in-law’s garish Christmas décor.
Looking for some support on Reddit, the woman told users she’s shocked her son’s wife called her a “jerk,” which is minor considering online users are calling her an “entitled a*****e.”
Keep reading to learn why online users are fired up over this mother-in-law!
In early December, the woman, whose online handle “christmasgrinch” is very telling, explains on Reddit that her son married her daughter-in-law (DIL) while the two were still in college and had her granddaughter, Shelly who’s now six years old.
“Before this Christmas, they lived in an apartment and didn’t really decorate due to space. They would celebrate at my place and Shelly loves our tree. It’s basically very bright with all the colors of the rainbow.” The mother-in-law (MIL) continues, “This year I thought it would be different since they bought a home.”
Elaborating on her expectations, she says that over the summer, since she knows “decorations are expensive,” she bought some colorful Christmas ornaments for the young couple’s new home.
And she was eager to turn the place into Santa’s Village.
The author – who watches Shelly every Tuesday – arrived at the house to see an undecorated tree, surrounded by boxes filled with decorations.
“My son asked me to finish it if I wanted since both parents were busy with work and didn’t want the boxes to be out all week. So that’s what I did with Shelly, I put up every ornament that was out. Along with the ones I bought…Shelly loved it, and she spent a long time just looking at it.” She says, “there were a lot of dark colored ornaments,” suggesting those were the ones found in the boxes.
Redditors jumped in, reminding the author that “the son asked OP to finish decorating with THEIR decorations, as he wanted THEIR boxes with THEIR decorations out of the way.”
But the OP added her touch and her DIL did not approve.
Not merry or bright
While the original poster isn’t specific with describing her holiday design, she does say the colors did not match the home, which led to the DIL stripping down the tree.
“I [went] back and every single colorful ornament was off the tree, I asked Shelly what [happened] and her mom (DIL) took them all off. She was got quite upset talking about it…There’s no color on that tree, it’s just dark. Everything is dark green or brown.”
When she asked why the tree was cleared of the colors, the DIL said she “didn’t like how it looked,” and that “it was too overstimulating for Shelly (Shelly doesn’t have any disabilities). I asked if she was serious, and she told me she was.”
Responding to Shelly not having any “disabilities,” one Redditor writes that overstimulation can be a really big problem: “Our tree turns off during the day because it’s…a lot. We love it, but…the visual clutter is overwhelming over time…it’s like water dripping. At first it’s tolerable, but over time it’s just too much and drives you up the wall.”
The author does not think she did anything wrong.
Clashing over decorations in a home that wasn’t hers, the DIL turned red after the OP asked “if she was the color Grinch since she destroyed something Shelly loved.”
Suggesting that the drama about her granddaughter’s happiness was unnecessary and over-exaggerated, one user said, “It’s just a tree, it’s their house, they choose the decor…Children aren’t traumatized because of their parents’ boring decor, but an obnoxious interfering grandparent can do a lot of harm.”
Another mother-in-law offers her thoughts and shares that buying ornaments for someone else’s home is out of line. “I would never do that, unless my daughter-in-law had specifically [said] it was ok ahead of time. Her post is full of little hints that she doesn’t care for her daughter-in-law, and it feels like there have been ongoing issues prior to this. MIL needs to back off and show respect.”
‘Pushy’ and ‘entitled’
Things only got worse when the MIL insisted the decorations go “back up” and that her DIL “deal with colors not matching in her home.”
“She called me a jerk, my son is annoyed with me also since it’s their home,” writes the MIL, who then laments, “I just can’t understand why they would mess with something their daughter loved…”
Refusing to offer the poster any sympathy, netizens couldn’t understand why the MIL was being so “pushy” and disrespectful.
One writes, “It’s your DIL’s house. You owe her some respect. You did not want your MIL decorating your house, did you ???”
“Who decides what kind of Christmas decorations someone else will have for their first Christmas in their first house?? An entitled a—–, that’s who,” adds another.
Not everyone wants their homes to look like Santa threw up all over it.
What are your thoughts on this story? How would you feel if someone else lit up your home with a cluster of colors home and then attacked you for switching things up?
Please share your comments below and then share this story so we can hear what others have to say!
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