Relationships with in-laws can be great. You can have vacations and outings together that could bring happiness and joy to the entire family. But things aren’t that simple if your in-laws don’t accept you.

I always thought my MIL liked me. We used to hang out often and always went on family vacations together without any problems. I’m always in charge of planning the family vacations, and this year I wanted to do something special.

I spent months planning what I thought would be the perfect family vacation with my in-laws. It fell on their anniversary, so I wanted to make it a weekend they would never forget. So last weekend, I cooked a special dinner for them with the hope of sniffing out some special details while they came over.

The evening was going great until my MIL loudly joked about my cooking. She said, “On our vacation, please cook something edible!” Everyone laughed, but I didn’t. I had put a lot of effort into the meal, which happened to be her favorite, and she was mocking it.

That was when I realized that my MIL never liked me as a person, she was tolerating me. She liked the lavish vacations I booked and paid for that she could show off to her friends. And I had never seen through her backhanded comments because I was too worried about impressing her.

So I gave her a sweet smile and said, “Don’t worry, the chef will be taking care of that.” She looked very impressed, but she had no idea what she was in for. On the first day of our vacation, I sat her down and showed her what I had planned, along with the invoice.

“You booked us a private yacht! The girls will go mad,” she said. “Yes, but this year things will go a little differently. You’ve got to pay your share, and the chef isn’t cheap.”

She gasped in horror, “But you always pay.” I gave her another smile and said, “That was before you started insulting me. From now on, you can pay for yourself.”

My MIL was furious. She stormed off and went to cry to my husband, telling him she’ll never be able to afford her share and that she’d have to be a servant on the yacht while we enjoyed ourselves. My husband thinks I went too far and should go easy on her, at least this year. But I think it’s only fair.

So Bright Side, is my husband right? Should I let my MIL have one more trip at my expense after the ways she’s been treating me?