Mother-in-law Fakes Emergency to Get Son’s Attention, Wife Refuses to Take Her to the Hospital

Author image for Briana Viser
Briana Viser • Writer and Editor
Jul 19, 2024 2:00 PM EDT

It's hard to see family in pain, if they have medical issues, or need you more and more as they get older. Aging parents puts us in difficult positions, and sooner or later, the role between parent and child does a bit of a switch. But it's another thing entirely if they're faking it.

This brings us to our Reddit piece. The original poster (OP) is a wife who just had a baby. She's spent every moment with the baby for too long now, and as her friend is in town visiting, it's her first opportunity to have a night to herself. That's until her husband's mother decides to call saying she needs to be driven to the hospital, despite her having 3 other children to call on. The wife stands her ground and doesn't budge. And what do you know, the mom miraculously is fine in the end. Ever heard of the boy who cried wolf?

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  • 01
    r/AITAH ⚫ 14 hr. ago Fine-Natural-8442 AITA for prioritizing my plans over my MIL needing to go to the hospital?
    via u/Fine-Natural-8442
  • 02
    33F. My husband James is 35. My MIL is 61. She has 4 children (my husband is the youngest). And for whatever reason, my husband is the only one she goes to for anything. Whether she needs money, a ride, help doing yard work, help with literally anything actually. It has been a cause of
    via u/Fine-Natural-8442
  • 03
    tension in my marriage several times. And I admittedly threatened divorce probably 6ish months ago due to it because we had a newborn at home and his mom, for whatever reason, all the sudden "needed" him 20x more than normal after I gave birth. Easily 4 days a week. So, I
    via u/Fine-Natural-8442
  • 04
    threatened divorce. He stepped up to the plate. Now he only "helps" his mom maybe once every couple weeks. She never comes here (met our 7 month old once for .2 seconds). It's been great since that point honestly.
    via u/Fine-Natural-8442
  • 05
    Anyways, on to the issue, my best friend moved out of state 5 years ago is back in town for 3 nights. We planned to go out to a restaurant in town around 5pm yesterday evening and then out for a few drinks afterwards at my father's pub. This has been planned almost 2 months in
    via u/Fine-Natural-8442
  • 06
    advance. My husband had our baby. It was my first night away since giving birth (literally never even went to the grocery store without the baby). But around 7- 7:30pm, my husband calls saying that he needs to bring his mom to the hospital and asked me to come home so I can take the
    via u/Fine-Natural-8442
  • 07
    baby and he can take my car (his is currently not working). I asked what she needed to go to the hospital for and he said "does that really matter right now? I need you home." I told him it does matter, actually. Because depending on the level of urgency, she literally has 4 other
    via u/Fine-Natural-8442
  • 08
    options. One of her other 3 kids (who even live closer to her) or an ambulance. He admits to me that she didn't tell him what she needed to go to the hospital for but since he was in a panic, I should come home so he can rush out. I said something to the affect of "it's convenient that my
    via u/Fine-Natural-8442
  • 09
    first night away from the home. since giving birth and now all the sudden your mother is in need of urgent hospitalization. I think I will actually stay right here. Maybe you should figure out what your mom is going for and then get back to me." I then hang up.
    via u/Fine-Natural-8442
  • 10
    He calls me probably 15 or so minutes later. He's 1 off and raising his voice at me. Says that apparently his mom had tripped and hurt her ankle and that's why she needed to go to the hospital. I asked if she was walking and he says yes, she is. So I told him to call one of his siblings. I shouldn't
    via u/Fine-Natural-8442
  • 11
    have to cut my night short with my best friend, whom I haven't seen in years, because his mother wants him to cater to her every move. I went home around midnight. When I get home he is 1, saying that I prioritized my plans in a family emergency. I told him it didn't really seem like
    via u/Fine-Natural-8442
  • 12
    an emergency to me and asked him if she went to the hospital. He said "no, she says she is fine now but that's not the point". I argued that was the WHOLE point, actually and told him I was glad I didn't ruin my night over a fake emergency. I then took over with the baby and brought her to
    via u/Fine-Natural-8442
  • 13
    bed. He's still at me and says "this changes everything" because me putting priority on "fun time" over what could have been a bad situation makes him look at me differently. I'm unphased honestly. AITA?
    via u/Fine-Natural-8442
  • 14
    RumandRumNoC... • 14h ago NTA. If it was that big a deal either he or his mom could have gotten an uber. Or called 911.
    via u/RumandRumNoC
  • 15
    Opposite-Quanti... 14h ago NTA your husband is though and his mom is wild! It was a fake emergency and your reasoning was valid and logical. To be honest you need to get into marriage counseling because with your husbands behavior and
    via u/Opposite-Quanti
  • 16
    attitude I don't see a very long future especially if you have to threaten divorce to make him act like a spouse should instead of like a momma's boy. If you aren't going to go the route of counseling or he refuses start secretly getting
    via u/Opposite-Quanti
  • 17
    everything in order for a divorce. Make sure you push him to get a job though so you don't have to pay spousal to support this man-baby. Also make him start watching his own kid more so you can grocery shop, go to the gym and
    via u/Opposite-Quanti
  • 18
    just get some little breaks it's called self care and will make you a better mom and honestly help him to be a better dad by actually forming a relationship with his kid.
    via u/Opposite-Quanti
  • 19
    hecknono ⚫13h ago you did the right thing. Does anyone remember that post (can't remember if it was in this thread) about the husband who's mother kept insisting he needed to help her, and she always seemed
    via u/hecknono
  • 20
    to time these important chores on the wife's birthday etc. And then on their anniversary the mother ask the huband to come help with something simple, like change lightbulbs and 4 or 5 hours later he finally goes home (completely
    via u/hecknono
  • 21
    missing their plans) and his wife and new baby are gone, she had it and packed up and left and she refused to come back. She had been telling him for years about how his mother was doing this stuff on purpose to create issues in their
    via u/hecknono
  • 22
    marriage and he didn't seem to understand the gravity of the situation until she left for good.
    via u/hecknono
  • 23
    I can't find it. If someone finds it the husband needs to read it, and all the other stories on places like justnomil and xmas cancer etc.
    via u/hecknono
  • 24
    • SpaceJesuslsHere 13h ago. I'm guessing he told her about your night out. I'm also guessing that you standing up for yourself will eventually make the hostility at home unbearable.
    via u/SpaceJesuslsHere
  • 25
    You're on a ticking clock. You need to either get into individual AND couples therapy or get a divorce. I had an identical paternal grandmother and she poisoned my relationship with my mom. It ruined about 10 years of my mom's life and mine.
    via u/SpaceJesuslsHere
  • 26
    Solve this before your kid hits 3 or 4 or regret it for the rest of your life. NTA unless you stay and nothing changes.
    via u/SpaceJesuslsHere
  • 27
    two_lemons • 13h ago If she needed help... Why did he wait instead of calling an ambulance and an Uber? Ambulance for her, Uber for him, meet at the hospital?
    via u/two_lemons
  • 28
    Both of them knew it wasn't an emergency, otherwise he wouldn't have thought he had the time to wait for you to come back.
    via u/two_lemons
  • 29
    Like what? If she had a broken leg that was bleeding everywhere I sure hope he wouldn't have thought that he had, idk? Thirty minutes to wait for you to come home and then to go pick her up?
    via u/two_lemons
  • 30
    . eksawaal • 14h ago NTA. You seem to be 'letting' husband become instead of being yourself & demanding answers.
    via u/eksawaal
  • 31
    Did mother call husband's siblings? If yes, why didn't anyone else take her to hospital? If others weren't called, why did mother call only your husband? Why can't mother differentiate between emergency & not- emergency?
    via u/eksawaal

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