'Never again will I cook for my MIL after she did this': In laws ditched woman’s homemade meal mid dinner to get fast food, years later she still refuses to cook for them

Author image for Isabella Penn
Isabella Penn
Jul 11, 2025 10:00 PM EDT

Hosting family always sounds like fun… in theory. You imagine everyone gathered around the table, enjoying a delicious homemade meal as instead jokes and lasting memories are made. But when the day actually arrives, the pressure hits hard. Suddenly, you're deep cleaning parts of the house you didn't even know existed and questioning every life decision that led you to voluntarily cook a five-course meal instead of just ordering pizza. It's stressful, exhausting, and honestly, kind of thankless. Especially when your guests don't appreciate the effort.

That's exactly where this woman found herself when her mother-in-law, Kathy, announced she was visiting. 

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  • Along with Kathy came her two kids—Steven, her picky 9-year-old son, and Lily, her teenage daughter—plus Grandma, who’s never far behind. Wanting everything to go smoothly, the woman whipped up a homemade meal she knew they liked. She thought she was playing it safe, but little did she know, this visit would go completely off the rails… and spark a years-long family standoff she’s still holding strong on.

  • Cheezburger Image 10528300544
    via Jason Briscoe For Unsplash+

    This image is for illustration only, and the subjects are models; the image does not depict the actual subjects of the story.

  • "Never again will I cook for my MIL after she did this"

    This is a tale of audacity, flabbergasting gall and the biggest lack of self awareness I have witnessed in my 23 years of life. I made this reddit account just to share the story. In the past, mother-
    via Fun-Worldliness9039
  • in-law (we'll call her Kathy) and I have a little history of pushing each other's buttons but nothing too major so when she said she was coming for a visit, my hubby and I were both excited. She was coming
    via Fun-Worldliness9039
  • from my husband's home state with 9-year-old BIL (we'll name him Steven), 16-year-old SIL (we'll call her Lily), and her mother (my hubby's Grandma). I called Kathy the day before to confirm they were planning on eating
    via Fun-Worldliness9039
  • dinner with us the night of their arrival. She confirmed. I then asked if chili and cornbread sound good to her since that was what I had planned to make for dinner. She said they loved my chili
    via Fun-Worldliness9039
  • and cornbread and they would enjoy that. It's what I made last time she came so I knew it was a safe bet. When they arrived the next day, the meal was fresh and hot, all made from scratch and just how they liked it.
    via Fun-Worldliness9039
  • Cheezburger Image 10528300800
    via Kevin McCutcheon For Unsplash+
  • When we sat down to family dinner, I noticed Kathy only put a few tablespoons of chili in her bowl. It struck me as odd because I had spoken to her on the phone soon before they arrived and she declared she was
    via Fun-Worldliness9039
  • starving! I ignored this and went on enjoying my own meal. (It was really good btw:) A few minutes. in, Steven noticed the bottom of his corn bread was slightly discolored and had some blackened bits. I explained to him it
    via Fun-Worldliness9039
  • was ok and that's what happens when you bake in cast iron. He refused to eat another bite. Instead. of Kathy correcting her son to stop being ride, she told him it's ok, and they'll just go get burger
    via Fun-Worldliness9039
  • king. She got up and asked who wanted to go. Grandma and Lily both said they were coming, got up and followed Kathy out the door, leaving their dinner unfinished on the table.
    via Fun-Worldliness9039
  • To add insult to injury, THEY BROUGHT THE FOOD BACK AND ATE IT IN FRONT OF US! Hubby and I stared at each other in disbelief, too uncomfortable to say anything because of the
    via Fun-Worldliness9039
  • baffling nature of the situation. We couldn't even be mad, we were too crippled with secondhand embarrassment. When we had a moment alone, my husband profusely
    via Fun-Worldliness9039
  • apologized on behalf of his family, mortified by their disrespect. He said he understood if I never offered to cook for them again he would never ask me. I never got an apology from her even
    via Fun-Worldliness9039
  • when hubby confronted her over the phone after she stormed out of our house and went back home a day early (another bit of nonsense for another post:) That was three years ago and I
    via Fun-Worldliness9039
  • haven't cooked for them since. It now gives me a petty little tingle whenever they come visit and comment on their limited budget and how expensive going out to eat is.
    via Fun-Worldliness9039

  • Apparently having an unappreciative MIL is not out of the norm. Keep reading for a few more stories that might make you want to swear off marriage forever. 

  • Doggoagogo Oof. I feel this. I made the meal of my life one Christmas. Jack and Coke glazed ham, a massive shrimp cocktail. I dry brined
    via Doggoagogo
  • and deep fried a turkey. Smoked a brisket. Made Mac and cheese and mashed potatoes from scratch. Creamed spinach, braised cabbage, sauerkraut (FIL loves it) and a
    via Doggoagogo
  • chopped steakhouse salad. Scratch carrot cake and a French apple pie. All the fixings. What does MIL do? She sends her son (my d(amn) husband that night!) out on
    via Doggoagogo
  • Christmas Day, after watching me cook all this food plus a full breakfast, out to Dominoes to get her pizza because that's what she felt like.
    via Doggoagogo
  • It's been 7 years and I haven't so much a peeled a potato in her direction. Husband was forgiven after much groveling and a trip to Tiffany's.
    via Doggoagogo
  • Illustrious_Bobcat My MIL once sat at my table, ate two large slices of my homemade chicken pot pie, belched like a large man, and then loudly announced that "your
    via Illustrious_Bobcat
  • crust tastes like cardboard". Then picked herself up and went outside to smoke a ciga tte on my back patio.
    via Illustrious_Bobcat
  • This was at least 8 years ago. From that night forward, I made sure that every single dinner I cooked was "too salty" or "too spicy" for the women who "can't stomach" anything but unseasoned food. Before, I altered my
    via Illustrious_Bobcat
  • recipes so she could enjoy them too. But after her attitude, I went full tilt on my spice cabinet. She still asks what I'm making every time she's in the house. But it's nothing
    via Illustrious_Bobcat
  • she ever wants/likes, so I don't understand why she bothers anymore. She gets that cat- face and huffs out of the kitchen when she sees me open the spice cabinet. Then she makes herself something like a grilled
    via Illustrious_Bobcat
  • cheese because she's too lazy to cook and blames it on how "no one likes {her} cooking anymore!" And pointedly glares at her son. My husband, to his credit, is fully aware of how much
    via Illustrious_Bobcat
  • of a crazy, controlling, neurotic, narcissistic mess of a human being his mother is. So when she behaves that way, he has no issue calling her out. Last time, he said "Sorry Mom, I have taste buds and they like flavor, not
    via Illustrious_Bobcat
  • boiled meat. Bobcat knows how to use spices." I was SO proud. She left.
    via Illustrious_Bobcat

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family drama cooking petty revenge relationships parenting apology couples dinner in laws mother in law fast food entitled people
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