Mom tired of SIL bullying autistic son, family says she took it too far. UPDATED
"I hate my SIL with a passion"
yourfavleo_
I (32f) have a 7 yo son who's autistic. I also divorced when we found out that Greg (my son) was autistic, because my husband was "ashamed" of having a "weirdo" as a son and demanded that we give him up for adoption. I simply denied, he got mad and left.
My sister in law, Mary, (28f) literally hates my son. Since the day we found out he's autistic, she was constantly saying that I need to get rid of him because I will soon feel "embarrassed." She was also telling us that my ex husband did the right thing and that I should have listened to him.
Nobody has ever said anything and I have never caused any drama because I didn't want to ruin the whole vibe, since I only see her in family gatherings. But today it happened. Even though Greg is autistic, he's the smartest human I've ever seen.
Today is my mom's birthday, so I had the chance to meet Mary again. As she was talking, she was sometimes making small mistakes and Greg was the one correcting her. At some point her face turned red, she stood up and started yelling at my son. She was calling him problematic, weird, said that she now knows why Greg has no friends and that his dad was right about leaving him.
My son cried. For the first time. He has never cried about a situation before. At least not in front of me. He usually gets a little moody when something happens to him, but we talk for a bit and, then, he's smiling again. I was too shocked to say anything. I just stood up, took Greg's hand and left.
But then I realized that by leaving, i wouldn't make things any better. So, I told Greg to wait in the car. I went back and everyone looked at me in shock. My parents were trying to stop me because they knew that Mary had f*cked up but I didn't really care. She hurt my son so she should pay for it.
I watched her as she was standing up and walking towards my direction having this annoying smile on her face. I grabbed her and I just told her, "If you ever make my son sad, i will make sure you spend the rest of your life more miserable than ever." And left.
Here were the top rated comments from readers:
Pure-Yam-9397
jesus christ the stories I read on reddit, how do these people even exist, an adult bullying a 7 yr old within your own family???? what the flying f*ck.
The OP responded here:
yourfavleo_
Cold hearted and mean people unfortunately exist... I hope y'all never get to experience this kind of behaviour from your own family.
A_shark_that_laughs
I know I'll get cancer for eating such a person, but throw her in the ocean. 🦈
SugarJustGaySalt
If Mary gets offended because someone corrected her then she has a toxic ego problem. Also know this and keep this in your mind, family is much more than just your own blood.
charmilliona1re
There is something deeply wrong about a grown adult making an innocent kid cry for no good reason, even worse when its not even their own kid. It gets worse when you consider autism is effectively special needs.
You'd need to be really sick in the head to even go there. Totally understand your reaction though, but definitely be careful with someone like her too, don't give her the power to damage you both. That aside he's lucky to have you!
pikapikamydude
My heart broke when I read that he started crying. OP has never even seen him cry before, which makes her actions 100x more justified. Imagine the hurt he must feel to have a supposed “family member” scream at him and have no one except his mom to stand up for him. Wish OP could have slapped her but grabbing her neck is probably more effective. Definitely gets the message across more effectively.
The next day, the OP returned with an update.
"Update: I hate my SIL with a passion"
yourfavleo_
I just called my mom. The moment she answered she started yelling. She said that I should be ashamed of ruining her birthday and that she doesn't want me to go to any family gatherings again, as I've made my SIL upset. I told her I couldn't care less about how Mary felt. The only thing I cared about was Greg.
I reminded her about the times when my SIL was talking sh*t about her ONLY grandchild and asked her how was she able to keep her cool when her beloved Mary was calling her, once again, ONLY grandchild problematic. She answered by saying that she didn't know how to react so the solution was silence.
I asked one more thing. I asked her if she agreed with Mary. I asked her if she is ashamed of my son. Her answer was hanging up the phone. My brother keeps ignoring my calls.
I want to personally thank each and every one of you. Receiving all this support from you guys made me strong again and because of you and the stories you told me I have the courage to protect him even more and never give up. THANK YOU.
Here were the top rated comments from readers after this latest update:
Sofy_kill_89
Thank you for standing up for your kid, and it might sound terrible, but neither you or your son need that people in your life.
allshnycptn
I hope Mary never has kids. She would be a horrible parent.
Z0ooool
I dunno. On the face of it, OP's story is horrific. Like, she's surrounded by the absolute worst, evil people bar-none. But. Multiple people on both sides of her family are so cartoonishly out-of-control hateful against this 7 year old autistic kid who seems to be high functioning that it really makes me wonder if this is the whole story.
SmadaSlaguod
The fact that people exist who unironically think being "demon possessed" is a thing (like the commenter's parents) or that the autistic child is more embarrassing than a grown a** woman who intentionally tries to hurt them??? Absolutely deranged. These people are insane.
larrycoconut
I have a kid on the spectrum, probably more severe than OP’s child. She handled it better than I would have. SIL should have been calling a dentist for replacement teeth.
kikivee612
Holy crap on a cookie!!! Wtf is wrong with all of these adults! OP’s kid sounds amazing! She’s an awesome mama bear for having the courage to knock these people down the way they did her son! OP will find her chosen family! They’ll be much better than the AHs in her bio family!