In your lifetime, you may witness or learn about many families in which the mother has an unhealthy relationship with the son. You will find that the boundaries of maternal affection are being crossed, which can be too intense and uncomfortable to witness for the man’s partner. There is a form of emotional dependency, where the mother relies on her son for emotional support in ways that are inappropriate for their relationship.
Here’s an example. A woman took to Reddit to share her experience dealing with her mother-in-law, who seems to have an unhealthy attachment to her son. She has been with her husband for nine years, and his mother’s behavior has always made her uncomfortable.
The mother-in-law frequently comments on her son’s physical appearance, calling him “sexy,” admiring his firm skin and jawbone, and even suggesting that the couple’s children look like she and her son made babies together.
The situation reached a breaking point when the mother-in-law entered their bedroom at night, sobbing uncontrollably, and asked her son to come lie with her so she could hold him and smell his hair.
“I’ve been with my husband a total of 9 years, his mother has always made me feel uncomfortable by the way she talks to him & feels about him, she comments on ‘how sexy of a man he is’, she talks about how firm his skin is, his jawbone, she tells me our children look like ‘her & him made babies’ here’s my breaking point today, we are asleep in our bed when we wake up to someone wailing as if they’ve lost a child, or something extremely terrible has happened, when we jump up in the bed it’s her in our door way, she is sobbing uncontrollably, he immediately ask her ‘what’s wrong?’ ‘What’s going on?’ She says ‘I’ve just had a terrible bad day’ then she goes on to ask him ‘Can you come lay with me while I hold you and let me smell your hair??’ WHAT THE FUCK !!?? Am I tripping or is this WEIRD AS HELL (sic),” she wrote on Reddit.
Many people have labelled this behavior as “emotional incest” – when a parent relies on their child for emotional support in ways that are more fitting for a partner or spouse. It blurs the boundaries between a parental relationship and a romantic one.
Here’s a look at some of the responses to the post:
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What are your views regarding this incident?