A Bright Side reader, Carol, shared a funny story about dealing with her overly critical mother-in-law (MIL). Carol enjoys cooking and does most of it in their household, while her husband handles cleaning. Most of the family loves her cooking, but her MIL constantly critiques every dish, offering “improvements” that mostly involve reducing flavor or spice.
The final straw came on Carol’s birthday when her MIL gifted her a handwritten book of “recipes” with suggestions for improvement. Instead of reacting negatively, Carol decided to follow the book’s instructions word-for-word the next time she cooked. The result was bland and unimpressive, which led to laughter when she revealed her MIL’s book. After a few more attempts, the book mysteriously disappeared, and the MIL stopped criticizing, now praising Carol’s cooking. Carol wonders if she should apologize or leave things as they are.
