Family photos are so special and become beautiful memory capsules that can be enjoyed later. Some folks take family pictures every year if they get the chance, while others wait a while for everyone’s schedules to finally match. This becomes a big struggle when one has many relatives.
To put things in perspective, one mom on Reddit shared how she managed to wrangle her family of 40 for a day of photos. Despite all her efforts, her late and entitled daughter-in-law missed being in the main picture and found a way to blame her.
More info: Reddit
Mother-in-law is blamed for daughter-in-law missing out on the grand family picture even though her tardiness caused the problem
Image credits: freepik (not the actual photo)
The poster shared that every few years, she’d arrange a family photo session for 40 of her relatives and expect people to be on time for the event
Image credits: pvproductions (not the actual photo)
This time, small pictures were scheduled at 4pm, and the big picture was at 5pm; her DIL and son, who were running late, missed the small pictures but arrived just in time for the big one
Image credits: freepik (not the actual photo)
At 5, everyone posed for the big photo, and the photographer took 15 minutes for it, during which the poster asked twice if anyone was missing
Image credits: Acceptable-Heart3031
At 5:30, her DIL came and asked about the picture, saying she had been fixing her hair, expecting the photo to be retaken, but her MIL told her to pay for Photoshop instead
The Original Poster (OP) had taken the trouble to hire a photographer, round up her 40 family members, and coordinate the entire event. Her only request was for everyone to be on time for the small pictures and the main one. Despite that, her son and his wife came 1 hour late. Even after missing out on the individual photos, her daughter-in-law didn’t pose for the full family picture.
There are so many reasons that a person could be running late. Traffic, the weather, or just a series of unfortunate events are a couple of possible reasons. In this case, the woman’s daughter-in-law was late not once but twice. According to MindTools, “sometimes people are late because they simply don't have the emotional intelligence to see how their lateness affects others. They don't see it as a problem, so they think it must not be a problem for anyone else.”
Chronic lateness doesn’t just affect the individual, it can also cause conflict in their personal relationships. Luckily, the son and his wife were the only people affected in this situation. His mother had nothing to lose if one person was missing from the pictures. She had made every possible effort and even asked twice if anyone was missing, so she wasn’t to blame.
When the son and his wife asked her to get all 39 people back for the photo, the mom refused. She stood her ground and set a boundary with them. It’s very important for people to learn from their mistakes, which is why psychologists say you shouldn’t always rush to solve problems for your loved ones.
Image credits: Kampus Production (not the actual photo)
In a large family with so many different types of people, everyone isn’t going to get along all the time. However, conflicts can become worse if someone has a victim mentality. Here, the daughter-in-law could not accept her mistake and started blaming her mother-in-law instead. Rather than accepting the idea of using Photoshop, she kept arguing. The woman’s son also didn’t explain why he didn’t say anything about his wife being in the bathroom when his mom asked twice if anyone was missing.
The poster was firm with her boundary because, as she said, her daughter-in-law “couldn't care enough to actually be on time for the picture.” Mutual respect is extremely important for a relationship to work smoothly. Things won't work out if one person isn’t making an effort or wilfully showing a lack of care or concern for the other person’s needs. That’s exactly why the man and his spouse were in the wrong.
Netizens were shocked by the audacity of the son and his wife, and were glad that the poster put her foot down. They could not fathom why the man didn’t mention that his wife was missing, and said she should probably get mad at him instead of her mother-in-law. Whether they later edited the pic or not, nobody can be sure, but hopefully, the mom rested easy knowing she managed to capture at least had 39 out of 40 family members in the photo.
Do you know any creative ways the author could have got back at her entitled daughter-in-law? Share your ideas in the comments.
Some people who dabble in Photoshop offered to help edit the DIL into the picture, others offered mischievous suggestions, saying the DIL’s face should be photoshopped onto everyone
