Motherhood is one of those jobs that last a lifetime. Once someone becomes a mother, there's no turning back. It's a full-time job that will last forever; no quitting, no getting fired. It's one big adjustment to make
Labor and raising a child are hard enough on their own, and all moms need their family's support to make everything a little bit easier. It's a very confusing and vulnerable time. They are adjusting to their new lives as much as the newborn babies, and they can surely benefit from the other women in the family's experiences. Of course, every mom and every baby is different, so they'll need to find their own way to do things and their own routine. We can't always know what is best for them, but we try to help as much as we can. What we don't know for sure is that they don't need us critiquing them, making snarky comments, or making them feel bad.
Sadly, a mother-in-law didn't show enough empathy to her daughter-in-law at the moment of having her first baby. They had never had the best of relationships, and the mother-in-law never thought that the woman her son chose was good enough for him. She was never openly antagonistic, just passive-aggressive and a pot-stirrer. When it was time for the son and his wife to have their first baby, the mother-in-law asked to be in the delivery room with them, and she was allowed. However, as soon as the contractions started, she approached her daughter-in-law and said: "I just want to make sure the baby's actually my son's." The young woman was baffled, and since she didn't want to make a scandal, she simply looked at the nurse, who understood the job and took the mother-in-law out of the delivery room. Now, the family is saying the son's wife can't take a joke and that it wasn't such a big deal. She doesn't feel that way, and fortunately, her husband supports her one hundred percent.