You spend your entire life thinking that your family is crazy and dysfunctional...then you get in-laws!
My husband came from a small family; a few cousins across the country, a grandfather and and aunt from somewhere and a father he never really knew. His mother lives only a few blocks from us. Too close for comfort, if you ask me.
When we found out we were expecting she was ecstatic, of course, and promised us that she would help with groceries and diapers and baby sitting and the works, which we thought was wonderful as first time parents because we needed all the help we could get. Well, when had the baby she was couldn't get away from work to come see us, which is understandable. Then a week or so after we came home, I decided to take her up on the babysitting offer so I could get some work done. She came over, and yes she took care of her for me, but followed me around the house the whole 3 hours and talked my ear off, distracting me from work giving me "advice" (some of which was that I could feed my baby Carnation evaporated milk and that I shouldn't chew bubble gum while nursing...?)
A few months down the road we ran into some financial trouble and she offered to buy diapers and groceries for us, telling us to pay her back only when we could. Without us even agreeing, she spent over $500 on groceries for us (which is almost 4 times what we spend on a grocery trip), she bought baby clothes, she even bought months worth of diapers. All of this was appreciated very much, and it was wonderful of her to help us out, but not more than a few weeks later she asked for us to pay her all back because she needed to get her dog into training lessons!
This kind of "help" (as she liked to call it) continued for a whole year, bailing on us when we needed a sitter and when she did I spent the whole time on the phone with her, or she would come to pick the baby up and keep me at the door for 45 minutes and make me late, then drop the baby off early.
The last straw was my daughters first birthday. I told her I was having a party for her and it was just going to be cake for a few close friends. I don't know many grandmothers out there, but what one would miss her only grandchild's first birthday? Well, the day of the party came, and party time rolled around, and no Grandma, so I called her to ask if she was coming. Nope, sorry, she had to go shopping with one of her clients and was just too tired now. I swear I almost cried! No card, no gift (which isn't a big deal) but whats worse is no effort.