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Parenting
Being a Mom
We're not saying people don't love spending every waking moment with their mothers-in-law, but let's put it this way: they enjoy scrubbing, waxing, dusting and washing more.
So much so that 51 percent of respondents to an iVillage poll -- held in honor of Mother-in-Law Day this October 24 -- said they would rather clean the house than spend the day with their MIL. And while they might be willing to ask their mothers-in-law about, say, which furniture polish to use, looks like that's about the only piece of advice they're interested in getting from her. A whopping 76 percent said they wouldn't ask the woman who raised their spouse for parenting advice, and a resounding 83 percent said they wouldn't go to her for marital advice.
Along those same lines, 96 percent of poll takers said they also wouldn't talk with their MIL about their sex life with her son. No surprise there. (Though we have to wonder: Who are the 4 percent who would?)
But apparently mom-by-marriage is good for at least some things: 64 percent of iVillagers said they would trust her to watch the kids. Perhaps the other 36 percent suspect that she is feeding them sweets and letting them stay up way past bedtime.
Which leads us to a question about who is more annoying than your mother-in-law. The highest vote getter was Kate Gosselin at 26 percent, followed by the entire cast of Jersey Shore, Elizabeth Hasselbeck and Snooki.
But other options weren't all that appealing either. When asked who they would rather have as their MIL, the top choice was Hillary Clinton at 17 percent, followed by Kris Kardashian Jenner, Sarah Palin, Joan Rivers and Dina Lohan.
Still, it won't be necessary to hide the knives at Thanksgiving dinner: 72 percent of people rated their relationship with their mothers-in-law as fair to excellent, with only 28 saying it was "bad" or "terrible."
So the news isn't all grim. Well, except for the 28 percent of people who instead of hanging out with their MIL would rather have a root canal.
Ouch.
What is your relationship like with your mother-in-law? Chime in below!
