The only thing more intimidating than a huge international film star is your mother-in-law.

Benjamin Walker

There’s a lot of jokes about them, the bane of our existence and the constant nagging voice that hangs at the back of our heads. Literally, if they happen to be riding in the back seat of the car, or sitting in your living room, or heck, hanging out in the mother-in-law that your wife just insisted that you had to build on the back acres of your property.

Yeah, we know, they’re not often our favorite people either, and more often than not are a major component of why we don’t want to get married. Either way, Mother-in-Law day celebrates all that is good about them… given time I’m sure we can think about something.

History of Mother-In-Law Day

When you have a wonderful mother-in-law who takes sides with you in squabbles with her own daughter – that’s something.

Lou Gehrig

Mothers-In-Law have existed since… Well, we suppose depending on one’s point of since shortly after Eden and the second wedding. (One must assume Adam and Eve’s was implicit). Then again, taking another angle, the first time two neanderthal’s came together and the mother of one lectured the other about not bringing in enough game, and how Ugg brought in a mammoth last season, what have you done?

Mothers-in-Law can be the worst enemy of your relationship and can cause more problems than a sentimental love-letter from an old flame. Then again, they can also be the greatest benefit and a true champion for your relationship during the hardest of times.

It’s really not surprising they’re such a mixed bag, ultimately parents want what’s best for their children, and it’s hard to imagine anyone being good enough for your little girl (or boy, for that matter).

5 INTERESTING FACTS ABOUT MOTHERS-IN-LAW

1. Sara Delano Roosevelt

   Sara Roosevelt built her son — Franklin Delano Roosevelt, later as the President of the United States — and his wife Eleanor a Manhattan townhouse with an adjacent home for herself, connected with doors on each floor, during the early days of their marriage.

2. Catherine de Medici

   There’s no shortage of scandalous stories about the de Medici family, and Catherine’s life is no different. The matriarch tightly controlled her children’s marriages and ordered killings for political expediency and power.

3. Endora, Bewitched

   Unhappy with her daughter Samantha’s decision to marry a mere mortal, the mother-in-law in this classic witch sitcom wreaks havoc on hapless husband Darrin’s life whenever she can.

4. Bona Sforza

   A powerful figure in 16th century Milan, Bona Sforza is suspected to have poisoned one or both of her daughters-in-law, of whom she deeply disapproved.

5. Cersei Lannister, Game of Thrones

   Perhaps the most horrifying mother-in-law in contemporary pop culture, Cersei Lannister makes no bones about her dislike for her daughter-in-law, Margaery. By the end of the epic show, she orchestrates the massacre of, well, almost everyone.

    

NATIONAL MOTHER-IN-LAW DAY DATES