Dear Prudence,
My mother-in-law takes advantage of every family gathering to launch into a dissertation of each and every thing she can’t stand about her husband, from his failure to satisfy her in bed to excessive flatulence. My requests to my wife to tell her oversharing mother to STFU are met with commiseration, but she claims that she can’t do anything about it.
This is our year to host Easter dinner, and I have no desire to have the occasion turned into a group therapy session for her. When the time comes, I’m ready to tell my wife I’m taking the kids to the store and then sneak them over to my parents’ place just over our state line for Easter. Do I have permission to do that since my wife refuses to put her foot down?
—Save it For an Actual Shrink