A Reality Check: The Lessons I Learned After Misjudging My Daughter-in-Law

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All the irritation I’d been holding in finally spilled over. I marched straight to their bedroom, threw open the door, and found her under the covers, pale and exhausted. Without thinking, I blurted:

“Must be nice to sleep while my son does everything.”

The moment the words slipped out, regret followed. She didn’t argue or even look angry. She just stared at me with tired, red eyes and whispered, “I’m trying,” before turning toward the wall.

I left feeling unsettled—still annoyed, but underneath it, something heavier was growing.

The Truth Comes Out

Later that night, my son walked me to my car. Shoulders drooping, hands in his pockets, he finally said:

“Mom, she’s not sleeping because she doesn’t care.”

I frowned. “Then what’s going on?”

His voice cracked. “The doctor thinks she has postpartum depression.”

Those words stunned me. He told me that:

• She barely sleeps.
• She hardly eats.
• She’s scared to hold the baby in case she drops him.
• She stays in bed because she feels like she fails at everything she tries.

“She loves our son,” he said softly. “She’s not ignoring him. She’s overwhelmed.”

Suddenly, everything I had assumed about her clicked into place. The distant stare, the shaking hands, the constant scrolling, the way she tensed when the baby cried—none of it was laziness. It was someone fighting a battle no one else could see.

My son wasn’t angry with me—just hurt. “She already thinks she’s no