AITA for doing weird/awkward poses whenever my MIL “accidently” walks in on me in the bathroom?

A Reddit user described a conflict with their mother-in-law (MIL), who has been “accidentally” walking in on them while they use the bathroom. Due to past trauma, the user avoids locking the door and instead started striking odd poses to deter MIL.

The MIL felt uncomfortable and complained to the user’s husband, who called the behavior childish and inappropriate. To explore the dynamics of this unusual situation, read the full story below…

‘ AITA for doing weird/awkward poses whenever my MIL “accidently” walks in on me in the bathroom?’

So, my MIL (I’m a gal btw lol) came to stay with us for few weeks til her home is renovated for christmas. The problem is that she has been randomly walking in on me while I’m in the bathroom. Thankfully not once has she seen me n**ed because I started picking up on her behavior after the second time in a week.

She’d barge in, then turns and says “oh sorry” then close the door. I tried talking to my husband about it but he kept ignoring me then flatout said “so what if she accidently seen you n**ed? She’s faaaammmillly!!”. He seriously said that!

We have a lock and I could’ve used it but I have past trauma from the idea of locking/being locked in a room after my brother locked me in the bathroom when I was 5. So I came up with this idea. I’d go inside the bathroom pretending to use it and wait for her to come (cause honestly? It’s deliberate at the this point).

When she “accidently” barges in she’d see me in a weird/awkward position. For example doing a ballet stand, standing on the toilet, or standing facing the wall with my hands up, (fully clothed of course). I could see how awkward and weird this would be for her because she’d stand there for few seconds trying to figure out what I was doing.

It was halirious at first seeing her initial confusion but she told my husband about it claiming “she’s caught me practicing rituals in the bathroom”. I cleared things up and revealed the reason why. My husband was livid.

He called me childish and said that I made his mom feel “terrified/weirded out” by my behavior. He said I should’ve acted maturely and locked the damn door instead of playing mind games.

See what others had to share with OP:

ER_Jujube −  NTA. You went the funny way and that’s dope. Your husband, however, is an a**hole. He expects YOU to be mature about it, but he doesn’t expect his mother to KNOCK ON THE F**KING DOOR before walking in?

Fluffy-Doubt-3547 −  Wait…. So he’s mad at you because she barges in on you IN THE BATHROOM… in YOUR home… that she is a guest in?. But- Gets mad at you for weirding her out and causing her ‘grief’? What 😂😂😂 um. It’s her fault. She should be knocking and not acting like no one lives there and it’s her own house.

Girl. Go get some jelly. Red if you can. And smother it on your face and when she walks in. Eat it like a caveman. Then when your husband asks…. you was stress eating. 😂😂. NTA.

Shanisasha −  Humor her Stop posing, but look at your watch seriously while facing the door like you’re waiting for a kid after curfew. Then sigh disappointedly and shake your head “14 seconds MIL. That’s terrible. You will need to do better” Alternatively- shove a towel under the door. NTA

IamPlatycus −  Tell them your ritual is to summon MIL to the bathroom and it’s working every time. NTA

[Reddit User] −  NTA. Who opens a closed bathroom door? Your mil is such an a**hole. This is the weirdest power play to continually walk in on you in the bathroom. Your next pose should be facing the door giving her two middle fingers

Tar-Nuine −  Walking in on somebody doing a ballet pose in the bathroom is “Terrifying”, but barging in on your DIL and making eye contact while she squeezes out a dookie after being told repeatedly not to barge into the bathroom is normal behaviour? Getting real sick of these spineless partners who can’t stand up to their moms.. NTA.

youve_got_moxie −  NTA. I would just wait with my phone and take a picture of her as she barges in. Post it on FB with “MIL walking in on me in the bathroom again lol!” “I don’t know, she just always does it!” Keep it light. You don’t have to shame her. Others will. Edit: This is my most-upvoted comment in my decades of redditing and I love you petty mfs.

FuntimeChris79 −  NTA. Your hubby is full of crap! That’s an inventive and humorous way of dealing with his creeper of a mother. You’re all adults. Most adults know when the bathroom door is shut not to go in!

[Reddit User] −  NTA, although you really might want to go to therapy about the no locks thing, because this situation would have been *infinitely* simpler if you could’ve just done that. Nonetheless, your MIL needs to learn to knock.

More importantly, your *husband* needs to quit making excuses for why MIL hasn’t started knocking yet and tell her to quit barging in on you if she doesn’t want to see things she isn’t supposed to see.

Significant_Knee_163 −  This is a great funny type of revenge you gave me a good chuckly. You are NTA However maybe you should get therapy about locking a door, not just for this but at least you can put issues behind you then