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My MIL and I have a strained relationship, sadly. Not sure what the cause was, but she is unwilling to acknowledge anything that I do well in life in my presence, and likes to point out everything she thinks that I do wrong. (I'm a member of the male species, for reference.) I have long ago recognized that I'll never be smart enough, skilled enough, talented enough, etc for her.
But, she apparantly really enjoys seeing the photographs that I take and post of Facebook. I'm an amateur photographer but my work has been exhibited in galleries and won awards, so it's better than the average photos. And I hear through the grapevine that she enjoys them and likes seeing them. When I'm around, she goes stone cold silent about them and refuses to ever say anything nice or allude that she enjoys them.
It's gotten much worse and this last Christmas I don't think I heard one thing that she enjoyed about me being married to her daughter, and worse, started comparing me to other people in her family and alluding that I wasn't as smart or as skilled as those other people.
So, I'm now faced with a delima: Do I continue to share pictures that I take with her, because I know that she enjoys them even if she cannot bring herself to acknowledge that she enjoys them? Or, do I stop sharing because I prefer to share things with those who are able to acknowledge their enjoyment as appropriate?
response 1) Why are you letting what she thinks or does, drive what you do?
response 2) "...I prefer to share things with those who are able to acknowledge their enjoyment as appropriate..." suggests that you have a bit of an ego trip going on here. You may be a really good photographer. Ego is worthwhile when putting a dollar value on what you do. But your MIL is family, not a customer. Let your ego go - ego messes up family relationships. Continue to share as long as she enjoys it, and maybe take secret pleasure that she enjoys them.
response 1)
response 2) "...I prefer to share things with those who are able to acknowledge their enjoyment as appropriate..." suggests that you have a bit of an ego trip going on here. You may be a really good photographer. Ego is worthwhile when putting a dollar value on what you do. But your MIL is family, not a customer. Let your ego go - ego messes up family relationships. Continue to share as long as she enjoys it, and maybe take secret pleasure that she enjoys them.
Yes, that's what I got out of it. OP seems to say "I take fabulous pictures and am outraged that MIL enjoys them without acknowledging my talent."
That's disconcerting to be sure. But not worth losing sleep over.
Keep sharing them. To make a point of not sharing is certainly going to make a bad situation worse. And, remember, MIL's are like acne. In the natural course of events they disappear.
I would keep posting the pictures like you always have. If she makes a snide comment in your presence, just laugh it off and change the subject. I'm sure everyone else sees through her facade.
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