Woman plants fake positive pregnancy test to catch mother-in-law snooping: ‘You caught a rat’

A wife was shocked when she set a trap for her husband’s mother — and caught a little more than she was bargaining for.

Shared to the subreddit r/AmITheA**Hole, the post quickly gained over 30,000 upvotes and 4,300 comments.

While we’ve seen in-laws’ bad behavior go viral in the past — like the mom-to-be who was horrified to discover her mother-in-law was throwing her own private “grandma baby shower,” or the mother-in-law who took it upon herself to announce her daughter’s rainbow baby to Facebook — this particular drama revealed a host of family issues the original poster never saw coming.

As the poster explains, her mother-in-law moved in with them a month ago — and almost immediately, she began to notice things moving around in her bedroom.

“I felt like I was going crazy because my husband is the only one who has access to the bedroom and he doesn’t usually touch nor come near my things,” the post explains. “I figured it must be his mom walking in and snooping on my personal things. I told my husband and he said his mom would never … I had a huge hunch but couldn’t install a cam in the bedroom to catch her in act.”

So to test her hunch the poster purchased a fake positive pregnancy test and placed it in the bedroom’s trash can. The very next day, she received a slew of calls and texts from family members, congratulating her on her pregnancy — meaning that, not only had her mother-in-law been digging in her bedroom trash can, but she had also taken it upon herself to announce the supposed pregnancy to the family.

However, the situation got more complicated for the poster when her husband showed up at her workplace, demanding to know why she hadn’t told him about being pregnant.

“I asked how he found out, and he said his mom found the positive test in the trashcan in the bedroom,” the poster explained.

But instead of focusing on this being proof that his mom does, in fact, snoop around in their room, her husband was more upset about the pregnancy test. In disbelief that it was fake, and convinced that his wife was lying, he demanded she take a test in front of him.

“He was livid, asking how could I lie about such thing and break his mom’s heart since I know very well that she longs for kids,” the poster wrote. “I got a lot of s*** because of this from him, his mom and family now calling me a liar and manipulator. AITA?”

“So many red flags…”

Thousands of Redditors weighed in on the family drama — most of which were in complete shock over the situation.

“NTA [not the a**hole], but ordering a lock for the door and kicking MIL out seems easier. If you WERE preg, how dare she announce it. So many red flags, one of you needs to go and it shouldn’t have to be you,” one user wrote.

“NTA. You didn’t lie. You set a trap. You caught a rat,” another user wrote.

Many Redditors were concerned over the husband’s behavior and in his treatment of his wife.

“NTA but it sounds like you have a husband problem as well since he was focused more on you ‘breaking his mom’s heart’ instead of her (1) snooping in your marital bedroom, and (2) her blabbing her mouth to everyone instead of immediately going to you and your husband,” one user commented.

“Lol, his mom is snooping through your things and he’s worried about how much you hurt his mommy’s feelings? I would kick MIL out, like, today. Your husband also needs therapy to help him to work on not being so co-dependent on his mother as well,” wrote another user.

“Honestly, the husband and his family sound like a nightmare,” one Redditor commented.

Hopefully the family can find a way to peacefully sort through this mess — and establish healthy boundaries for everyone involved.

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