They say mothers and sons have a close relationship, but this story may take the cake.
Taking to internet forum Reddit, a woman only known by her screenname of ‘u/chewbawkaw’ explained that she’d been seeing her 30-year-old boyfriend for about a year and recently went on holiday with him and his family. It was one of the first times she’d had a chance to get to know her in-laws, who live in a different state.
While the parents were warm and welcoming, the woman couldn’t help but notice her partner’s mother was very touchy-feely towards her sons. Most parents are fond of a cuddle and a kiss, but she explained that it was nothing compared to what she experienced on the holiday.
For example, her partner would be in his bathing suit and his mother would come from behind and wrap her arms around him, caressing his chest and nuzzling his neck.
“She also did that once while my boyfriend and I were kissing,” the woman added.
Another time, the couple were sharing a cuddle in bed when the mother came out of her room and laid on top of her son, exposing her underwear. However, she said the mother was even closer with her other son.
“He would be in his little twin bed napping in just boxer briefs and she would come up in her nightie and spoon him,” she explained. “She would stroke his chest, thighs, back and arms. He would pull up her shirt to stroke her belly and would rub her body as well.”
The brother would regularly tell his mother how beautiful she was, although the woman said it would be sweet if she wasn’t rubbing her naked body on her son when he was saying it. The woman said no one in the family seemed bothered by the touching and even noticed the husband paying his wife plenty of attention.
“I also want to reiterate that I DO NOT think that this is a sexual thing (hopefully) between his family,” she wrote. “It just doesn’t seem like they ever updated their personal boundaries. Like if her kids were 4 years old instead of 30 this probably wouldn’t look as weird…right?”
She acknowledged that normal is subjective and that it’s just the standard people are used to, but questioned if it would be weird if she was in bed wearing a bikini with her own father spooning her.
“Most of me feels like I should just keep my mouth shut because he has two parents and a brother that love him to the moon and back,” she continued. “On the other hand, if he was raised in an environment where what would be typically considered sexual touching was used as non-sexual affection, it makes sense that he has been struggling with physical boundaries now that he lives away from his community.”
Other Reddit users offered their opinions and advice for the woman.
One person wrote: “This is very, very weird and inappropriate, and the mother is the one instigating it.”
Another comment read: “If you are an intuitive person than it would be a good idea to press your bf [boyfriend] a little bit about how far the mother goes. Gauge his reactions and figure out what to do next. He may need some help.”
A third added: “I was thoroughly disturbed by this post. That woman is creepy. Mothers don’t cuddle their barely clad adult sons while they’re wearing little nighties. And neither do adult sons lift their mother’s top to stroke their belly. Ick. In what reality is this all NOT sexual? If you and your boyfriend take your relationship to the next step, be prepared for creepy mommy to view you as competition that needs to be eliminated.”