In the classic fairytale “Goldilocks and the Three Bears”, naughty little Goldilocks learned an important lesson about partaking in things that don’t belong to you.
Actions have consequences.
In her case, she realized that she helped herself into a house owned by three potentially dangerous bears.
While others might not face consequences quite so extreme after using things that don’t belong to them without permission, they nonetheless always find themselves having to face the music in some capacity.
Such was the case for the mother-in-law of Redditor, Ok-Tooth2640 who helped herself to the original poster (OP)’s personal snack collection without permission.
Thankfully, her doing so didn’t anger the OP, but rather provided him with endless amusement.
After being scolded by his wife for his behavior, the OP took to the subReddit “Am I The A**hole” (AITA), where he asked fellow Redditors:
“AITA for laughing at my mother-in-law when she ate my snacks and got way too high?”
The OP explained how he was becoming increasingly annoyed when his mother-in-law began using their house key somewhat casually until he came home to find his mother-in-law in a semi-altered state.
“My wife and I just moved back to her hometown.”
“We love living in a big city but we had agreed when we got married that when we started a family we would move to a small town.”
“It sort of sucks but I am only a 45-minute drive from a theatre and good restaurants.”
“It’s not like we are in the middle of the woods.”
“We live in Canada.”
“Weed is fully legal here.”
“I like to make weed butter and cook with it.”
“I make brownies or fudge and my wife and I both partake.”
“Well her not so much right now because she is breastfeeding.”
“My wife insisted that we give her mom a key. For emergencies.”
“I disagree but I lost the vote.”
“So we talked about it and I said I was fine with it but it was only for emergencies.”
“She wasn’t to use it to come over and clean up or anything like that.”
“Her mom agreed and we gave her a key.”
“Well, she followed the rules for about two months.”
“My wife is out of town in the city for the weekend visiting friends.”
“Since it is a two-hour drive to that side of the city she is just staying there.”
“I came home last night and found my mother-in-law (MIL) high as a kite in my living room.”
“She had decided that since my wife was out of town I needed a home-cooked meal.”
“One thing led to another and she found some fudge.”
“She was so high all she was doing was staring at the TV.”
“Indica will do that to you.”
“I called my wife and laughed my a** off.”
“She is giving me sh*t for letting her mom get high.”
“And for laughing at her mom.”
“MIL is currently resting in the guest bedroom.”
“My wife’s stepdad came to get her but she is not moving.”
“We had a few beers and watched the Jays get destroyed.”
“She came into our home and ate my stuff without permission.”
“I’m not really upset.”
“She is super helpful and she has always been nice to me.”
“I just think it’s hilarious.”
“But my wife says I’m an a**hole for laughing at her mom.”
Fellow Redditors weighed in on where they believed the OP fell in this particular situation by declaring:
- NTA – Not The A**hole
- YTA – You’re The A**hole
- NAH – No A**holes Here
- ESH – Everyone Sucks Here
The Reddit Community agreed that the OP was not the a**hole for laughing at his MIL getting high off his fudge.
Everyone agreed that the OP’s MIL had no one to blame but herself after eating food that wasn’t hers without permission, with many pointing out that laughter was a much better way to react to the situation than getting angry.Â
“NTA.”
“She broke your rules.”
“No going in the house except for emergencies.”
“Having a cooked diner is nice, but not an emergency.”
“She helps herself to food without knowing what it was or for whom.”
“Imagine you had it saved for someone, a party, or to take to work.”
“And laughing about it is the best option.”
“There’s no reason to be mad or angry.”
“And it is a funny thing, after your check to see if she’s not hurt.”
“Wife will hopefully find it funny too, as will MIL.”- Technical_Lawbster
“NTA.”
“It IS hilarious!”
“My Nana once came to tidy my cousin’s house whilst he was out and helped herself to some of the cookies in his fridge.”
“Next thing you know she’s calling everyone like ‘what’s going on, I feel so weird!’ lmao.”
“I love to imagine my 75+ yo lifelong devoted Jehovah’s Witness Nan tripping on a stolen weed cookie.”
“It’s poetry.”- PixelPoppah
“NTA.”
“The key you gave her was for EMERGENCIES only.”
“Right?”
“You needing a home-cooked meal is not an emergency.”
“If you go into someone else’s house, you ask permission first.”
“It’s very simple.”
“It sounds hilarious, by the way, but try containing your laughter until after her mother feels normal again.”- Fluid-Letterhead7605
“NTA.”
“That’s hysterical.”
“She should be grateful that you aren’t mad.”
“She didn’t have permission.”- Ok-Positive-5943
“Okay NTA because THAT IS HILARIOUS.”
“I feel bad for your MIL but maybe she’ll learn her lesson about eating people’s food without asking.”- Therezna
“NTA.”
“U didn’t force her to eat ur snacks.”
“So weird she just let herself in and ate ur food.”- SpiritedTheme7
“Looool NTA at all.”
“You lost a vote which quite frankly should not have been a vote.”
“You should have both agreed or it was off the table.”
“MIL came over in a nonemergency situation and paid the price by helping herself to your stuff.”
“She got her comeuppance.”
“When she’s back on planet earth sit her down with your wife present and discuss why she broke the initial agreement and why she also helped herself to your stuff.”
“That should be her final warning and next time the key will be removed from her.”
“You’ve compromised in the first instance against your wishes so now it’s time for the wife and MIL to agree to your terms.”- woodenpickle17
“NTA.”
“But you might want to find somewhere else to store this stuff, once baby can walk they’ll start getting into everything.”- Auroraburst
“Absolutely NTA, this is hilarious.”
“Can we get an update to MIL’s reaction after regaining awareness?”- killerjoedo
“NTA.”
“That’s really funny.”
“Give her mom some water and a snack and she’ll be fine.”- doctormega
“She got her ‘just desserts’.”
“NTA.”- CalvinThobbes
“This story has the AITA trifecta.”
“Mothers-in-law, stealing food, and weed.”
“NTA and it’s great that you can see the funny side.”
“I hope your MIL will too.”- realsmithshady
“NTA.”
“It is hilarious and your MIL deserves to be laughed at.”
“She’s the one that broke the agreement and ate food that she shouldn’t have been touching.”
“None of it was your fault and your wife shouldn’t be blaming you for it.”
“You didn’t offer MIL the fudge.”
“You weren’t even home.”
“Your wife is probably mad at you because she’s not allowing herself to be mad at her mom.”
“She first needs to accept that her mom had no right or reason to be there.”
“Then also that what happened when her mom came over was purely her mom’s own fault.”
“She might not calm down by accepting these things, but she’ll at least be able to aim her anger correctly.”
“It may help to point out a couple of things about her mom coming over.”
“First, instead of her coming over to cook you a meal at your place, she should have been inviting you to come to her place to eat, and being gracious if you declined.”
“Second, she presumed that because your wife was out of town, that you were incapable of cooking your own meals.”
“Or maybe just that home-cooked meals don’t normally occur in your house?”
“You might want to tiptoe around that latter one, might not go down so well.”
“May not be time yet to reclaim that key from MIL, but it is a serious enough incident to be a final warning.”- hard_tyrant_dinosaur
The OP later returned with an update, revealing that his MIL enjoyment of his cannabis-infused fudge wasn’t an accident.
“Small update.”
“Just talked to MIL.”
“She absolutely knew what she was eating.”
“She just hasn’t had any in a while and I guess was expecting more of an experience like Cheech and Chong.”
“Not the genetically modified hybrid that I buy.”
The reaction of the OP’s wife is somewhat understandable, as she was no doubt simply worried for her mother’s health and safety.
One imagines, however, that the OP’s wife might look at the situation differently, seeing as her mother was just fine and wasn’t hurt.
Not to mention, a good time seemed to have been had by all.
It wouldn’t be surprising if the OP’s wife will laugh looking back at the whole thing herself.