How would you respond to my sister-in-law?

Ahhh yes....reminds me of my brothers girlfriend. As soon as she found out we were trying to have a baby, she got herself pregnant. They can't afford the kids they have so my brother wasn't trying, but somehow she did it and before I was able to at that. Then even though she is a month ahead of me, she found out that I was fully effaced and soft with three weeks to go, and she wasn't, she drank a bottle of castor oil. Her baby was born 6 lbs because of this, and Dr said it would have been nice to let the baby stay in as long as possible. Idk, some women are so petty. I think that is why I don't have that many girl-friends. Too much drama for me. My husband has his Phd and is pretty successfull, and so we are discussing having one more baby after this since we have all girls, and once she found out she canceled her surgery to be "fixed". I think its pathetic really as our situations are not even close to being the same. She lives off the state, hasn't had a job in the 12 years that I have known her, she has 4 kids now, one of which she lost custody of and that child lives with its father. She also does stupid petty stuff like, I say I weighed 150lbs when I got pregnant, (we were discussing pregnancy weight gain) she says I weighed 130..lol She wears a size 18. I know she is lying but not sure why. I am not skinny and don't pretend to be, so why put on airs? Some women are just weird...

Crazy? Obviously she's jealous of you in some way and is looking for ways to pick at you to make herself feel better.

First off, I would sit down with my brother and let him know how this is bothering you. When it comes to family events, I would avoid her altogether. Find other people to talk to. When she makes little snide remarks - tell her flat out that you're happy with your life or whatever it is she's trying to one up you on, and walk away. I can't stand people like that and have as little to do with them as I can.

I would explain the situation to your brother. Decline to go to family events if you can. If it's a birthday, offer to take the birthday person out some other time. If it's something you can't avoid, at least avoid her. Ugh. What an energy vampire!

It would definitely irritate me. She sounds very competitive and jealous.

If you have to deal with her alot, pick and choose when you tolerate her by keeping interactions brief. Say you're running late for something and then excuse yourself. Then you don't have to rehash all the details and give her the opportunity to copy you.

At the same time, she could be trying to seek a close connection with you or your family.

Try to support her when possible and compliment her choices when possible. Sounds like she wants your acceptance.

The best way to deal with snide remarks is to ignore them. They tend to get way under my skin too, but it's better than engaging in a battle of words that will just affect everyone and get worse.

Good luck!

It sounds like she is very competitive. I'm sorry you have to deal with that. The phrase water off a ducks back could be applied here. Plus, the best complement a person can give is a copy cat, and she lovessss you! One day, she will chill out. Probably when the kids are ground. Or you could just have your man out make her and his brother, and she won't be able to afford to keep up. That's what I'm doing=)

Yes, I would be extremely annoyed if someone did this to me. I think you're actually handling it quite well. I just hope that you're able to keep all this inside you without blowing up at your sister-in-law one day. That woman has "problems" and I'm certain that you already know that. Just keep ignoring her "copying" all that you can and the best of luck to you.