Monday's Question: What Makes a Good Mother-in-Law?

She could be the most reviled and ridiculed member of the family, the butt of jokes going all the way back to vaudeville days. You know the one-liners: "Take my mother-in-law….please." But those of us who are married had or still have mothers-in-law ourselves and some of us are actually on good terms with her. If we're not, we understand how complex this relationship can be.

And, as our kids grow up, we have to face the fact that some of us will actually be mothers-in-law ourselves (if we're not already). So will our generation be any better at negotiating the delicate balance between too much intervention and too little attention?

On the surface, the signs aren't good. We are, after all, the generation that invented helicopter parenting – which means we're not all that good at letting go. And yet as our kids become independent, we are also looking for new roles ourselves. We may be retiring and planning on travel, which would take us away from our place in the extended family. Or we may be working harder than ever, trying to recoup retirement savings lost in the Great Recession.

In today's vernacular, mothers-in-law have their own acronym: MIL (so handy for Twittering). But the real question is: will we be better mothers-in-law than our own mothers? We're interested in your experiences – whether as a daughter-in-law or mother-in-law.