If you thought you had a difficult mother-in-law, just wait till you read this story.

A woman has written into Slate’s Dear Prudence advice column demanding clarity on a subject of grievous importance that no-one in her family will back her on. But as the letter unspools it becomes more and more clear that the person with the problem isn’t the subject of the letter, but the letter writer themselves.

Are you ready to read this ridiculous letter? Are you sitting down and strapped in? Let’s begin.

“My daughter-in-law enjoys knitting and crocheting. For her birthday, my husband and I gave her a generous gift card to a local yarn store, for which she thanked us and seemed very pleased,” the letter begins.

“Imagine my dismay, however, when six months later for our anniversary she gifted us with a lovely bedspread, which she told me she made with yarn purchased from the gift card! I told my son that we’d in effect paid for our own present and that he needs to communicate to his wife how improper and stingy this move was. He refuses, saying that her labour and time were also part of the gift.”

This viral letter from a nightmare mother-in-law is shocking the internet