My mother in law

Let me tell you. I hate doing this. But I need to. I am going to post about my mother in law.
The reason I hate it is first, because I am reluctant to complain, and second because she will manage to slip into this part of my life as well. But I need your help, really.

Let me give you some basics.
This is the kind of person who asks her grandchildren to give her their first bite of their Easter egg. (My whole being resists this: how can one do this to a child? But I am civil, and DH finds it adorable, and my f.i.l. finds it so cute that she is such a sweet little girl at 74!, so I just smile to her and try and sneak a bite to their little mouths or buy them an extra bag of mini eggs, just for them to share).
A person who buys a Happy Meal so that she gets the free gift they got at Mac Donald's.
The kind of person who wants to taste everything from every one's plate, and drink from your glass.
A person who, when we decide to order a pizza will narrate all the horror stories related to ready made food, and so C will cancel the order and spoil every one's evening.
A person whose perfume you can smell from the end of a hotel corridor and permeates every clothing item that comes into close encounter.

I am not going to enter into the personal attacks all dressed up as useful comments, as in "Your house is a mess, dear. Of course, we must not forget you are working. I used to have a maid even at a junior officer's salary. But of course my parents were paying...".

I have tried so much to be civil and nice, flatter her (what a mistake!), offer her presents, be nice to her relations. During our recent Easter holiday I offered her a strand of pearls ("Thank you. They are quite tiny, aren't they?") and I had already offered her a set of make up as a welcoming gift.

We spend together every Christmas and Easter, share every summer play at kindergarten, have them over virtually every public holiday, as long as they don't have somewhere fancy to go with their friends.

C is her only son and I understand her need to be with him. But this is so tiring! She is such a bad influence to the kids, telling them that learning is not everything and that they should have fun, just when I manage to get the girls to sit down after a lazy morning. D in particular who is 10, is shaping herself according to her and her ideas. The other day I told her "But, darling you must do something with your life, put your talents into good use". And she replied :"I am going to get married to a rich man and he will pay for my expenses". D defends every move her granny does, and her granny defends everything D does.

Does anyone relate with this?