I feel unjustly guilty for not saying “I love you” back to my MIL. I don’t love her and I wish she’d stop saying it to me. We only see her 3-5 times a year, if that because of where she lives, but I don’t like saying “I love you” to someone I tolerate because my husband and children truly love her. My husband is aware I don’t have any particularly strong feelings towards his mother, and he’s okay with that because I’m honest and keep my personal feelings pushed back out of respect for him and our children. He feels the same about my Mom. Growing up, “I love you” was for special things. We never threw around those words unless we truly felt that way. I love a very small group of people, and she is not apart of it. It took literally 10 years for her to respect my personal space. I don’t like being touched by others unless you are my kids or my husband. When ever we would part ways, if I couldn’t avoid it, she’d say, “I know you don’t like hugs, but…” and then hug me. Almost everyone else will wait to see how I want the encounter to end. I’ve just developed a habit to say good bye on the way out the door or use my husband or children as a shield to avoid her. I don’t even force my kids to hug or say “I love you” to anyone they don’t want too, because that wasn’t an option for me—the hugging.I hate feeling like I’m being forced into something I truly don’t want. There is some bad memories of my MIL that I have moved past, but I just don’t feel really feel any one way about her. I like my husbands current stepfather more than his mother because he respects my boundaries.