Me and my mother-in-law

I sometimes make fun of my poor self since I'm married. Well, I am lucky to have a good relation with my mother-in-law, the "oh, so feared mother-in-law". Yesterday I heard some funny sayings about it:

• Quand on achète une maison, on regarde les poutres et quand on "prend femme", on regarde sa mère. When you buy a house, you check the beams and when you get married, have a look at your fiancée's mother.
• Le mariage n'est pas la mer à boire, c'est la belle-mère à avaler. Difficult to translate: Marriage is not as difficult as drinking the sea's water, but standing the mother-in-law.