When I was privileged to still have a mother-in-law O”H, I called her “Mom” just as I did my own mother O”H. I spoke to each of them on a daily basis. In the case of my own mom, I was extremely close with her, more than just mother and daughter,and I truly enjoyed her company. So did my husband. She truly was his other mother. My mother-in-law was unfortunately ill and bedridden from the day I met her. She was also almost totally blind. But I knew from all the stories I had heard about her, what an amazing and wonderful person she had always been, and the chessed she had always shown others, often putting their needs ahead of her own (my husband is the same way). Since I knew what it meant to her to hear from me, I made a point of calling every day to fill her in on the naarishkeit details of my day, the chochmos of the children, etc. She really looked forward to those calls, my father-in-law told me after she passed away, and it was a real lifeline to her to know we were always thinking of her.
Each time I gave birth, we always stopped by my in-laws on the way home from the hospital, so Mom could “hold” the baby (She had no ability to hold a fork in her hand, much less the baby, but we held the baby to her arms). Then we went back to my parents’ house, where I recuperated from the birth for two weeks. My in-laws were thus able to be a part of the excitement, and we made a point of visiting every Sunday, either for the whole day or for a couple of hours when that was not feasible. If there was a yom tov during the weekend, we made it another time.
I know there are some people who might feel some of this was excessive (so some of my friends used to tell me), but my in-laws are both gone now, and I have the satisfaction of knowing I made my M-i-l’s life a little happier, and it cost me nothing more than a few extra side trips, phone calls, and visits, which were as beneficial to me as they were to her. Plus, the lessons of kibud av v’em that our children witnessed, help them grow into wonderful adults. Lest you think this was one-sided, my parents were also visited frequently, but they were also able to come to visit US, whereas my in-laws could not do so at any time.