One day before the vacations, my husband suggested we spend the summer at his parents’ summer house. We have two children in the family, a 9-year-old schoolboy is just going on vacation all summer, and a 7-month-old baby would be better off outdoors in the fresh air than in the stuffy city. My husband assured me that his parents would not mind, they would be happy to spend time with their grandchildren, besides, they know very well how difficult it is with small children, so they would not demand too much from us.
I believed that it would be a good opportunity to spend the summer for all of us and agreed. As time proved, I was very wrong…
My husband and father-in-law didn’t want to stay in the country, almost immediately returned home to work and they showed up at the cottage only on weekends, expecting the table to be laid, the house cleaned, and in general, to create conditions for them to relax after the work week. All weekdays I stayed at the cottage with the children and my mother-in-law.
A couple of minutes were enough for the older child to turn over everything in the small country house, so I had to watch him all the time. My youngest daughter was still an infant; apart from taking care of her, I had to eat and sleep properly, so that my milk was not lost. Such tension and stress I have not experienced in the city, so to enjoy life in nature was out of the question.
Work with my mother-in-law immediately divided – she is engaged in greenhouses and seedbeds, I’m home and cooking. For the children we decided to take turns to watch. Because of my daughter’s night feedings, I went to bed early, around 9 p.m. My mother-in-law was still doing her best in the garden. Every day, when I put the kids to bed, I would ask if she needed help, but she always refused.
I silently endured all the domestic difficulties of dacha life and thought that my mother-in-law and I had a good relationship.
As it turned out, I was very much mistaken. Everything became clear when my husband, who came for the weekend, took me aside and told me that his mother was mad at me. It turned out she was tired in the garden. And no help from me, just sleeping all the time. My husband even quoted me his mother’s words that a daughter-in-law should get up earlier and go to bed later than her mother-in-law by at least two hours.
I also pissed the woman off the fact that I didn’t make the children’s beds after their daytime nap, it turned out to be contrary to her ideas about hygiene.
I may not be a perfect hostess, but I don’t understand why I have to exhaust myself in the garden just to please my mother-in-law.