My husband’s family is truly wonderful. Though his parents have a daughter of their own, they’ve always treated me like their own child.
My mother-in-law is an exceptionally wise woman. We’ve never had a single argument, not even over the smallest things. She has a way of making remarks so gently and tactfully that I’ve always taken them in stride.
My husband’s sister married years ago, but despite that, we were the ones who gave his parents their first grandchildren. Their daughter wanted to live for herself for a while, not yet ready for children.
My in-laws adore our kids. They spoil them with gifts now and then, doing everything to keep them happy.
My mother-in-law often says to me:
*“When will Sophie finally give us grandchildren? It would be so lovely! She’s already thirty—high time she started thinking about it.”*
Then, the long-awaited joy arrived. Sophie got pregnant. Everyone was thrilled, even my little daughter, who couldn’t wait to meet her cousin.
But then something happened that left me unsettled.
I was walking my son in the park when an acquaintance stopped me. After some small talk, she asked if Sophie had given birth yet. I said it would be any day now.
Then she said,
*“How do you feel about it? You know things will be different now, don’t you? Your in-laws will have a grandchild who’s ‘proper’—their real grandchild.”*
I stared at her.
*“What do you mean, ‘proper’?”*
*“Come on, think about it! You gave them grandchildren, but now it’s their daughter’s child.”*
Her words felt bizarre. So, a daughter’s children are ‘real,’ but a son’s aren’t? What nonsense is that?
I’m still certain nothing will change between me and my in-laws after Sophie’s baby arrives, but that conversation left a strange residue in my mind.
Do some grandmothers really divide grandchildren like this, caring more about who bore them—their son or their daughter?
