Two weeks to pack up and find somewhere else to live. The daughters took offence
Sarah became a widow at an early age. She single-handedly raised both her daughters. Yet, not once did anyone hear a complaint from her. The girls grew up well and managed to obtain respectable educations, all thanks to their mothers hard work. Sarah worked two jobs just to afford their schooling.
Then one day, her eldest brought home a boyfriend, announcing hed be her future husbandthough he didnt have a place of his own. Soon after, she had a baby, and it was decided the young family would take the bedroom, leaving Sarah to share with her younger daughter.
At first, Sarah thought this was a temporary arrangement. Surely the young couple would eventually save enough for a flat of their own, and her life would return to normal. But her daughter and son-in-law didnt seem to be in any great hurry. Why would they, with a roof over their heads and the kitchen always well-stocked? It was Sarah who kept everyone fed, after all.
But instead of gratitude, there were arguments. The younger daughter grumbled that cleaning up after her brother-in-law was hardly her responsibility. The elder would reply that, between the baby and everything else, she didnt have a moment to spare. The son-in-law insisted that taking out the rubbish or washing up wasnt a mans work and spent entire days staring at his laptop.
The atmosphere at home grew so unbearable, Sarah started dreading coming back. So she gently suggested to her daughter that it might be time for her, her husband, and the baby to find a rented place of their own. All she got in return was: Were saving for a mortgage, Mum. Where are we supposed to find the money for rent? And so, they all stayed put.
The final straw came when the younger daughter marched in with her boyfriend. Mum, hes not from London, he needs to stay with us. Sarah wondered, Where on earth am I supposed to put him? The kitchen? The daughter, clearly expecting that question, calmly explained that the kitchen wasnt exactly ideal, but if Mum would move in there herself, they could have a bedroom to themselves.
That was Sarahs limit. She realised then that no one seemed to care what she wanted. If they had their way, shed probably find herself carted off to a care home before long.
She laid down the law: You have two weeks to pack your things and find another place to live. Both daughters sulked, warning that shed never see her grandchildren again, and insisting shed end up all alone in her old age. But Sarah didnt back down. If that was to be her fate, so be it. It was time they stood on their own two feet.
Her fiftieth birthday is just around the corner now. She doesnt even know if her children will come to wish her well. Do you think she did the right thing, throwing her daughters out? What would you have done in her place?
