– The kids trashed half her apartment. My mother-in-law showed them the chocolate kiddies and hid them. She said she’d only give them back in the afternoon. So they went on a prank. It seems like childish pranks, and $1200 should be paid – said Lisa.
Autumn. The season of acute respiratory infections. Although Lisa’s children attended kindergarten, but in recent months they were not out of soreness.
– My boys are always sick in the fall. In spring, summer and winter, they don’t give a damn. In such cases we have an agreement with my mother-in-law. We pay her $1200, she takes time off work and looks after the grandchildren. Everyone is happy, and I do not have to take sick leave. However, on such days the demand for mother-in-law increases, because I do not treat her as a grandmother but as a paid nanny,” says the woman.
Lysa came up with such arrangements herself, so as not to hear reproaches from her relative. She believes that any work should be paid, regardless of the relationship. If Lisa had taken sick leave every time, she would have lost more than $1200. However, this time things did not go according to plan – the grandchildren made mischief in the grandmother’s apartment, and she demanded that her daughter-in-law clean up and take them home.
If you have children, you’ve faced childish antics more than once. But the question is, would the babysitter be able to call and demand that the parents come and clean up right away? It’s her direct responsibility to watch the kids, didn’t keep track – her problem and the responsibility is on her, too.
– I was surprised, but I called my husband. We went there together. My mother-in-law’s kitchen was a global mess. Broken dishes, scattered cereal, a lot of crumbs. My mother-in-law handed me a rag to clean it up. But I wanted to find out what happened first,” Lisa said indignantly.
As it turned out, my mother-in-law had bought the grandchildren each a Kinder, but hid it so they would eat well. The boys sat down to draw and Grandma dozed off in front of the TV. She woke up and saw this mess – the grandchildren were looking for chocolate eggs. So she decided to call her daughter-in-law to clean up the mess.
The children confessed that they had opened the eggs and decided to melt the chocolate. Then they started looking for a round mold to pour it back in. While they were looking, they knocked over a tray of buckwheat. If my grandmother hadn’t woken up, they would have cleaned it up themselves. These were the words of 5 year old kids.
– My husband freaked out and took the rag away and handed it to my mother. He said he shouldn’t have been sleeping, he should have been watching the kids. My mother-in-law was offended, but did not say anything. But the next morning she didn’t open the door when we brought our sons. My husband had to take them to work with him. I called her later to pick up the things. My mother-in-law said that since we had done that to her, she would no longer babysit the boys. That is, we are still to blame! But what if the children were to spill boiling water or start a fire? We were relying on her responsibility, we could have left the boys at home. My husband refused to pay her money, said it was a penalty for dereliction of duty, – sighs Lisa.
The situation is complicated, but everyone is to blame. Lisa wanted to settle accounts with her mother-in-law secretly, but did not want to provoke a family scandal. However, even $1200 is a trifle, she does not want to spoil relations because of it.
Grandmother or babysitter who failed to cope with their responsibilities? What would you have done in Lisa’s place? Maybe you should have given your mother-in-law the money?
