I have a young mother-in-law, Maria, who is only 40 years old. She married early and was already a mom when she was 18, my husband was born, and a year later his brother was born. She and her husband had a great love, they were waiting for her to finish school and him to come home from the army.
According to my husband, they had a very happy family. Maria finished accounting courses right after high school and started her career in a small store, then studied by correspondence, now she is the chief accountant in some reputable firm.
When her husband was ten years old, his father crashed his car in a terrible accident. So from then on, Maria raised the boys on her own. Taught them to be independent and explicitly said that as soon as they graduate from school, she stops taking care of them.
Young men set sail on their own. While her sons were in school, she took care of tutors so that they could enter the institute on a budget, she would not pay for their studies, so my sons had to choose a profession right away.
And so we got married. We are both students. Maria paid part of the costs of the celebration, gave us a wedding trip and said: “Have a good trip, you’re on your own now.” And she disappeared from our lives. Sometimes she’d call and ask: “How are you?” and that’s it.
My younger brother is still living with my mother, he went to the institute, but my mother stopped financing him, too: “I will not support a grown-up man”. We had a daughter. My mother-in-law congratulated her, brought a huge gift consisting of diapers, diapers and other hygiene products. She kissed everyone and disappeared.
She has a busy personal life. She rides her bike on weekends, takes part in hikes and competitions. In the winter, she skis and does many other activities. She has even developed a love affair. We ask her to babysit her granddaughter, and she says: “You’re on your own.” We ask her for money to pay the rent and she says: “You’re on your own. I raised my kids without grandma’s help. You can do it too.”
What kind of indifference is this? When my husband was alone, he had enough money of his own, and now there are three of us, and my mother-in-law does not want to help. My parents are already retired, I am the youngest child in the family, they do not have enough money themselves. Sometimes they throw in some vegetables from the summer house. And here Maria’s personal life is flourishing.
And recently she told us: “If I need a child, I’ll get married and have a child. And you’re on your own somehow.”
Sure, she gives us occasional gifts, but it’s not enough. And when I got seriously ill with the flu, she took care of my granddaughter, and my husband took care of me. But as soon as I felt better, she waved goodbye: “Now you do it yourself.
That’s my mother-in-law.
