When my son Alex told me he wanted to get married, I was very happy. The fact is that I had been a widow for three years. I was very lonely. I really wanted to be friends with my daughter-in-law and really hoped that I would help my son and daughter-in-law with their grandchildren. But I wasn’t able to develop a good relationship with my daughter-in-law. That’s why I tried to just stay out of my son and his wife’s life.
But there were a lot of things I didn’t like about Sarah. I really didn’t like the way she cleaned the apartment. There was a lot of dust in the apartment because Sarah very rarely did wet cleaning. But I kept quiet and didn’t make any remarks to her. I also didn’t like the fact that Sarah hardly ever cooked any food. She fed her son mostly convenience foods. And they often went to cafes and restaurants. And that is so expensive.
So as not to quarrel with my daughter-in-law, I started inviting my son to visit me after work. I tried to feed him a delicious home-cooked meal. And then it was Sarah’s birthday. I asked her:
– Will you invite guests?
– Of course we will!
– Let me come over early and help you cook!
– No, that’s okay. Thank you, but we’ve already ordered dinner at the restaurant. I don’t want to waste my time cooking. I want to look good on my birthday. I don’t want to look like a squeezed lemon.
– But when I was young, I used to cook everything myself and manage it all! It’s so expensive to eat in a restaurant.
– Don’t count our money! We’re not asking you for money! We make good money ourselves! – My daughter-in-law answered me.
But I do not agree with her. After all, Sarah gets a very small salary, and spend it on herself: to visit beauty salons and on clothes. And everything else is paid for by my son. Several years have passed. During that time, Sarah gave birth to two children.
I hated the way Sarah was raising my grandchildren. The children grew up very spoiled and were not denied anything. The children could go to bed at midnight and they were not accustomed to order. They spent a lot of time with their phones and tablets.
And I was afraid to say a word, because I was afraid of fighting with my son and daughter-in-law. And then recently my son told me the terrible news. It turned out that he and Sara had decided to sell the summer house that I had given them a year ago. It was a dacha that my husband loved very much. My husband and I loved it very much, and we used to go there often. We also grew vegetables there, and there was a very nice garden.
After my husband died, I went to the dacha for several years, but it was very hard for me to work there anymore. That’s why I gave my dacha to my son. I thought he would rest there with his wife and children.
But Sara didn’t like it. She doesn’t want to go there. She doesn’t like the fact that the toilet is outside and the water has to be taken from the well. And the fact that the children can breathe fresh air there and swim in the clean river – Sarah is not interested. That is why the son and his wife and decided to sell the cottage.
– And what about the memory of his father? I thought you would go there to rest as a family!
– No, we’re not going to go there. Well, what kind of vacation is there?! We’d rather go to the sea to rest! – My son told me.
And I was so offended…
