Ever since I was a child I adored the family structure of my parents. Both my parents, my dad and my mom are military, so everything in our family was always clear. They would split the money equally for the family, and they earned an apartment together. No one ever shied away from their chores or their “shifts” of babysitting. It is not strange that under such conditions, Mom and Dad never had any conflicts. They shared all responsibilities equally, so there was nothing to quarrel about.
So when I grew up, I knew clearly that I wanted exactly the same arrangement in my family. I was used to clarity and equality. So I looked for a husband who would agree to this kind of relationship. I met my husband when I was 24 years old, we dated for a year, and then he asked me to be his wife.
Of course, we immediately agreed on everything. We will contribute to the family budget equally, according to a predetermined amount. We will equally invest money in order to go somewhere, to buy something in the house, such as furniture, and on the child we will add up too. Since we will live with my husband in an apartment, I will take care of most of the payment of utilities.
Well, the rest of the money from my salary, we’ll spend each of us at his discretion. And you know, the first six years we had everything clear, everything was as we decided. We even divided household duties and everyone performed their functions when it was necessary. Not a single conflict in six years, given that we also had a child that we watched on a “shift” basis. And everything would have gone on very well, I’m sure. Such a system works, if it weren’t for people on the outside. Once my mother-in-law came to visit us and began to tell my husband everything, saying, “What does the apartment look like? And what does it look like? The apartment is like an apartment. But to my mother-in-law the apartment looked terrible – old wallpaper, soviet furniture, it was impossible to live in it. My mother-in-law left, my husband didn’t say anything to me.
A couple of days later some of my husband’s friends came and one lady also managed to say something about our renovation, that the apartment looked old. After such a visit my husband was not himself, in a furious state began to yell at me that for six years of life we did not even bother to make repairs. Well, why me? The apartment is his, and the money he always had left from his salary. And so he gave me – they say, let’s take credit to make repairs to the apartment. But what do I need? I do not need it – the house is not mine, why should I invest there? But my spouse insists. On the one hand I do not want to lose the relationship. On the other – what if we divorce, and I spent so much money on his repairs. How should I be?
