During my childhood, my mother and I lived a simple and comfortable life at home. My father was away from home all year round because of his work, and he rarely came home.
She always smiled kindly, as if she had never been angry.
One day, I made a mistake that caused a family storm. That day, I was boiling porridge, and my mother went out temporarily for something, asked me to take care of the boiler and not let the porridge go, and then left in a hurry.
When my daughter-in-law came back and saw this scene, she immediately reprimanded me loudly, saying that I was careless. I hurriedly explained, but she didn't listen and continued to lose her temper.
When my daughter-in-law saw her mother-in-law coming, she immediately stopped talking and turned around to stop paying attention to me. My mother-in-law walked up to me, patted me on the shoulder, and said to me gently, "Son, be quick and don't make such a mistake."
After a few days, my mother-in-law made three decisions: one was to live independently and no longer help us with household chores every day, the second was to stipulate that every adult should pay a small monthly living allowance, including me, and the third was that she would not enter other people's kitchens again, no matter what the circumstances.
Hearing these three decisions of the mother-in-law, the daughter-in-law's face changed suddenly, and she said with some displeasure: "Mom, why do you say that? Aren't we a family?" The mother-in-law replied firmly: "I help you with housework out of willingness, but not obligation.
We are a family, but we rely on ourselves to provide for the elderly, and I hope you can understand.
My daughter-in-law was silent after hearing this, and I also felt a little at a loss. Such a decision is indeed a bit un Xi familiar to us.
Since then, the house has become a bit deserted, and my mother-in-law no longer comes to help with household chores every day. We also send her a small amount of living expenses every month according to the regulations.
This series of decisions by my mother-in-law made me think more deeply about family and family affection. Between family members, there is a need for respect and understanding, and you can't always rely on others.
I started to pay more attention to my mother-in-law's independent life. She walks in the park near the neighborhood every day, and occasionally attends health talks and dance classes at the community's senior center.
I secretly admired her courage and independent spirit, and felt that I should learn to be more independent.
However, an accident made me wonder if my mother-in-law's independent life was really that perfect.
I went up to her and asked her what had happened, and she told me that she had just checked out at the supermarket and found that her wallet was missing, and that there was some cash in it in addition to her ID card and some bank cards, and she was in a hurry.
I had doubts about my mother-in-law's independent life, and although she seemed to be living a comfortable life on the surface, her life was still full of many accidents and challenges.
At the same time, I also had a conflict in my heart, because I didn't know how to intervene in my mother-in-law's life and help her without making her feel that she had lost her dignity of independence.
This incident made me think about it for a long time, and I decided to find a suitable opportunity to have a good talk with my mother-in-law.
During this time, I was always trying to find the right words and timing, but I was always hesitant.
Soon, a new contradiction arose. One day, I came home to find that the flower pot at the door had been knocked over, and the flowers in the pot had been trampled on.
It turned out that the daughter-in-law bought a new fish tank and goldfish and wanted to put them in the living room, but the mother-in-law disagreed, thinking that placing the fish tank would affect the cleanliness and air quality of the living room.
"Why are you so stubborn, this is my home, I have the final say!" the daughter-in-law's voice was a little sharp.
"You have the final say, it's my pension to support you, can't I even raise any opinions?" the mother-in-law also began to get angry.
I hurriedly stopped their quarrel and said, "Daughter-in-law, this matter can be discussed, don't quarrel at every turn."
However, the daughter-in-law insisted on saying: "She always meddles in our affairs, I'm fed up!"
Not to be outdone, the mother-in-law replied: "I don't want to interfere with you, but this is my home, and I have the right to speak."
I persuaded for a while to no avail, and my daughter-in-law pointed at her mother-in-law and said a lot of ugly things.
While adapting to her mother-in-law's independent life, the atmosphere at home has also become a little tense. My father was busy with work and only came home once a few months.
And I am often blamed by my daughter-in-law for not being thoughtful and not being spoiled like I was when I was weak.
"Why don't you come to help anymore? Don't you feel sorry for me at all when all the housework is on me?" the daughter-in-law's voice was resentful.
"Didn't I say that I need to be independent now. I hope you understand. You are your son's wife and should share some of the housework well.
The argument upset me. I knew that my father would be annoyed by the quarrel between his daughter-in-law and mother-in-law when he came home.
I began to think that maybe I alone could solve all this.