Ask Auntie Linda, October 7, 2015

Auntie Linda

Dear Auntie Linda,  My mother-in-law just shocked us by announcing she is retiring, has sold her house, and is ready to move into our basement apartment. She didn’t ask, just announced her intentions.  We rent the apartment for five hundred dollars a month to a medical student and depend on the income.  Our current renter will be moving out in a month.  We did live with her for five years while we were saving for a house.  When my father-in-law died, she loaned us the money to remodel our house and fix up the apartment for a rental property that she could move into upon retirement. We haven’t been able to pay her back yet but really need the rental income.  We pay four hundred dollars a month for daycare and two hundred dollars monthly for maid service.  If she babysat and cleaned for us, we could manage.  She will be here handy, anyway.  My husband won’t ask her and doesn’t want me to.  He intends to get rid of our new car and give up the maid service.  I work just like he does.  I think it’s selfish of him to expect me to clean house after working all day.  How do I get him to see how selfish he is?  Caught By Surprise

Dear Caught,  Somebody is selfish.  Look in the mirror.   It’s time to pay the piper and make good on your agreement.  Do whatever you have to to meet your obligations.  Don’t insult your mother-in-law by mentioning baby-sitting and cleaning.  That wasn’t the deal.  Auntie Linda

Dear Auntie Linda,  My wife and I have been married twenty-six years.  Our marriage has been rocky from the start.  We haven’t been intimate for years and share nothing except a house. She has had several affairs.  We have two children, though the younger was fathered by one of her lovers.  I love both, and choose to be their father.  I have the opportunity to buy the family farm from my older brother’s widow. It is a great opportunity for me and my son who wants to help me farm it.  My wife refuses to go.  Is it wrong to leave a loveless marriage to take advantage of an opportunity like this?  Need New Start

Dear New Start, How does your wife feel?  She may agree with you that it’s over.  You need to make a decision that you can live with.  What would you want to do if there were no farm?  Auntie Linda

17 thoughts on “Ask Auntie Linda, October 7, 2015”

  1. Pingback: My Article Read (10-31-2015) | My Daily Musing

  2. Re ‘Caught’: her mother in law lent them the money for the remodelling for her to move into on retirement, so was thinking of her future and warning them’ in advance’ of her intentions. The fact that they haven’t repaid her yet is shameful, as that should have been a priority imo. It could even be that MIL intends to pay a nominal rent anyway. It’s a bloody cheek to expect her to babysit and clean for them though. Other mums manage a job and running a home without complaining, so it sounds like Caught’s had it pretty easy for a while. What does the son think I wonder?

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