Being a first-time mom, Jenna found it hard to balance between taking care of her newborn baby and having everything done around the house. Still, she did her best to have her little one well-fed and leave the place spotless. On top of everything, she ran errands and made dinner every single day.
Her husband, John, thought it would be nice if his mother moved in with them for some time and help with the housework. Hearing his words, Jenna felt a sense of relief. She was aware that it truly takes a village to raise a child, and her mother-in-law seemed like the right person to be around.
Sadly, what Jenna didn’t know was that her MIL’s presence would bring more trouble than comfort.
During the first days of her stay, the MIL started inviting guests over. Not only she wasn’t offering any help, but she also added an additional layer of stress to Jenna’s everyday struggles.
Between changing diapers, breastfeeding her sweet bundle of joy, and soothing him to sleep, she could barely find the time to eat anything.
It was her MIL who was supposed to take care of the dinner, and Jenna felt at least she wouldn’t spend much time in the kitchen, but one night, as she put the baby to sleep and went downstairs, she noticed there wasn’t any food left for her. Her MIL, nonchalantly said, “Well, you didn’t come down, so we assumed you weren’t hungry.” These words cut deeper than Jenna’s actual hunger.
Things took even worse turn when John didn’t react at his mom’s words. On top of that, he demanded Jenna to clean the mess and wash the dishes, saying she wasn’t doing anything anyway.
Jenna was hurt so deep that she finally decided to confront John and his mother. But they accused her of being lazy and started yelling at her.
Unable to tolerate how they treated her, Jenna took some of her clothes, her baby, and went to her mother’s place.
But even there, John called her on the phone non-stop, demanding that she apologize to his mother.
He wasn’t able to see the emotional toll his mother’s presence and his lack of support did Jenna.
She was heartbroken and couldn’t see a way out until she thought of contacting the one person in the family who was always very realistic and reasonable; her father-in-law.
When she contacted him, he was totally unaware of what was going on but was very supportive and told her to get ready because he was taking her back home.
When they arrived at Jenna’s place, they saw John and his mother watching TV together and laughing.
When they saw John’s dad, both John and his mother became dead-serious.
He turned to his wife and said, “It was enough. You did a lot of damage and it’s time you return home. You are no longer staying with John and Jenna.” The MIL didn’t object.
He then turned to John and said he should be more supportive of his wife who had only given birth to their son five weeks ago. John, ashamed, agreed.
In the days to come, things seemed to settle down.
When the MIL visited, she was in deed helping around the house, and her visits were brief. John became more present and supportive, taking an active role in caring for their son and helping with household tasks.
It was all thanks to Jenna’s father-in-law that her piece and quiet returned.
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