For weekends, my mother did everything at the lake house while my mother-in-law, Susan, treated the place like a resort. Mom woke up, cooked breakfast, cleaned, changed beds, washed towels, and drove for groceries. Susan left coffee cups beside her lounger and barely thanked her. The last straw came when Susan told Mom to move flower boxes because they blocked her view. Mom carried every box behind the trash cans without protesting.
I could not watch anymore. At five the morning, I found Mom’s dry-erase board and wrote WEEKEND JOBS across the top. Daniel would clean breakfast, Richard would shop, I would make lunch, and Susan would make breakfast. Dinner would rotate. At the bottom I wrote, “Mom: enjoy your house,” underlining your twice. Mom found me before sunrise and begged me to erase it. Then Susan came downstairs, saw the board, and asked why guests were being given chores.
Click continue reading below for Part2
