“Mum, he wants me to do this for him… He says all good wives can do it… Does that mean I’m not good? Please teach me… If everyone else can, surely I should be able to as well…” I’m Still Amazed My Niece Found a Husband—Perhaps Just Because of Her Mum When Alina was a child, my sister refused to send her to nursery school; as a teenager, she wasn’t allowed out, she spent all her time at home—she became a bit of a recluse. When Alina was at university in our town, her mother made sure she always came home before 6pm. At 20, her mum would phone at half seven, shouting if she wasn’t home yet. It was absurd, just nonsense. Alina met her future husband in her second year at university; they studied together in the library, he was two years older, shared his notes with her, helped her out—a friendship that blossomed into love and eventually into dating. That’s when my niece began defiantly breaking her mother’s rules. The niece eventually married and her mother finally allowed her to start a new life of her own. Now let me tell you a recent story. I was at my sister’s house when Alina called, her voice breaking between tears and giggles so much we could barely understand her: “Mum, he wants me to do this for him… He says all good wives can do it… Does that mean I’m not a good wife? Please teach me… If everyone else can, surely I should be able to as well…” At that moment, my sister’s expression changed instantly; she told her daughter to calm down and asked what exactly all good wives are supposed to be able to do. “Make soup, Mum,” she said, and we burst out laughing. “Don’t laugh at me! You never taught me how, I’ve looked up recipes online but they never taste right!” So, my sister and I quickly taught her, step by step, how to make soup, giggling at each other all the while. That evening, my niece called to thank us—her husband had complimented her, saying it was delicious. And, best of all, according to her, she’s now a proper wife!

Honestly, Im still a bit staggered that my niece actually found herself a bloke, especially considering the way her mum handled things.

When Emily was little, my sister flat out refused to send her to nursery. Later, as a teenager, she wasnt allowed to go out at allshe was basically stuck at home all the time and became a bit of a hermit. When she went off to uni in London, her mum insisted she had to be back home before six every evening. She was twenty years old, and her mum would be on the phone half past seven, yelling about why she wasnt home yet. It was just bonkers, honestly.

Anyway, Emily met her future husband in her second year at uni. Theyd spend hours studying together in the libraryhe was a couple of years older, shared his notes with her, always ready to help out. Before anyone realised it, hed completely fallen for her, and not long after that, he started asking her out. Thats when Emily finally started rebelling against her mums ridiculous rules.

They did end up getting married, and after that, Emilys mum finally let her set up her own life.

But youll love thissomething hilarious happened not too long ago. I was round my sisters house when Emily phoned up, and honestly, you could hear her voice wobbling between giggles and tears, barely making sense:

“Mum, he wants me to do this for him He keeps saying, All the best women can do it So what, Im not good enough? You need to teach me! If everyone else can, so should I”

You should have seen my sisters face she went from totally calm to panic mode in two seconds flat, trying to settle Emily down and find out what it was all these so-called ‘proper women’ could do.

And then Emily blurts out, Soup, Mum! At that point, we just lost it, laughing our heads off.

She goes, Stop laughing! You never taught me how to make soup, Ive been scouring recipes online but they all turn out rubbish!

So we quickly walked her through the steps, right from the starthaving a right giggle about it as we went, of course.

Later that evening, Emily rang us back to say thank you. Apparently her husband absolutely loved it, and even told her she was a real lady now. She was absolutely chuffed, bless her!