I Couldn’t Figure Out Where My Wife’s Home-Cooked Meals Were Disappearing—Then My Mother-in-Law Told…

You know, at first I was genuinely glad to have my mother-in-law with us, because she was a real help. Our little boy is often poorly, so we decided not to send him to nursery for the time being. My wife asked her mum, Margaret, to help look after him while were at work.

Margaret was happy to do it, but only on the condition that she stayed at ours during the day, then went home to her own place in the evenings she likes her peace and quiet at night.

Sometimes, if something important crops up in the evening or we fancy going out for a bit, we ask a neighbour to keep an eye on our son instead. We dont want to wear Margaret out any more than necessary.

At first, everything ran like clockwork. Wed rush home, find the little one fed and changed, and Margaret would still be there waiting for us. After a while, though, she started heading home before we got back.

My wife, Emily, always makes enough food for a couple of days she likes being organised that way. And every month, we give Margaret an envelope with a bit of cash as a way of saying thanks for her time.

Then I started to notice that all the food Emily cooked was just vanishing. Margaret barely eats a thing, and lets be honest, the kid eats even less. I couldnt figure out where it was all going, so in the end I just asked Margaret about it outright.

Turns out, her husband my father-in-law, Peter pops round in the afternoons. Margaret gives him some food to take home with him because he doesnt get a chance to cook much in the evenings. So now, apparently, Peter eats at ours, too.

Honestly, I didnt know what to say. Margaret goes straight home in the evening, and frankly, how hard can it be to whip up something simple when you get in? I mean, Id get it if Peter joined us for dinner once a week, but every single day is a bit much.

The worst bit is, theres barely anything left for us come dinnertime. Emily just stays quiet about it, but when we did the maths, itd probably cost less to hire a full-time nanny.

I cant say Im thrilled about how Margaret and Peter are going about things. Emily keeps telling me to leave it, but I cant help but wonder do they not realise weve got to watch our pennies too? We give Margaret money each month for helping with our son, but somehow theyre eating half our groceries too. Has anyone else found themselves in a situation like this?