З життя
«Свекруха перетворює вихідні на каторгу: Ми не погоджувалися на таку роботу!»
“Ми не наймалися до вас у робітники!” — як свекруха перетворює вихідні на каторгу
Якби мені хтось сказав рік тому, що мої рідкісні, такі довгоочікувані вихідні стануть тяжкою працею, від якої болять кістки, а сльози підступають до очей — я б не повірила. Та тепер це реальність. Все тому, що моя свекруха, поважна Людмила Петрівна, вирішила: раз ми з Артемом мешкаємо у багатоповерхівці та не маємо городу, то в нас і клопотів нема, а вільного часу — море. Отже, нас можна використовувати на повну.
Ми з Артемом одружилися трохи більше року тому. Святкували скромно — грошей було обмаль, а жили ми у місті, де кожна гривня на вазі. Мої батьки допомогли з квартирою — купили нам однушку у вторинному житлі. Звісно, стан її був далекий від ідеалу, тож ми відразу задумали ремонт. Не одразу, але з весни почали поступово: тут змінили кран, там переклеїли шпалери, на кухні постелили лінолеум. Грошей не вистачало, часу — тим більше.
А ось у батьків Артема — приватний дім у селі, господарство, величезний город, кури, качки, коза і навіть дві корови. Живуть вони в передмісті, де ще з радянських часів тримаються за землю. Та все це — їхній вибір, адже вони самі це розпочали. Ми поважали їхню працю, але завжди вважали, що в кожного своє життя.
Та свекруха вирішила інакше. Лише дізналася, що ми живемо «у теплі, без городів і клопотів», як одразу почала нас активно кликати. Спочатку — «просто в гості». А потім — що суботи та неділі, немов за графіком: «приїжджайте допомогти». Не «погостювати», не «відпочити від міста», а саме — працювати. Від самого порогу — у руки швабру, мотику чи відро. Посміхнись — і йди на город.
Спочатку я думала — ну добре, поїдемо пару разів, покажемо, що ми не чужі. Допоможемо, чим зможемо. Артем теж намагався відмовляти маму: мовляв, у нас ремонт, немає часу, важка робота. Але впертість Людмили Петрівни не має меж. «Ви у місті сидите — немов королі. А у нас тут все на мені!». Аргументи про втому її не хвилювали. «Ну чим ви можете займатися у тій своїй квартирі? — обурювалася вона. — Ми вас виростили, а тепер і ви маєте допомагати!»
Я, чесно, хотіла бути гарною невісткою. Не конфліктувати. Але все закінчилося, коли під час чергового приїзду, лише ми зайшли до хати, свекруха вручила мені відро з водою та ганчірку: «Поки я варю борщ, ти вимий увесь підлогу — аж до лазні і назад. А Артемові скажи, нехай іде стругати дошки — мені курника треба лагодити». Я хотіла ввічливо відмовитися — сказала, що втомилася після робочого тижня. Але вона навіть слухати не стала. Немов я — її наймовАле цього разу я не змогла більше мовчати і рішуче поставила відро на підлогу, дивлячись їй прямо у вічі: “Ні, Людмило Петрівно, сьогодні я не працюватиму, бо мої руки належать мені, а не вам”.
Why Does It Matter Who Looked After Gran? By Law, That Flat Should Be Mine! — My Mum Argues With Me Over My Grandmother’s Home My Own Mother is Threatening to Sue Me — All Because My Gran’s Flat Went Not to Her, or Even to Me, But to My Daughter. Mum Claims It’s Unfair, Insists the Flat Should Be Hers. But Gran Made a Different Choice. Why? Perhaps Because My Husband and I Lived With Her and Cared for Her Those Last Five Years. You Could Easily Call My Mum Selfish — Her Needs Were Always Far More Important Than Anyone Else’s. Mum’s Been Married Three Times, But Only Had Two Daughters: My Younger Sister and Me. We Get On Brilliantly, But Neither of Us Has a Great Relationship With Mum. I Don’t Even Remember My Dad — He Split From Mum When I Was Two. Up Until I Was Six, I Lived With Mum at Gran’s. For Some Reason, I Thought Gran Was Awful — Probably Because Mum Was Always Crying. Only When I Grew Up Did I Understand: Gran Was Good, She Just Wanted to Help Her Daughter Make a Better Life. Later, Mum Married Again and We All Moved In With My Stepfather. That’s When My Sister Was Born. But After Seven Years, Mum Got Divorced Again. This Time, We Didn’t Go Back to Gran’s. Stepfather Went Off to Work and Let Us Stay in His Flat for a Bit. Three Years Later, Mum Married Husband Number Three and We Moved In With Him. He Wasn’t Pleased Mum Had Children, Though He Never Hurt Us — He Just Ignored Us. So Did Mum. She Was Obsessed With Her New Husband, Always Jealous, Always Causing Rows and Breaking Crockery. Once a Month Mum Would Start Packing, But Stepfather Always Talked Her Round. My Sister and I Got Used to It and Stopped Noticing. I Ended Up Looking After My Sister — Mum Didn’t Have the Time. Thank Goodness for Our Grandmothers, Who Helped Us So Much. Eventually, I Left for University, and My Sister Moved In With Gran. Our Dad Always Supported Her; Mum Would Call Us Only at Christmas. I Accepted Mum For Who She Was and Stopped Expecting Her to Care, But My Sister Never Did. She Was Always Hurt, Especially When Mum Skipped Her School Leavers’ Party. We Grew Up. My Sister Got Married and Moved Away. I Was Living With My Long-Term Boyfriend; We Visited Gran Often and Stayed Close, Though I Tried Not to Be a Nuisance. When Gran Fell Ill and Went Into Hospital, I Visited Every Day: Shopping, Cooking, Cleaning, Chatting, Making Sure She Took Her Medicine. Sometimes My Boyfriend Helped Out Too. After Six Months, Gran Suggested We Move In to Save for Our Own Place, So We Did. Six Months Later, I Was Pregnant. We Got Married, Had a Simple Family Do — Mum Didn’t Come, Not Even a Phone Call. When My Daughter Was Two Months Old, Gran Broke Her Leg. Caring for Both Was Hard and I Desperately Needed Mum’s Help, But She Refused, Saying She Wasn’t Well and Would Come Later. She Never Did. Six Months On, Gran Had a Stroke and Was Bedridden. If Not for My Husband, I Don’t Know How I’d Have Coped. Gran Slowly Improved, She Even Got to See Her Great-Granddaughter Take Her First Steps, and Lived Another Two-and-a-Half Years. She Passed Away Peacefully in Her Sleep. My Husband and I Were Devastated By Her Loss. Mum Only Came for the Funeral. A Month Later, She Tried to Evict Me So She Could Have the Flat. Mum Hadn’t Realised Gran Had Left It to My Daughter Right After She Was Born. Naturally Mum Was Furious, Demanding I Give Up the Flat or She’d Sue Me. “Look How Deceitful You Are! You Duped the Old Woman, Took Her Flat, And Now You Live In It Yourself! You Won’t Get Away With This! It Doesn’t Matter Who Looked After Gran — That Flat Should Be Mine!” But Mum Won’t Get That Flat, I Know That for Certain. I’ve Spoken to a Solicitor and a Notary. We’ll Stay in the Home Gran Gave Us, and If Our Second Child Is a Girl, She’ll Be Named After Gran.
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