Helping people and being kind to others is an amazing thing that any human being can do. Supporting family members when they need it is something that many of us do without hesitation. Whether it’s offering emotional support, lending a hand with chores or financial assistance, we do it because we love our family and want to see them happy and living a fulfilling life. However, it can be hurtful when we put in effort to help our loved ones, only to receive complaints or criticism in return and understand that they would never do the same for us.

More info: Reddit

Help and support – that’s what families are all about, right? Well, not always

Image credits: Paul Kapischka (not the actual image)

Woman asked the community if she was wrong for giving her in-laws options after living at her family house rent-free with no contribution

Image credits: u/Decent-Reputation231

Image credits: Ivan Oboleninov  (not the actual image)

The argument occurred after OP asked her SIL to look after her daughter, but instead she gave this task to her 13-year-old son

Image credits: u/Decent-Reputation231

Image credits: Sarah Chai (not the actual image)

The author was called a jerk for making them sign a lease agreement, because, according to the in-laws, she intended to evict them

The Reddit user “Decent-Reputation231” shared her story to one of Reddit’s communities to ask its members whether she’s wrong for threatening to make her in-laws homeless if they don’t contribute in any way. The post went viral immediately – after 2 days it got 17K upvotes and 1.4K members were engaged in the discussion in the comment section.

The OP starts the story with a brief overview regarding dynamics in her family. The woman shares how she is the main source for her household income and her husband took over all the duties at home. Under unknown circumstances, the husband’s family (sister, her husband and teen kid) had lost their home; the author’s family welcomed them into their rental suite in the basement. The woman added that because of the stories which she has heard when people state that they are tenants, she had them sign a lease.

Recently, the author and her spouse needed someone to watch their daughter as they were both quite busy and there wasn’t much notice in advance. She asked her sister-in-law to watch the baby. And surprise surprise, the woman gave this task to her 13-year-old son, and in the meantime she took a nap.

After figuring out this whole new agenda, the author discussed the situation with her husband and agreed that his family needs to start paying the rent, leave or help with the household duties. After presenting these options to the in-laws, the OP was named a jerk for making them sign a lease and not collecting so she could easily evict them.

The author added more information soon after sharing the post that her in-laws don’t have a job at the moment. There is no information which decision was made, but I am guessing that they stayed in the house.

Image credits: Keira Burton (not the actual image)

The members of this online community justified the poster and gave her a “Not the A-hole” badge. Well, after deeper investigation in the comment section, it is safe to say that the in-laws were wrong in this situation and the author solved the problem the right way. Folks even joked about why the sister-in-law was napping, knowing that she has no job or even no small kid to look after. “I guess running from responsibility can wear you out?” Some people also shared their stories and how they would solve this situation.

For context, according to Linda Nguyen, the finance topic is one of the most frequent sources of conflict in families. The family can experience a great deal of stress as a result of financial uncertainty. A frequent example of this is when a person loses their job or experiences chronic sickness or disability. However, even when finances are stable, fights can start from discussing spending, savings or investments. Another topic that causes the most arguments is parenting style. Jeremy Pollack, who is the CEO of Pollack Peacebuilding Systems, also states that money is the first and foremost reason for family fights. 

Additionally, one of the most common conflict types is in-law-related. Well, that is no surprise, because when adding a new set of parents or another adult to the household, personality conflicts are common. And of course, family events conflict. Planning an event is already stressful enough and having family members constantly arguing about minor issues or responsibilities can lead to a heated conversation.

So, how would you have solved this situation? What’s your take on this story?

The majority of community members agreed – the author of the story was not a jerk in this situation

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