When my son brought his fiancée Natalia to meet us, I was thrilled.
Natalia was not only beautiful, but also nice, you could see that she sincerely loved my Andrzej, cared for him and tried not to upset him. She is also a good housewife – she can cook and keeps the house clean. In short, almost the perfect wife. Shortly after we met, my son announced that he and Natalia had decided to get married. Once again, I was happy – he couldn't have found a better wife. That's what I thought at the time. But the situation changed in just a few weeks and I guess it's a good thing it ended this way and not otherwise.
Initially, Andrzej and Natalia wanted to live in a rented apartment. My son said the same thing when we talked about preparations for the upcoming ceremony: “Mom, we'll save up for a mortgage payment. Then we'll buy our own apartment.” True – they had no other choice, so I didn't bother thinking of anything – And then, maybe, Dad and I will help. We'll remember that.
I meant financial help. For example, contributing to the apartment, helping with food and clothing. For everyday needs that every family has, especially a young one. As it turned out, however, my son and daughter-in-law treated my promise of help in their own way. So crooked that my hair almost went grey when I heard their request two weeks before the wedding.
They came to our place in the evening and after drinking a cup of tea they started talking. Andrzej was the first to speak, as the head of the future family: “Mom, Dad. Remember that you promised to help us with Natalia if you could?”
My son and future daughter-in-law asked us to let them live with us. In our apartment. They promised to pay exactly half of the rent, groceries, all kinds of household expenses, etc. You might think it would be a sin to refuse young people, but not in our case.
Our apartment was too small for us. In one room with a kitchen and a small bathroom it would be too tight. They didn't even seem offended. They were just quiet and said they were very disappointed in us. They said they expected help, and we had cheated them. Three days later Andrzej said he and Natalia were breaking up. The wedding was canceled, the deposit was taken from the restaurant, and the invitations were withdrawn.
Unexpected, right? I was surprised too. They couldn't break up just because my husband and I wouldn't let them live in our 30-square-meter apartment.
-Natalia decided that living with me was too expensive and suggested we break up – explained my son.
She didn't want to pay rent, she wanted to save up for her own apartment as soon as possible. In my opinion, this is a strange approach. Marriages should be entered into for love, not on the principle of “expensive-cheap”. That's probably the best thing. Who knows what Natalia would have thought of later and what plan she would have come up with to have her own apartment on mortgage as soon as possible!
Take a look: From real life. “If this woman shows up at our house again, I'll leave”: I gave my husband a choice