My husband and I bought a plot with a summer house a year and a half ago. Of course, it cost us a lot of money.

From real life. "We bought a plot of land with a summer house, but the children still hang out there": They do nothing to help us

We were very happy because we had been dreaming about it for a long time. We planted a garden and came there often. After all, there is always something to plant on the plot during the season. At first, my son and daughter just laughed at our involvement in the garden.

Of course, my husband and I often invited our children over for weekends. However, neither our daughter and her husband nor our son and his girlfriend were particularly eager to help. The children were always happy to grill and relax outdoors, but they never liked to dig in the garden.

Of course, if we asked, they would help, but they would quickly get bored with their work and start asking to go to the river or the forest for a walk. This summer, my son and daughter started to come there more often. Sometimes together, sometimes separately, they went to the plot every weekend. Recently, they even took the keys to the cottage away from us and asked us to stay at home.

It all started with my daughter's birthday at the end of May. Kasia turned thirty, so she decided to invite young people to the plot at the cottage. My husband and I didn't object. Of course, it was much cheaper than taking the whole company to a restaurant. And you can make noise and dance there all night long. After all, the neighbors in the countryside like to party themselves, so they won't be outraged or complain.

The birthday was on Saturday. And on Sunday, when we arrived, both the plot and the house were already cleaned up. Even the trash had been taken out of the plot and into the container. Only the balloons tied to the fence and trees reminded me of the holiday.

Just two weeks later, my son asked for the keys to the cottage. He said he wanted to organize a romantic date with his girlfriend. They wanted to spend the night in a tent, watch the shooting stars… And again the same story – they rested, cleaned up after themselves, and then, almost the entire summer, my daughter and son went there for weekends. They went with friends or with their significant others.

It seems they already worked out a schedule of who would spend Saturdays at the cottage and when. But no one even thought about weeding or mowing the lawn. After all, my husband and I did not invest so much money and work to let our crops die. Recently, it has happened that the children visit the plot much more often than we do.

I didn't know how to start the subject so as not to offend the children, but my husband presented the situation to them without beating around the bush. He said that of course, they could take the keys and go to the plot, but that what we no longer had the strength to do would have to be taken care of next Saturday: weeding the vegetable beds, mowing the lawn, tidying up the greenhouses and greenhouses, watering all the crops and flowers on the plot, picking early vegetables, and a few other things.

At first, my son agreed, but apparently after consulting his girlfriend, he decided to change his plans for the weekend. Having learned that my brother wasn't going, my daughter called me an hour later to ask me to give her the keys.

Winking at my husband, I told her, “Of course, Kasia. But if your dad and I can't go, we'll ask you and Vadim to mow the lawn, water the garden, and weed a few beds. You don't mind, do you?”

You won't believe it, but my daughter and her husband suddenly changed their weekend plans. Of course, they gave a different reason, but I'm sure it was probably because they didn't really want to replace their usual vacation with working with the plants. For the past three weeks, my husband and I have been going to the plot of land by ourselves. The children do not ask for the keys. But it is their choice. If they want to rest, they can do so. Only then will it be necessary to work as well.

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Natasha Kumar

By Natasha Kumar

Natasha Kumar has been a reporter on the news desk since 2018. Before that she wrote about young adolescence and family dynamics for Styles and was the legal affairs correspondent for the Metro desk. Before joining The Times Hub, Natasha Kumar worked as a staff writer at the Village Voice and a freelancer for Newsday, The Wall Street Journal, GQ and Mirabella. To get in touch, contact me through my natasha@thetimeshub.in 1-800-268-7116