'Extremely smart move': Internet backs woman after she threatened to kick in-laws out of house
Internet is supporting a woman who threatened to kick out her in-laws after they drag their feet about paying her rent and helping with household chores. The scenario was discussed by Redditor u/Decent-Reputation231 on Reddit's popular forum, "Am I The A**hole". The post received more than 14k upvotes and 1k comments from fellow Redditors.
In the Reddit post titled, "AITA for threatening to make my in-laws homeless if they cannot understand what working from home means?", the Original Poster (OP) writes that, "I (F38) am the primary breadwinner for my household. My husband (42) is semi retired due to an injury at work. He is a great husband and has taken over all the housework that needs to be done during the day. We share all the duties when I'm not working. Recently his sister, her husband, and their two teen kids lost their home. We have a rental suite in our basement that we just use as a family area so we agreed to let them live there. Because I'm paranoid I had them sign a lease."
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'If she couldn't help then she had to give me money or leave'
She further details, "A few days ago my husband had an opportunity to do some consulting at his old work. He loves doing it because it gets him out of the house and he gets to see his old coworkers and friends. It was short notice so we hadn't arranged babysitting. We asked his sister to watch our youngest for the day so he could go work and she agreed.She then delegated the task to her 13 year old son. Then she had her nap. The kid didn't want to disturb his mom during her nap so he banged on my door while I was working to change a diaper. Fair enough, if I were a 13 year old boy I might not feel comfortable changing a baby girl. I asked where his mom was and he said she was napping. I woke her up and told her that she had agreed to watch her niece and to do so."
The woman and her husband decided, after this incident, that it was time her in-laws start paying them rent or leave their house. "We took all the kids over to my MIL"s house then we sat them down and had a talk. We gave them their options. They said I was an asshole for tricking them into signing a lease agreement and then not collecting it so I could evict them. I said that wasn't the only choice. I said that she was the one who chose to lay of a responsibility on a child. I said that I was basically the one supporting her and if she couldn't help then she had to give me money or leave."
'Good for you for setting up that lease'
Redditors called the woman NTA (Not The A**hole) in this situation. One user wrote, "NTA. You aren't 'threatening', you are having healthy rules and boundaries. You are giving them an entirely reasonable choice: pay rent, contribute another ways, or have a different living situation. There's nothing wrong with that. And good for you for setting up that lease. That was an extremely smart move."
Another user wrote, "NTA. Unless the SIL has health issues (physical or mental), having a nap when you are babysitting, and delegating the task of babysitting to a 13-year-old is wrong and weird. You didn't ask the 13-year-old to babysit, you asked her."
A third user commented, "NTA. Good on you for having the foresight to have a lease agreement. The horror stories are real and way too many people take advantage of the kindness of their family and friends. They are two adults. Either they pay rent or they move out. You didn’t do anything wrong."
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