Mother-in-law Wants to Return to Her Hometown After 7 Years of Taking Care of Her Grandchildren, Daughter-in-law Says “Wait for 7 More Days,” and the Unexpected Reason
I’m 65 years old, and my husband passed away when I was just in my early 40s. Life on my own hasn’t been easy, but I decided to stay single to raise my only son to be a good person. Fortunately, today my son is happily married with two lovely, well-behaved children.
When my grandchildren got married and settled in the city, I also left my hometown to help them with housework and take care of the kids. Every day, I stayed at home, taking care of the little one while my children went to work, preparing meals, cleaning the house, and picking up my older grandchild from school. For seven years, I worked tirelessly without any payment from my son or daughter-in-law. I rarely visited my hometown, and when I did, I didn’t take any money from them, as I didn’t have a pension or many savings to rely on in my old age. I only wanted to live quietly and not be a burden to my children.
They said:
“Mom, you don’t have any relatives left in the countryside. Your cousins and other relatives all have their own families and can’t take care of you. We think you should stay here with us. That way, we won’t have to worry about you, and we can focus on our own work while you help take care of the kids.”
“I understand, but I feel I don’t really fit in here anymore. The kids are older now, and you have your own life. It’s time for me to return to my home in the countryside, to not leave the house empty and cold. I will visit you whenever needed, or if the children are sick, I’ll still come to help.”
“Well, if you’ve made up your mind, we won’t stop you, but please wait for just 7 more days.”
“Why 7 days?”
“It’s nothing important. Just wait for 7 more days, and then we won’t stop you.”
At that time, I thought, if I can stay for 7 years, 7 more days won’t be a big deal, so I agreed. Over those 7 days, I noticed that their behavior toward me changed. They came home less frequently, stayed out late, and seemed to have no time to care for the kids or check in on me as they did before. I couldn’t help but feel a little sad:
“Is it because they see no use for an old woman anymore, and now they want me gone?”
But I decided not to dwell on it. I had already made up my mind to go back to my hometown. However, I later discovered the real reason they wanted me to stay for those 7 extra days when I overheard their conversation one evening.
“Is it enough yet, honey?”
“I think one more day will do.”
“Alright, then let’s let her go back to the countryside. I’m getting tired of seeing her face.”
It turned out that they had been waiting for the right moment to send me back. They were tired of me and wanted to complete the necessary tasks first. Fortunately, I understood the situation before they could tell me outright. The next morning, while I was packing my clothes, my son and daughter-in-law came into the room:
“Oh, why are you packing your clothes so early? Today is only day 6, not the 7th day yet.”
“No, 6 days is enough. I’ve realized that these 7 years have been meaningless.”
“What do you mean, Mom? We don’t understand. Did you misunderstand something?”
“No, I didn’t misunderstand. I overheard your conversation last night. ‘That’s enough, let’s send her back to the countryside, I’m getting tired of seeing her face.’ Did you say that?”
“Well, yes, I did say that, but I think you misunderstood. Let me explain.”
It turned out that my son and daughter-in-law had been saving money for me, and they had set up a savings account with 500 million VND. Over the past 7 days, they had been working extra hard to finish the savings and present it to me. My daughter-in-law handed me the account book, saying:
“This is a small token of our gratitude for all the help you’ve given us, especially taking care of the children so we could focus on our work and stabilize our lives. Please don’t misunderstand. We feel terrible.”
I was shocked when I opened the account book and saw the amount—500 million VND in my name. Before I could recover from my surprise, my two grandchildren walked in with a family photo:
“We wanted to wait until the photo was finished perfectly to give it to you, Grandma. Take it with you to the countryside, and when you miss us, you can look at it. We’ll visit you sometimes.”
Hearing my son, daughter-in-law, and grandchildren speak, I couldn’t hold back my tears. I felt so touched and guilty for misunderstanding them. Now, I’m reluctant to leave and stay even longer.
