Somehow, the conversation circled back to the topic of the nanny again. Sanvnnah wouldn’t stop insisting that we shouldn’t hire one.
Ulric tried to speak a few times but couldn’t get a word in. Finally, he sighed in exasperation, “Mom, both of us are so busy with work. We just don’t have the time for that.”
“You think your life is as hard as ours was back then? If it’s really that difficult, I’ll take care of you. There’s no need to spend so much on a nanny,” Sanvnnah said, her words tumbling out with so much force that some of her saliva flew across the table.
Ulric stayed quiet, his expression one of a guilty child.
As for me, I kept my head down, staring at the bottom of my bowl. I had completely lost my appetite.
After dinner, Ulric was pulled into the room by Sanvnnah. The two of them stayed in there for what felt like forever, talking about who knew what.
When Ulric finally came back, he was all smiles. “Honey, you know my mom is really frugal. What do you think about not hiring a nanny while she’s here?”
I had just finished applying my face cream and turned to look at him. I could tell that if I didn’t give in, it would put him in an even more uncomfortable spot.
I had already expected this outcome. When it comes to matters like this, it’s always the younger generation that ends up compromising.
But still, something about it didn’t sit right with me. I opened my mouth to say something, but the words didn’t come. All my frustrations just stayed bottled up inside.
Seeing me nod, Ulric let out a relieved sigh and smiled, walking over to hug me. “Don’t worry, Mom won’t stay for long. After her checkup, if everything’s fine, she’ll go back home.”
Later, Ulric took Sanvnnah to the hospital for a full checkup, and everything came back fine.
We were both relieved, but somehow, the return date kept getting pushed further and further back.
Sanvnnah showed no sign of wanting to leave, and I didn’t want to push her.
One day, when I came home, I was immediately hit with a terrible smell. Pinching my nose, I asked, “Mom, what’s that smell in here?”
Sanvnnah pointed to a few pots of rose bushes on the balcony. “You know that half a carton of milk had expired, right? I watered the flowers with it. Didn’t want to waste it.”
Horrified, I rushed over to water the roses again.
“Mom, I’ll handle the flowers from now on. Milk can rot the roots of the plants.”
As soon as I said that, Sanvnnah’s face soured, and she fell silent for a long time.
After a while, she called us to eat. When I saw only a bowl of tomato soup on the table, I was surprised. “Mom, is this it? No other dishes?”
Sanvnnah took a sip of the soup, shook her head, and explained that there were other vegetables in the house, but since Ulric wasn’t coming home for dinner due to overtime, she didn’t bother cooking anything else.
The casual way she said it made me even more frustrated.
Maybe to Sanvnnah, I wasn’t even considered part of the family.
I quickly drank a couple of sips of soup and went to wash my hands in the bathroom, only to find the floor covered in water.
That pushed me over the edge. The differences in our generations and lifestyles were enormous, and some of her deeply ingrained habits were really getting to me.
Ulric had told Sanvnnah countless times that clothes should go straight from the washing machine into the dryer.
But she insisted on hand washing everything, leaving water stains all over the bathroom.
Many times, even Ulric couldn’t stand it, but he’d just ask me to be patient.
And I, always trying to keep my patience, had reached my breaking point.
That night, when Ulric finally came home after his overtime, I heard the door open but didn’t bother to go check.
I stayed where I was, staring at my phone. Not long after, Ulric entered the room. It seemed like he had come to ask for an explanation.
“What happened this time? I come home, and my mom’s crying.”
Ulric, looking drained, loosened his tie and looked at me. Seeing his expression, I knew it was Sanvnnah who had complained to him.
I had no idea what she had said, but Ulric didn’t even bother to find out the details and went straight to me.
Hearing that, all the frustrations I had been holding back exploded.
And that was the first time we argued since getting married.
