**Diary Entry**
*10th April 2024*
“You dont want to live by my rules? Then get out!” snapped my mother-in-law, Margaret, during dinner.
“Margaret, maybe we could try a different way of cooking the potatoes? I have a lovely recipe with mushrooms,” I offered carefully, stirring the soup on the stove.
“I dont need your recipes!” she shot back, not looking up from peeling carrots. “Thirty years Ive been cooking for this family, and now you come along with your fancy ideas!”
I sighed and kept stirring. It had been six months since Daniel and I moved in with his mother after our flat burned down. Six months of daily little arguments, disapproving looks, and sharp comments disguised as concern.
“Mum, come on,” Daniel said as he walked into the kitchen, kissing the top of my head. “Emilys a great cookmaybe we should try something new?”
“Oh, so now youre against me too?” Margaret threw her hands up. “Thirty-two years I raised you, fed you, and now my food isnt good enough?”
“Mum, thats not what I meant”
“Then what *did* you mean?” She slammed the knife onto the chopping board. “First you turn up in my house, now you tell me how to cook?”
My chest tightened. *Turned up in her house*as if we were beggars, not people whod lost everything.
“Margaret, I wasnt telling you, just suggesting,” I said quietly, turning off the hob.
“Thats exactly it*suggesting*! Who asked you? This is *my* house, *my* kitchen!” She stood, hands on her hips. “And *I* do the cooking here!”
Daniel looked helplessly between us. Seeing him torn like that only made it worse.
“Right, Ill set the table,” I muttered, leaving before I slammed the door.
In the living room, our fourteen-year-old daughter, Lily, was doing homework on the sofa. She looked up when I walked in.
“Arguing again?” she asked softly.
“Just discussing,” I forced a smile, taking plates from the cabinet.
“Mum, when are we moving back into our own place?”
That was the painful question. The insurance had barely covered anything, and with Daniel driving lorries and me teaching, money was tight. We were saving, but slowly.
“Soon, love. Just hang in there a bit longer.”
“I cant take it anymore!” Lily burst out. “Shes unbearable! Yesterday she yelled at me for playing musiccalled it noise! This morning she said I walk too loudIm already tiptoeing!”
I stroked her hair. Lily was a good girl, patient, but even she had her limits.
“Try to understandshes used to living alone.”
“Some grandmother,” Lily muttered. “Real grandmothers actually like their grandkids.”
“Shh, shell hear.”
“I dont care!”
A crash came from the kitchen, followed by Daniels voice and Margarets shrill reply. I hurried back.
“What happened?”
“Your wife broke a plate!” Margaret snapped, pointing at the shards on the floor. “My late mother-in-laws chinathe last set I had!”
Daniel stood frozen, holding a dustpan.
“Mum, it was an accident! I was helping carry the plates”
“Help? Better teach your wife how to respect other peoples things!”
“Me? *Daniel* dropped it!” I said.
“And whose fault is that? Youve turned him into a bumbling fool! He never used to be this careless!”
Daniel finally spoke up. “Mum, thats not fair”
“Dont Mum me! Before marriage, you were a proper son. Now? Its all about *her*!”
I felt something snap. Six months of pent-up frustration rose in my throat.
“Margaret, enough,” I said, quieter than I intended. “We help, we pay rent”
“Rent! Fifty quid a month! The electricity alone costs thirty!”
“We offered more*you* said we didnt need to!”
“Offered? As if Im some charity case! Ive got my pensionI dont need handouts!”
Daniel swept up the pieces, guilt written all over his face.
“Mum, lets just eat. The soups getting cold.”
“Eat? Youve ruined my appetite with this nonsense!”
“*We* didnt start this,” I said. “*You* started shouting.”
“*Im* shouting? In *my* own home, I cant raise my voice?”
“Of course you can. But why blame us for everything?”
“Blame? For *disturbing* me? Six months Ive put up with your music, your stomping, your cooking”
“We agreed on shower times! We only cook when you say so!”
“*Agreed*? Listen to her, Daniel! Making it sound like Im the *help*!”
Daniel sighed heavily.
“Mum, she didnt mean”
“What *did* she mean, then? That *Im* in the way? In my own home?”
Lily peeked in. “Can I go to Sophies?”
“No!” Margaret barked. “Homework done?”
“Mostly”
“Then finish it! No gallivanting about!”
Lily slunk away. Seeing her so upset made something in me break.
“Dont shout at her,” I said firmly.
“Dont tell me what to do! In *my* house, *I* decide how to speak to children!”
“Lilys *my* daughter!”
“Then raise her rightteach her respect!”
“She *is* respectful! But not when you scream at her for no reason!”
“No reason? That girl blares music, stomps about”
“Shes a *teenager*! Thats normal!”
“Normal, is it?” Margaret narrowed her eyes. “You know whats *normal*? People living in *their own homes*, not imposing on others!”
Silence. Daniel stood pale, fists clenched.
“Mum”
“Mum what? Six months Ive tolerated this! And now you dictate how I live?”
Tears spilled down my cheeksfrom exhaustion, from helplessness.
“Were not dictating. Were just trying to live.”
“*Trying*? Breaking things, leaving dishes”
“We clean up after ourselves!”
“Liar! Yesterday *your* breakfast plate was left in the sink!”
“That was *yours*! You had porridge and left it there!”
“*Mine*? Now you blame *me*?”
“Enough!” Daniel finally raised his voice. “Stop this!”
“You stay out of it!” Margaret rounded on him. “Married hernow you deal with it! But why should *I* suffer?”
I wiped my tears.
“Fine, Margaret. You wont have to anymore.”
“Whats that supposed to mean?”
“It means were leaving. Tomorrow.”
“*Where*?” Daniel stared. “We cant afford”
“Well find something. A bedsit, a studio. Well manage.”
Margaret faltered. “I never said to *leave*”
“You didnt have to. We know were in the way.”
“Wait,” Daniel said anxiously. “Lets talk this through”
“Whats to talk about?” I shrugged. “Your mums right. Her house, her rules. We dont belong here.”
“But Im not *throwing you out*!” Margaret suddenly looked uneasy.
“No. But you make it impossible to stay. The sniping, the complaintsits too much.”
She opened her mouth, then closed it. She hadnt expected this.
“Emily, dont rush” Daniel pleaded.
“Ive thought about it,” I said. “Tonight, Ill ring around. Well stay in a B&B if we must.”
“A *B&B*?” Daniel gasped.
“Better than this.”
Margaret stared at the floor. Lily poked her head in.
“Mum, should I pack?”
“Yes. Were leaving tomorrow.”
“*Yes*!” Lily grinned before darting off.
“Mum, say something,” Daniel urged.
Margarets eyes welled up. “Whats to say? If Im so awful”
“Youre not awful,” I sighed. “Youre used to your own space. So are we.”
“Emily, please”
“Weve tried for six months. No more.”
Margaret suddenly wept. “I didnt meanI never wanted you to *go*”
I hugged her, surprising myself. “I know. Were all tired of this. Better to leave before we hate each other.”
“But Lily”
“Shell visit. Youll visit us too, once we
