Dear Diary,
Todays been a day full of mulling things over, wondering whats right for our family. My husbands aunt recently left him a small flat in the heart of London. It’s quite cosy, certainly not large, but the location is brilliant. We currently live in a spacious three-bedroom home, just outside the city, with enough room for the five of us myself, my husband, and our three children.
Our eldest, Charlotte, is now nineteen and attending university. Then theres our son William, twelve, and our youngest, little Harry, whos only five. Charlotte is growing into adulthood so quickly sometimes I look at her and see the young woman shes becoming.
This has brought us straight to conflict, unfortunately. I suggested to my husband that perhaps Charlotte ought to move into the London flat. At her age, and with university life, it would give her a bit of independence. Besides, its not so far-fetched to imagine she might start thinking about her future, marriage, or a career in the city.
But my husband is adamant. He reckons giving Charlotte the flat outright would be unfair to William and Harry. Instead, he wants to sell it and split the money evenly among the three children. I cant help but feel thats a rather shortsighted idea. London property prices are such that dividing the proceeds would leave each of the children with just enough to buy a second-hand car, hardly anywhere near a foot on the property ladder.
Whats the old saying a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush? I think at least one child ought to benefit from this inheritance, and, if we work hard, perhaps we can help the boys when theyre older, too. My husband worries that if we let Charlotte have the flat, it will sour relations with the boys and cause endless resentment. Im not convinced after all, the boys are still young and dont fully grasp the situation yet. It seems to me weve got a few years to figure things out for them.
We havent spoken to Charlotte about any of this. We decided it was best to keep our thoughts between ourselves for now, mostly because the flat itself is in quite a state it needs a full renovation before its livable. At the moment, we simply dont have the funds to bring it up to scratch.
Sometimes I wonder which of us is being more reasonable am I right to stand firm for Charlotte, or is my husbands plan fairer to all? Maybe theres an option neither of us have thought of yet. If only life came with an instruction manual. For now, I suppose well keep pondering, hoping that things will become clearer with time.
