My son brought a girl into our flat and I havent the faintest idea how to get her to leave.
One can only confess to things like this when cloaked in anonymity. Im filled with such bitterness, I can barely stand it anymore. I know Im inviting criticism, but I hope there are mothers out there who will understandthose whose children have suddenly grown up overnight.
You bring a child into the world, raise him, divorce his father because you simply cant bear the man anymore, you walk your son through life, trying everything to make sure he never feels any less for not having a parent around. You juggle two jobs, then come home and stand over the cooker as if clocking in for another shift, buy him all those fancy phones, pay his way through schooland then:
Mum, Emily will be living with us.
With who? In our little flat, barely bigger than 44 square metres? Shes moving into my sons room? Will she be eating with us? Doing her laundry here too? Are there two housekeepers now?
My son was so overjoyed with his news, looking at me as if he half-expected Id leap for joyand perhaps rush off to clear out a wardrobe for Emily as well.
Shes a lovely girl, dont get me wrong, but that doesnt mean I want someone else living in our home. Theyre adults? Let them get a mortgage or rent a flat together! Whats all this about saving up so they dont have to rent? Is it really worth their mothers peace of mind and nerves?
I felt this way immediately, but stillI let the girl in. After all, my son has just as much right to the flat, so technically, he can bring her over. Im not being entirely honest here, thoughI promised myself Id tell the truth. My friends scolded me: Dont you care about your sons happiness? What sort of mother are you?
Now, whenever I walk through the front door, everything annoys me. From the moment I step inside, I see shoes scattered all over the hallway, the stove dirty in the kitchenthat means Emilys been cooking. So what if shes wasted the groceries I bought? Its not as if I throw money down the drain. But what do you do when youre preparing a meal and suddenly theres no flour left? And dont get me started on the endless queues for the bathroom.
Ill admit itI want Emily out of my flat. I dont need another housekeeper here.
Then it hit me: what if I brought a man home? After all those years spent looking after my son and pretending I wasnt seeing anyone, why not? He technically has his own spacebut why shouldnt I let someone with a suitcase move in and find out how it feels all of us crammed into 44 square metres?
This is the kind of extraordinary letter I received. As the mother of a young boy myself, its hard to picture myself in the letter writers shoes, so Im looking forward to hearing what readers think.
What do you think, dear readers? Have any of your children reached the age where youve found yourself in a similar predicament? Did you get on with their partners? Is it a mothers right to ask Emily to leave her own home?
