Chapter 1: The Invoice
"$40 A Night!" My MIL Offered To Take My Daughter To Her Lake House For The Weekend — When We Came To Pick Her Up, She Handed Us A Bill For Her Stay
My mother-in-law handed me a printed invoice for my six-year-old's weekend.
She'd been asking since the spring.
Every phone call, every Sunday lunch, all the way through June.
"I never get her to myself.
I've got that whole lake up there and nobody to share it with."
Ellie is six.
She'd never spent a night away from us.
I said no twice, and Marcus said his mother meant well, and that his own summers up there were the best part of his childhood.
So in July we said yes.
Friday to Sunday.
I packed her bag myself.
Swimsuit, two changes of clothes, sun hat, her inhaler, the rabbit she can't sleep without.
I wrote the inhaler instructions on an index card, put it in the front pocket, and texted Diane the same thing so there'd be no confusion.
She called twice all weekend.
Both times Ellie was thrilled.
I heard about a heron.
I heard about a boat.
We drove up on Sunday at four, with the windows down the whole way.
Diane stepped onto the porch before we'd gotten the car doors open.
Ellie's bag was already packed and standing by the door.
There was a sheet of paper in her hand.
"Now don't panic," she said, smiling.
"It's just so everything's transparent."
It was typed.
Itemized.
It had a heading with the dates on it.
Accommodation, 2 nights.
$40 — $80.
Groceries (portion) — $46.
Sunscreen — $9.
Juice boxes — $7.
Boat fuel, Saturday outing — $30.
Linens and laundering — $15.
Electricity and water, per-guest estimate — $22.
Total at the bottom.
Bold.
Marcus read it.
Then he read it again.
I watched him get to the end and go back to the top.
"Mom, what is this?"
"It's what she costs, sweetheart." Perfectly calm.
Still smiling.
"I'm retired.
I'm not made of money.
I don't see why I should be out of pocket because you two wanted a weekend to yourselves."
"We wanted a weekend?
You asked us for four months."
"And I loved having her.
That's forty a night, and that's the family rate — I'd charge anybody else sixty."
Ellie was standing in the doorway in her swimsuit with a towel around her shoulders, holding the rabbit with both arms, looking at the three of us.
I crouched down and told her to go get in the car and pick whatever music she wanted.
I buckled her in and shut the door — then I went back up the porch steps to my husband and MIL.
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What did she say next?
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What did Marcus do when his own mother handed him a bill for his little girl's weekend?
Comment **"NEXT"** if you want Part 2 — it's in the comments.
