Ok, maybe I am. Feel free to tell me I'm a bad tempered cow.
Ma and Pa, healthy, retired, comfortably off, seem to think that DH and I have lots of lovely time on our hands. And we could do all sorts of little jobs for them - far too frequently. Every couple of weeks Ma will ring and say, 'Oh - could you ask DH if he could pop down this weekend and do x,y,z for us?'
We have 5 DCs and both work full time. I'm a teacher - out the house from 7.45 am- 6.00pm and then marking/planning in evening. DH is up at 5.00am - 2 hour drive, 10 hours on building site, 2 hour drive home - gets in at 7.00pm, absolutely fucked. He has worked the last 3 Saturdays and is working tomorrow. So only has Sunday off. I meanwhile, have the joy of knowing that I haven't shoved a hoover round all week, bathrooms need cleaning, there is a week's worth of dirty washing (for 7) and that I need to do a bloody Tesco shop for practically everything.
Ma rang this evening to say could we pop round this weekend and put together 2 flat pack bookcases they bought today - oh, and could DH bring his drill and put up a curtain pole, and I could return a lamp they'd bought from Argos when I did my shopping, couldn't I?
Well yeah - I could. But I don't fucking want to. Ma will expect me to drive 6 miles in one direction to her house to collect the lamp. Tesco is on the edge of town 20 miles away in the opposite direction. Argos is right in the middle of town - so it means driving in, finding somewhere to park, walking there, queueing, etc, etc. A lot more fucking hassle. And I don't want to spend 3 hours putting book cases together. And I really don't want DH to spend his only day off doing jobs for my mother.
If the bugger's going to spend his day off doing jobs I've got a bloody long list - starting with things I've been waiting about 18 months for; like the leaking shower, the broken cupboard door, the wall in DDs room that needs re-plastering, the entire skirting board in the hallway that has been leaning against the wall for 4 years now waiting to be fixed onto it...
I know that DH will say, 'Aye, nae bother,' and go down and do it for them. And I will trail sulkily along as his helper. And if I moan he will say, 'Och well, it's no' a problem'. Well it is for me. I fucking, fucking resent the fact that my mother makes these frequent requests and expects it done that weekend - which means it is yet another weekend that we don't get the stuff done that we need to.
Being a gobby cow I have frequently told her I'm pissed off that she asks DH to do stuff - that she knows he is obliging and will say yes - and that she also knows what long hours he works, and that we have loads of stuff that needs doing. She just gives a merry laugh and says, 'Oh dear - men always do things for other people, don't they?' and then will be on the fucking phone about a fortnight later wanting something else.
(Dad, BTW, couldn't replace a lightbulb. Highly academic, completely impractical man)
AIBU?
To be fairly pissed off with my mother?
deleted203 · 10/05/2013 22:16
I think my blood pressure has gone up just reading that.
How do you not shout 'fuck off you entitled cow, you've money and time - we have neither' 
It's really cheeky of them to buy the bookcases obviously thinking that your DH will put them up.
Your DH is wrong that it's 'nae bother' because it's impacting on your lives when they take advantage so much.
It's also not on for your mum to brush how you feel off either, apart from getting all the jobs round the house done for free (could you suggest an odd job worker? 
No? Didn't think so) why would she do that to you?
Both of them need to listen to you.
Be more gobby?
Say 'fine, we'll do it'.
'By the way, we need you on *day to come over and child sit so we can do x, y z.'
Although, Tbh I'd be having to sit them down and letting them know how things actually are for you.
This reply has been deleted
Message withdrawn at poster's request.
YANBU.
Tell them no and keep saying until they stop asking. Why on earth would you actually agree to do these things. Tell the lazy fuckers to do it themselves or pay someone to come and do it.
I am anticipating MIL doing this when she moves. Considering the struggle I have in getting DH to do stuff in our house, it will happen over my dead body. Luckily though, DH does agree with me on that one (the fact that he won't do it, nothing to do with my dead body ).
Don’t want to miss threads like this?
Weekly
Sign up to our weekly round up and get all the best threads sent straight to your inbox!
Log in to update your newsletter preferences.
You've subscribed!
The wisest advice I ever had was from my Health Visitor. She told me to get an ansaphone that allowed me to call screen. Screen my mother in particular, actually. 
It is a sanity saver.
. Thank you all! The thing is, I'm very good at saying 'No' and even 'Fuck off' to everyone else.
And no, 50 shades she doesn't ever return the favour. It would be far too much for her to babysit. DH and I have just had a conversation about how many times Ma has babysat for us in the last 14 years. He reckons about 6. I reckon 4. She claims her 'child raising days are over!' To be fair to the woman I have 7 siblings - but we pretty much raised ourselves/each other in feral style. None of us remember her doing anything other than stirring something on the stove whilst reading a paperback book in the other hand...
I was brought up in a huge family where everyone just mucked in and did what needed doing, so it's become automatic that when a family member says, 'give us a hand with this, will you?' I say, 'Go on then'.
I suspect Ma misses her army of helpers and I'm the nearest left!
To comment on this thread you need to create a Mumsnet account.