On Thursday night, my husband’s sister sent me a message: “Katya wants the pasta you made last time. And can you check if you have her pink tights?” I read it twice. We hadn’t even talked about Saturday, I hadn’t invited the child over, but I was already being told what to feed her.
Sergey glanced at the message and said it looks like his mom and Irina probably already worked everything out.
There was still a day and a half until Saturday. My husband knew about our plans, but it turned out his mom already had other ideas.
Do someone a favor once—and they remember it forever.
We’ve been married for four years. I’m thirty-three, Sergey is thirty-five. He’s a mechanic at a factory, usually working Monday through Friday, and I work as a salesperson in a home goods store. We don’t have kids yet. At family meals, we tried to avoid talking about children.
Irina, Sergey’s younger sister, is raising four-year-old Katya on her own. She’s a hairdresser and has a tight schedule on weekends. Mother-in-law Raisa Pavlovna often took her granddaughter, but she’s started to get tired and complain.
The first time, Irina asked us to watch her daughter because her coworker didn’t show up for work. She promised to pick her up by lunchtime and actually came almost on time. Katya played with blocks, we went for a walk in the yard. Irina brought pastries and thanked us.
Two weeks later, Irina asked again—this time for the whole Saturday. I asked Sergey if he could be home. He assured me he had no plans. But that morning, a friend called Sergey to help move a wardrobe. My husband promised to be back in two hours.
He didn’t return until evening. During the day, I managed to make lunch, take Katya outside to play, and change her after she spilled some juice.
“You promised you’d stay home,” I said as he took off his shoes.
“I didn’t think it would take this long. You handled everything, right?” Sergey said as he grabbed the last cookie from the table. I silently moved the dirty spoons to the sink.
He suggested we order takeout, as if cooking was the root of the problem.
After that, Irina would call my brother instead of me more and more often. He’d quickly reply, “Bring her over,” and I’d only find out about these plans a day or just a few hours ahead. I canceled a meeting with a friend, then postponed a trip to my parents’—they needed my help with shopping.
Sergey called all this ‘family help.’
My husband promised one thing, but what arrived at home was something completely different.
A message about pasta came in on Thursday. Meanwhile, we had theater tickets for Saturday evening. I bought them a month in advance and Sergey had promised we’d definitely go.
I called Irina and asked why she assumed Katya would be coming over to our place. She was completely unbothered:
“Mom told me you’re free. I already scheduled my clients until six. Sergey is okay with it, isn’t he?”
From the other room, my husband called out, “I told Mom we’d sort it out!” So the conversation happened. Just without me.
I explained that we were going out in the evening. Irina started talking about how she had already booked clients at certain times:
“Natasha, I thought I could count on you. We’re family, after all.”
I suggested that Katya could stay with Sergey just until lunchtime. Irina didn’t like that option.
My mother-in-law immediately called Sergey. He spoke with her out in the hallway and came back looking annoyed.
“Mom says the show’s only in the evening. We’ll watch Katya, then Irina will pick her up and we’ll make it in time.”
“What if she doesn’t come back by six?”
“Why do you always have to expect the worst?”
Irina dropped Katya off in the morning, put a bag of clothes by the shoe rack, and asked us to feed her daughter. Sergey assured his sister they’d get to everything on time.
At six o’clock, Irina messaged that one of her clients was running late. By six-thirty, she was still at the salon. I sat in the hallway dressed up in my gown and heels, while Sergey kept calling his sister.
We missed the start of the show. By the time the first act was halfway through, we decided not to bother going. When Irina finally arrived, she apologized and said she’d miscalculated the time. I changed out of my dress, hung it in the closet, and asked Sergey why he’d promised me an evening he didn’t actually control.
The next day, Sergey spoke to his mother and sister and promised not to agree to anything without me again. For two Saturdays, Katya didn’t come over. I believed the issue was finally settled.
At the family table, I was given a new role.
At the end of the month, we invited Raisa Pavlovna and Irina over for Sunday lunch. Irina brought a pie, Katya showed off her drawings. I set the plates on the table, laid out the cutlery, and brought the salad.
After the main course, my mother-in-law pulled a folded sheet of paper from her bag and smoothed it out next to Sergey’s plate. The Saturdays and Sundays for the next month were circled on it.
“Let’s make all the arrangements now, so we don’t have to call each other all the time,” she said. “Irina needs to work. Katya will be with you on Saturdays and Sundays, from morning till night. Irina will pick her up at night.”
They had already discussed when to drop Katya off and pick her up. No one asked us.
“When did Sergey and I agree to this?” I asked.
“What does this have to do with agreement?” my mother-in-law turned the sheet toward me. “It’s easier for you anyway. You don’t have your own kids yet.”
Katya was drawing by the window. Sergey lowered his eyes to his plate.
“Did you know about this paper?”
“Mom said she wants to organize everything,” he replied reluctantly. “But I never promised her anything on your behalf.”
Raisa Pavlovna immediately cut him off:
“What do you mean you didn’t promise? You said you’d help your sister. Natalia is staying home for two days anyway. You have a nice apartment, there’s plenty of space, and the girl loves you both. What else is there to discuss?”
“I’m not just staying at home. These are my days off after five days of work,” I said.
“Oh, we’re all so busy now!” my mother-in-law pushed her cup away. “One is raising a child by herself, managing her job, but the other can’t even make porridge one more time. When you have your own kids, you’ll understand what real exhaustion is.”
Katya was listening. I asked Irina to show my daughter the album in the living room.
I repeated that I never agreed to spend all my weekends watching my niece. Raisa Pavlovna smirked:
“So your niece is a stranger to you? Fine. Just don’t ask the family to come over with their kids when you have your own.”
Sergey grimaced but said nothing. When Irina came back, my mother-in-law slid the sheet toward her:
“Go ahead and book your clients. Sergey isn’t saying no. And Natalia will grumble but she’ll get used to it.”
I gathered the dirty plates from the table and took them to the kitchen. Sergey followed me. I asked if he’d tell his sister that we didn’t agree to this. He replied, “Let’s not do this in front of everyone.”
I asked my boss for a change—not a raise
On Monday, I got to the store before it opened. The store was open every day; salespeople worked five days a week with two days off. My coworker Lida had just asked for Saturdays off because her son had classes.
I went to see my manager, Tamara Nikolaevna, and asked if starting next month I could work from Wednesday through Sunday, with Mondays and Tuesdays off. The total hours would be the same, just the days would be swapped.
“Are you sure you want that?” the manager asked again. “We get a lot of customers on weekends. Don’t complain later.”
“Yes, I want this. If Lida is fine with it, let’s change it.”
Lida agreed to switch, and Tamara Nikolaevna approved the new schedule for next month.
In the evening, I showed Sergey my new schedule.
“Starting next month, I’ll be working Saturdays and Sundays and resting on Mondays and Tuesdays.”
He even smiled at first:
“Is this to spite Mom?”
“This is just my work schedule. It’s approved because the store needs more people on weekends.”
“And what about Katya?”
“I don’t know. You promised to help your sister, so talk to her about it.”
Sergey said I should have given him advance notice. I reminded him how he volunteered our weekends without asking me.
For two days, my husband gave brief answers to everything. I wasn’t happy either that we would barely have any shared days off.
There were three weeks left before the new schedule started. My mother-in-law asked me twice if I changed my mind, and even wanted to call my boss. I asked her not to interfere with my work.
A few days before my first working Saturday, Irina texted my husband the time Katya would arrive. The family’s schedule hadn’t changed.
I wasn’t the only one who came home exhausted that Saturday.
On my first working weekend, I packed my lunch into my bag and headed off to the store by nine.
Around ten, Irina brought Katya over. Sergey opened the door, took the backpack of clothes from his sister, and she promised she’d be back by six.
After noon, Sergey called me. I could hear Katya in the background asking him to get her game.
“Natasha, she really doesn’t want the soup. Can I make her a sandwich instead?”
“Ask Irina what Katya had for breakfast,” I answered. “I’m at the register right now, I can’t talk for long.”
Later, Sergey sent me a photo of Katya’s drawing.
That evening, I unlocked the door with my own key. Sergey was washing the dishes. On the drying rack sat a plastic cup, and an open picture book lay on the table.
“So, how are you two?” I asked as I took off my shoes.
“We’re okay. I wanted to go visit Mom, but never got around to it. And I had to read her the same book three times.” He wiped his hands on a towel. “Irina was an hour late again.”
We had dinner. Before bed, Sergey asked if I was working tomorrow. I reminded him he’d already seen my schedule.
On Sunday, his mom called him herself:
“Katya will be brought over at eleven. Irina can’t reschedule her clients.”
Sergey said he wasn’t ready to look after Katya for a second day in a row. His mother raised her voice so much the whole conversation could be heard from the other room.
“Where’s Natalia? Can’t the store open without her?”
“She’s at work, Mom. I’ve told you.”
“Well, let her ask for a day off! In a family, people are supposed to help each other.”
Sergey offered to take Katya for a couple of hours after lunch. But Irina needed a full day, so she declined.
After my shift, my mother-in-law called to accuse me of turning her son against his sister.
“Raisa Pavlovna, I’m not stopping Sergey from seeing Katya,” I said, standing by the bus stop. “But you made me the nanny without even asking. Now let everyone decide for themselves what time they can offer.”
“So you’ll sit at home on Mondays and work Saturdays? Just on principle?”
“I have Mondays off,” I answered. “And I plan them myself.”
The next week, Irina asked Sergey if he was free on Saturday. He turned her down—he’d promised to take groceries to my parents. His sister said she’d have to change her appointments.
A few days later, they arranged a short visit with Katya on another day off.
The note with dates wasn’t needed by anyone anymore.
A month later, Raisa Pavlovna came over for lunch again. I got back after my Sunday shift. Sergey had cooked chicken with potatoes and set the table.
My mother-in-law started to say that her daughter was left without help, but Sergey cut her off before she could finish.
“Mom, Irina already schedules her clients based on when I can take Katya. And you decide what days are convenient for you. Don’t add Natasha to this schedule.”
“So that’s how your wife taught you to talk,” Raisa Pavlovna remarked.
Sergey replied that he made the promises himself and would handle them himself. His mom grumbled a bit, but never brought up working Saturdays again.
Sergey and I have been seeing each other less on weekends lately, but one Tuesday he took a day off and we went to the theater together. Now, Irina schedules visits based on what actually works for the family, not just on her promises.
Last Friday, Sergey came home from work, set a grocery bag on the table, and asked what I wanted for dinner. Then he showed me a message from Irina: she asked if he could take Katya for a few hours on Sunday.
“I told her I could after lunch,” he said. “You have a shift that day, so I’ll take Katya to the park myself, as long as it doesn’t rain.”
On Sunday morning, Sergey packed water, some napkins, and an apple in a small backpack for their walk. I got ready for work while he checked what time Irina would be bringing their daughter.
“Have a great day,” he said as I picked up my bag.
I closed the door behind me and headed to the elevator.