“I Married Your Son — I Didn’t Sign Up to Serve Your Entire Family for Free”
“Arseny, do you know why your mother left me a list of chores for the entire weekend?” Kira asked as soon as her husband answered the phone.
“What list?”
“I’ll send you a photo.”
Kira hung up and stared again at the sheet of paper lying on the kitchen table.
Friday evening had started normally. She had come home from work around seven, changed clothes, and was about to order dinner. Arseny had stopped at a hardware store and promised to return later.
At first, Kira thought the note was a shopping list he had left behind.
Then she recognized his mother’s handwriting.
“By Saturday, buy meat, vegetables, cheese, herbs, and drinks. Lunch for eight people. Clear the bottom shelf of the refrigerator. Everything must be ready by 1:00 p.m. Don’t make plans for Sunday — we’re going to Polina’s to sort things after her move.”
Tamara Sergeyevna had even underlined the time and added an exclamation mark.
Kira read the note twice.
She hadn’t invited anyone.
She hadn’t known about Polina’s move.
And she already had plans for Sunday. Two weeks earlier, she had arranged to spend the day at a lake with her friend Vera.
Apparently, someone had canceled those plans for her.
Arseny soon texted:
“Mom’s being strange again. We’ll talk when I get home.”
Kira put the note into a drawer.
She had no intention of buying groceries.
And she definitely wasn’t going to cook for eight people.
Kira and Arseny had been married for three years. At first, her relationship with his family had been perfectly normal.
Both spouses worked full-time. Arseny was an engineer, while Kira worked as an administrator at a medical center. At home, they divided chores naturally. Whoever came home first could make dinner. They cleaned together and helped each other when needed.
The real problems started when Tamara Sergeyevna decided that after marrying her son, Kira had automatically become responsible for helping the entire family.
At first, the requests were harmless.
“Kirochka, can you pick up my medicine from the pharmacy?”
“Could you wait for the washing-machine repairman?”
“Can you help me order a vacuum cleaner?”
Kira usually agreed when she could.
Tamara Sergeyevna also helped them occasionally, so everything seemed fair.
But gradually the tone changed.
“Can you?” became:
“You need to.”
And later:
“I’ve arranged it.”
One day her mother-in-law called and announced:
“You’ll pick me up tomorrow after six. I need to go shopping.”
“I’m working late.”
“Then come afterward.”
“I won’t finish until eight.”
“The stores are open until ten.”
Kira refused.
The next day Tamara Sergeyevna complained to Arseny that Kira was too busy and didn’t care about her husband’s mother.
Then Arseny’s sister Polina began behaving the same way.
Polina had a six-year-old son, Matvey, and sometimes genuinely needed help. At first Kira babysat willingly.
But soon Polina stopped asking.
“Kira, I’ll bring Matvey tomorrow at five-thirty. He’ll stay until nine.”
“Why at our place?”
“I have things to do.”
“Will Arseny be home?”
“I don’t know. You will.”
Once, Kira canceled a hair appointment because of it.
Then it happened again.
Family gatherings were even worse.
After dinner, the men would go relax, Polina would sit with her phone or her son, Tamara Sergeyevna would announce that she was tired, and Kira would somehow end up alone in the kitchen with all the dishes.
Once she asked Arseny for help.
“In a minute,” he said.
He never came.
The next time, Kira deliberately left the dishes untouched.
Tamara Sergeyevna entered the kitchen.
“What about the dishes?”
“What about them?”
“They need to be cleared.”
“There were seven people at the table.”
Her mother-in-law stared at her.
“Well, you’re already here.”
That was when Kira realized how convenient the arrangement had become for everyone except her.
When she complained to Arseny, he didn’t understand.
“They just ask you to help.”
“They don’t ask anymore. Your mother tells me what I have to do.”
“That’s just how she talks.”
“Why doesn’t she talk to you like that?”
“She does.”
“When was the last time?”
Arseny couldn’t remember.
His mother always protected him.
“Arseny worked all week. Let him rest.”
“Don’t bother Arseny.”
“Kira, make sure you feed him properly.”
Nobody seemed to remember that Kira worked all week too.
During the summer, the situation became unbearable.
Kira helped prepare Tamara Sergeyevna’s birthday dinner, met visiting relatives at the train station, bought groceries, cooked for guests, picked Matvey up from activities, babysat him for hours, and even helped clean Polina’s old apartment before it was rented out.
Meanwhile, Arseny was often home.
“Why didn’t you ask your brother?” Kira once asked Polina.
Polina looked genuinely surprised.
“Why would I? He’s tired.”
By August, Kira began refusing more often.
Tamara Sergeyevna was offended.
“People only think about themselves nowadays. Families used to help each other.”
“I help when I can.”
“What’s stopping you now?”
“I have plans.”
“What plans can you possibly have on a Wednesday evening?”
Kira finally understood: her mother-in-law believed that any free time Kira had automatically belonged to the family.
Then came the Friday note.
On Saturday morning, Kira woke up around nine, ate breakfast, showered, and started the washing machine.
She hadn’t bought anything from the list.
At ten, the doorbell rang.
Tamara Sergeyevna stood outside carrying a large bag.
She entered and went straight to the kitchen.
“Kira!”
“What?”
“Where are the groceries?”
“What groceries?”
“Don’t pretend. I left you a list.”
“I saw it.”
“Then where is everything?”
“At the store.”
“The guests are arriving in three hours!”
“You still have time.”
“I have time?”
“You invited them.”
Tamara Sergeyevna stared at her.
Kira poured herself some water.
“I didn’t invite anyone, and I didn’t plan lunch for eight people.”
“What were you doing after work yesterday?”
“Resting.”
“Instead of buying groceries?”
“Yes.”
Her mother-in-law’s face reddened.
“Arseny works all week! At least on weekends he deserves to sit with his family. And you can’t prepare one lunch?”
Kira stared at her.
“And where exactly am I Monday through Friday?”
“What does that have to do with you?”
“Interesting question.”
“Men get tired differently.”
Kira laughed.
“That’s a very convenient theory.”
Tamara Sergeyevna pulled out her phone.
“I’ll call Arseny. He’ll buy everything. You start cooking.”
“No.”
Her mother-in-law froze.
“What?”
Kira took the note from the drawer and placed it on the table.
“Show me where I agreed to any of this.”
“Kira, stop making a scene.”
“Show me where I agreed to buy groceries, cook for eight people, clear the refrigerator, and give you my Sunday.”
“Polina needs help tomorrow.”
“I learned about that from your note.”
“Well, now you know.”
“I’m busy tomorrow.”
“With what?”
“That isn’t your business.”
“She’s alone with a child!”
“She has a brother. She has friends. Matvey has a father. She can hire movers.”
“Movers cost money.”
“Then Polina can decide whether she wants to pay or ask someone who is actually free.”
Tamara Sergeyevna opened her mouth, but Kira continued:
“I married your son. I didn’t sign up to serve your entire family for free.”
The kitchen became silent.
At that moment, Arseny returned carrying two grocery bags.
“What happened?”
His mother immediately turned to him.
“Ask your wife! I asked her to help once and she turned it into a performance.”
“Once?” Kira laughed.
Arseny tried to calm them.
“Maybe today you could just help, since the guests are already coming.”
Kira looked at him.
“Great. Go back to the store, buy the food, and cook lunch for your relatives.”
“Why me?”
“Why me?”
His mother interrupted.
“Arseny needs to rest after working all week.”
Kira nodded.
“Fine. Then tomorrow he can rest at Polina’s while he moves boxes and hangs shelves.”
“I wanted to stay home tomorrow,” Arseny protested.
“And I planned to go to the lake with Vera. We arranged it two weeks ago.”
“I didn’t know.”
“Exactly. Nobody asked me.”
“I’m exhausted after this week,” he said.
“So am I. Explain why your day off is worth more than mine.”
Arseny had no answer.
By half past eleven, the first relatives arrived.
There was still no prepared lunch.
Polina looked at the empty kitchen.
“Are we early?”
“No,” Kira replied. “Today everyone who plans to eat is helping cook.”
Tamara Sergeyevna rolled her eyes.
Arseny went back to the store.
Kira took an apple, a book, and went to the balcony.
A few minutes later, Arseny appeared.
“You’re really not helping?”
“Really.”
“Mom’s angry.”
“She knows how to use a knife and a stove.”
Eventually six adults prepared the meal together.
Arseny cooked the meat. Polina cut vegetables. Other relatives arranged appetizers, carried chairs, and cleaned.
Lunch turned out perfectly fine.
Nobody suffered because Kira hadn’t spent her morning serving everyone.
Afterward, several people cleaned the kitchen together.
Then Polina approached Kira.
“You definitely can’t help tomorrow?”
“No.”
“There are a lot of boxes.”
“Call Arseny.”
Her brother immediately looked over.
“Polina…”
She smiled.
“I understand.”
Within fifteen minutes, Polina called two friends who agreed to help with the heavy furniture. She also hired movers for two hours.
The “emergency” that supposedly required Kira was solved almost immediately.
On Sunday, Kira went to the lake with Vera.
Nobody’s life collapsed.
In the following weeks, things slowly changed.
Tamara Sergeyevna called Kira one day.
“I need someone to drive me tomorrow. Can you?”
“I can’t. Ask Arseny.”
Soon Arseny began receiving all the calls that had previously gone to Kira.
One day, after spending two and a half hours running errands with his mother, he complained:
“Why does Mom keep calling me now?”
Kira looked at him.
“Because she’s your mother.”
“She used to ask you.”
“I know.”
“Don’t you think she’s dumping everything on me?”
Kira raised an eyebrow.
“When she did it to me, you called it helping family.”
Arseny finally understood.
“I didn’t realize how much you were doing,” he admitted. “Each thing seemed small.”
“And all those small things take away your evenings and weekends.”
“Yes.”
After that, he stopped automatically defending his mother.
Polina adjusted even faster. Instead of announcing plans, she began asking:
“Are you free Friday?”
Sometimes Kira helped.
Sometimes she didn’t.
And nothing terrible happened.
By the end of August, Tamara Sergeyevna invited everyone for lunch again.
This time she called several days beforehand.
“Kira, will you and Arseny come Saturday?”
“Yes.”
“Could you make that appetizer you made before?”
“I can. Just one.”
“Fine. Polina and I will make the rest.”
That was all.
No lists.
No commands.
No scheduling Kira’s weekend without asking.
During lunch, everyone helped.
Afterward, Tamara Sergeyevna sat down and sighed.
“Things used to be easier.”
Kira knew exactly what she meant.
“For whom?”
Her mother-in-law remained silent.
Several weeks later, Kira found the old note in the kitchen drawer.
“Buy groceries. Prepare lunch. Clear the refrigerator. Help Polina on Sunday.”
She read it once more, smiled, tore it in half, and threw it away.
It turned out she had never been indispensable.
Tamara Sergeyevna could handle her errands herself or ask her son. Polina could hire movers or arrange childcare. Arseny could shop, cook, and help his mother. A family meal could be prepared by everyone.
They had all been capable of doing these things.
It had simply been easier when Kira did everything for them.
And one Saturday in August, that convenience finally ended.
This version is approximately 1,500 words and keeps the strongest scenes and dialogue from the original.
