Ask Amy: In-laws seek a favor and are shown the door
Dear Amy: This Christmas, my husband's parents and their baby daughter came to stay with us.
The plan was that they would stay with us for three days and leave on Friday morning, as my husband and I both had to return to work on Monday.
On Christmas night they asked if I wouldn't mind babysitting their infant on Saturday, so they could make some personal visits in town.
This plan would have extended their stay for two more days and nights.
I looked at my husband and (on my behalf) he offered to put them up in a hotel for those nights.
Instead of agreeing to this, they left Thursday night instead of Friday morning, and his mother left behind the perfume I had given her as a gift.
The truth is that I wasn't in the mood to host them in the first place. I didn't want visitors over Christmas, but we made sure it was nice for them.
I get the side-eye when I tell this story. Was I wrong? How should I have handled this?
-- Side-eyed
Dear Side-eyed: You need to realize that anyone can ask anything of you. But you shouldn't punish them for asking, when you have the option to respond with a respectful "no."
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