Overwhelmed by In-Law Visits: A Weekend of Unwanted Chores

It was another Friday evening, and Blake could feel the familiar knot of dread tightening in his stomach. The weekend was supposed to be a time for relaxation, a brief respite from the relentless pace of the workweek. However, for Blake, weekends had become synonymous with a different kind of work, one that he found even more draining: visiting his in-laws.

Blake and his wife, Megan, had been married for three years, and in that time, the pattern had become predictably exhausting. Every other weekend, they would pack up their car and make the two-hour drive to the small town where Megan’s parents, Thomas and Harper, lived. The visits were always framed as casual family time, an opportunity to catch up and enjoy each other’s company. But the reality was far from it.

From the moment they arrived, Blake felt like he was put to work. Thomas, a retired contractor, always had a list of home improvement projects he was eager to tackle, and somehow, Blake became his default assistant. Whether it was painting the fence, fixing a leaky faucet, or helping to install a new set of shelves, Blake’s weekends were consumed by manual labor.

Megan, on the other hand, would be whisked away by Harper, who insisted on her help with various household tasks, from cooking and cleaning to gardening. It seemed like their visits were less about spending quality time together and more about providing free labor.

Blake had tried to broach the subject with Megan, gently suggesting that perhaps they could limit their visits or find a way to politely decline the endless list of chores. But Megan was torn. She understood Blake’s frustration, but she also felt a strong sense of duty to her parents. “They’re getting older,” she would say, “and they need our help.”

This particular weekend was no different. Upon arriving, Blake was immediately handed a paintbrush and directed towards the garage, which Thomas had decided needed a fresh coat of paint. The project took up the entirety of Saturday, and by the time Sunday rolled around, Blake was sore, tired, and irritable.

The breaking point came when Thomas announced that he wanted to start building a new deck next weekend and expected Blake to be there to help. The thought of spending yet another weekend in manual labor, away from his own home and the rest of he wanted to do, was too much.

On the drive back home, Blake finally expressed his frustration. “I can’t do this anymore, Megan. I feel like your parents see me as free labor, not as family. Our weekends are supposed to be our time, but I end up feeling more exhausted than I do from my actual job.”

Megan was silent for a long time, torn between her loyalty to her parents and her empathy for Blake’s feelings. “I don’t know what to do,” she admitted. “I want to support you, but I also can’t turn my back on my parents.”

The conversation ended without resolution, the car filled with a heavy silence. As they pulled into their driveway, both Blake and Megan knew that something had to change. But with neither willing to make the difficult choices that lay ahead, the cycle of overwhelming visits and unwanted chores was doomed to continue, leaving their weekends—and their relationship—strained and unhappy.