The dreaded mother-in-law. Is it all that bad?
Chi and I made the decision earlier this year to sell Mum's house in Binh Thanh and have her move in with us. Chi's mum can't see well and needs taking care of (see Chi's Story). There was only so long we could continue to let her live by herself (albeit with a maid visiting to cook and clean) in a crowded, dirty alleyway. Bless her though she still walked to the zoo every morning with a friend for exercise.We have the opportunity to invest the money from the house into some land, probably out in Cu Chi where grandma lives. I think Cu Chi is nice countryside and not too far from the city. We are hopefully looking at some land by the Saigon River up there next week.
The house was surprisingly easy to sell - took about a month during which time we had various interested parties come and go. I was dubious we'd ever sell it because it is in a 'project'. One day the house will literally be sliced in half to widen the alley that runs down one side of it. It's not that big to start with...the timescale is unknown and even the local people's committee couldn't say when this would happen. Chi was told 'in 20 years' and she thinks that was less than 10 years ago...anyway, the house was sold.
It was a big move - Mum lived there for 28 years having bought the house for 1 tael of gold. I know Chi really wanted her brother to see the place he spent the first year of his life when he returns to Vietnam, but the time was right to make the move. The parks and quiet streets in Phu My Hung are perfect for Mum to walk around and exercise in safety, her diet has improved, and of course she gets to spend as much time as she wants with her first granddaughter. All in all, I know shes more comfortable with us, living a better, healthier and happier life.
A month has been and gone since the move. Along with the mother-in-law comes the necessity of a live in maid..looking after Mum AND Lou and Connections is obviously a little too much for Chi! We had to say goodbye to our first maid, it wasn't working out. Another was due tomorrow but is now not coming, so Chi has arranged the friend of a friend's Aunt...we'll see...
Hmm, the maids - that could be That Vietnamese Thing 3.
3 comments:
Any insights on living with the mum-in-living, coming from a different culture? :-)
Dear oh dear. You must be a contender for the most perfect son-in-law. Except for living in Phu My Hung of course where you could not drag me to with a span of oxen. All this said, you seem to doing very well. Good for you!
Ben, I'll think about that..!
Anon, hardly perfect, its just the right thing to do.
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