On our wedding anniversary, my husband and I decided to have a small party at home, everything was fine until my mother-in-law handed us her gift.

How could it be? greeting? The marriage has lasted for a whole year, so, on the one hand, this is a really good reason to congratulate the young. But on the other... They probably dated longer? However, if the family decided to celebrate a significant date with guests, and not in the company of each other, you should behave accordingly. Come with a gift, with carefully chosen words. Otherwise, no way.



But older people, as is often the case, may have their own opinions on such celebrations. They sometimes see it as a farce. An excuse to celebrate something and spend time in noisy company. Youth, what can I get? So do not be surprised or, moreover, surprised that your beloved grandmother will not react to such an “anniversary”. Let’s spend 5-10 years together and see what happens. Time will put everything in its place.

My husband and I began to live with his mother after the wedding. It happened. There was an idea to rent an apartment, but purely from the financial side it would be very difficult: I work as a cashier in a bank branch, and Kolya receives a small salary, working in production. Nevertheless, we decided to celebrate the creation of our family, albeit without too much chic. There were guests, there was cake, champagne. But, really, we just prepared well, so we managed to save on extra things. Budget, but tasteful.

And my mother-in-law has a two-bedroom apartment. And even before it had three rooms, just once their family decided to get rid of one wall and thus expand the living space. So, we settled together in a large room, and Vera Igorevna took the rest. But there have been no problems with this and until now. The apartment is nice, thick walls, so we do not hear each other and do not interfere with each other. And in general, the mother-in-law is a wonderful woman, but with her own “features”.



Peels, you know, she's not quite old yet, no. But her habits give her a person exactly that old temper. If I thought I could save money, then my mother-in-law is a real professional. And not infrequently, even with excesses. I'll just give you a few examples. She wrote out stores in her notebook that sell discounted goods on different days. Of course, because of the shelf life of the product. What is soon to be discarded, is sold at some percentage cheaper than the original price.

These are the treasures. Vera Igorevna buys up with great pleasure. Cotton cheese, bananas, pastries. And most importantly, it simply cannot be stopped. My husband and I often give her money to go to the store, but ask for something less specific. And as a result, you have to eat 2 kilograms of the same black bananas, which inside already look more like jelly than full fruit. As a result, they just have to be thrown out. Well, we can't absorb all this gastronomic filth, and even in such quantities.

In addition, the mother-in-law does not disdain and delay. “Think three days have passed. No one will notice.” But the date is not set for nothing. Of course, you can eat, for example, cookies and not even realize that it has long stagnated. But your body will understand. And so, little by little, you're going to poison yourself for your own money.



And more. Colina's mom has a habit of walking around with these shopping bags. She doesn't like the shopping bag. Another thing to stuff in your pockets with a dozen crumpled, rustling bags and go around half the city with them in search of cheap products. Well, she saves on transportation, too, pensioner. But why these packages and where she collected them, provided that she does not buy them in principle, it remains a mystery to me.

Overall, we have no complaints about each other. I cook after work and my mother-in-law helps me. I also take part in the cleaning of her room when needed. We can say that, in general, we became friends, as a mother-in-law and daughter-in-law can make friends at all. And Kolya sees that, so we are doing well in that regard. But that's her stinginess or something. Perhaps it is due to age and unwillingness to spend money. Though, what do I understand, right?



So it's been a year. I thought that in at least 7 months we will leave the apartment of Vera Igorevna. But reality, as always, was not what I imagined it to be. It seems that you do not buy yourself anything, you try to save and in general, you try to form a family budget, but in fact you can not save anything. And life passes by you as you don't try to behave. Our mother-in-law doesn’t kick us out, on the contrary, she is happy that her son is with her. He says that everyone used to live like that and nothing.

But it just makes me feel bad. Many of our friends either rent a separate apartment or live in their own. And me and Kolya... Celebrate the wedding anniversary decided first in a cafe next door, but then thought and moved the celebration home. Our room. There were only a few guests, and one couple had a child at all, so they would definitely behave quietly. That's kind of a home congratulations on your wedding.



We dressed beautifully that day and set up a nice table. I cooked some dishes with my mother-in-law, and we ordered some. Again, economical, but not terrible. The main thing is to gather, celebrate and try to make the next year better for our little family. But don't get me wrong, we don't have much money, so I carefully asked the guests before our evening not to give any gifts. Best of all is a warm wish from the heart and a envelope with money. We'll decide the rest.

So it turned out that the guests congratulated, said pleasant toasts, in general, behaved in the most appropriate way. What do you think his mother and I gave him? Money, something on the farm, maybe nothing at all? Nope! She gave us a big, dusty pot. A huge, old money tree. But that's not even the point. I knew right away where she got it. A friend who lives in an apartment on the other side of the house. But that's not all. This place used to be in their entrance. I was there when, in the first days of moving, I mixed up the entrances. And then I noticed this "outstanding" plant.



But why? You could just come up with a good congratulations and that's it. Why do we need a huge, slightly cracked pot and this huge misunderstanding? Congratulations on your wedding! Not the flowers from the cemetery, thank you. I smiled and accepted the gift. But now I just can't look at him. It's in the corner, behind the curtain. Kolya just laughs and translates everything into a joke. I'm not funny. Do you think it was because of her age that she made this decision or maybe we should go to the doctor? I don't know, what will it be for the second wedding anniversary? A bag of bags or a box of macaroni from 1998? As they say, wait, see.