My Sister-in-Law Damaged Our Kitchen, So We Taught Her a Valuable Lesson in Respect
When I was eight months pregnant, my sister-in-law, Tessa, called me in tears. She had just lost her job and needed a place to stay. Wanting to help, my husband and I opened our home, believing it would only be temporary. At first, I was happy to have family close — someone familiar around during such a big moment in our lives.
But days turned into weeks, and it became clear Tessa wasn’t focused on getting back on her feet. She slept late, left dishes piled in the sink, and ignored gentle reminders to help out. I told myself to stay patient — maybe she just needed time.
After our baby was born, though, things got harder. I returned home exhausted, ready to begin life as a new mom, only to find chaos waiting for me. Every surface cluttered, food left out, laundry forgotten. When my husband and I kindly asked Tessa to start planning her next step, she took it personally. “I guess you don’t need me anymore,” she said before storming out.
I thought that was the end of it. But the next morning, we came home from a doctor’s visit to find our kitchen flooded. At first, I thought it was bad plumbing — until something told me to check the nanny cam. What we saw left us speechless: Tessa had deliberately blocked the sink and left the water running before leaving.