芽衣子は夫と2人の子供と同居しており、義両親も近くに住んでいる。料理が好きな彼女は義両親や子供たちに食事を提供することには問題がないが、義妹家族が訪れると疑問を感じる。義母が彼女の料理を食べようとすることに戸惑いを感じる彼女は、将来も同居生活を続けることを決めるが、穏やかに物事を進める方法を模索している。義理の両親や義妹家族との関係には複雑な思いが交差している。
Continuing from last time. I (Meiko) am part of a family of four, including my husband and two children. We live on the same property as my husband’s parents. My husband is a very considerate person, and my in-laws are not bad people, so there were no major issues with living together on the property. Honestly, sometimes I find it a hassle to have meals with my in-laws during seasonal events. But, since I enjoy cooking, it wasn’t too difficult to prepare a lot of food for them, so I just thought, “Oh well.” However, things are different when it comes to needing to earn money to support my sister-in-law’s family. Am I being narrow-minded for wanting my in-laws to support my sister-in-law’s family?
My in-laws love my children very much and spend a good amount of time with them. Well, sometimes I find it annoying that my in-laws always want to go to events together… but I think the kids would be happy to receive presents, so I’m fine with it.
My sister-in-law is married and lives outside the prefecture. We don’t usually see each other much, but during long holidays, she comes back to her parents’ house and always wants to have meals with me. I’ve always liked cooking, so I didn’t mind making food. However, I’ve always felt unsure about the situation where I provide the meals and my sister-in-law just relaxes at her parents’ house.
I don’t hate living together on the property. There are pros and cons, but overall we were able to spend our time comfortably living with my in-laws. However, when my sister-in-law’s family comes back, I feel a bit strange when my mother-in-law tries to eat what I’ve cooked. Whether he just wants to make things easier or he really likes my cooking, I’m not sure. In any case, I don’t have an obligation to cook for my sister-in-law’s family. We will continue to live together on the property. I was thinking about how to handle things here as peacefully as possible without causing any confusion.
To be continued in [Part 2].
Original: Mamasta Community, Script: Wakana Watanabe, Illustration: Junko Shikawa, Editing: Miyabi