For an entire week, my mother-in-law let her dog lick our dinner plates clean before putting them back in the sink with the rest of our dishes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Every time I asked her to stop, she brushed me off.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cJust wash them!\u201d she insisted.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I tried to stay polite. But after she embarrassed me in front of our dinner guests, I decided it was time to teach her a lesson she wouldn’t forget.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And the gift I gave her? Let’s just say she absolutely loved the wrapping paper.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I’m Sarah, 41, married to Mike, and a mother of three. Our home was already busy enough when my mother-in-law, Linda, asked to stay with us while her house underwent major renovations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Of course, we welcomed her \u2014 and her beloved little dog, Charlie.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I bought Charlie a comfortable bed, made room for his food bowls, and stocked up on treats. I had no problem with the dog.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The problem was Linda.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It began one evening at dinner. After finishing her chicken and mashed potatoes, Linda placed her plate on the floor and called Charlie over.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He eagerly licked up the leftover gravy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cLinda, what are you doing?\u201d I asked.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cGiving Charlie his dessert,\u201d she replied cheerfully.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cFrom your dinner plate?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWell, he’s not going to use a fork!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I reminded her that Charlie had his own bowl. She simply dropped her plate into the sink with the rest of our dishes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I thought she’d understood my concern.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I was wrong.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The next morning, she let Charlie eat the leftovers from her breakfast plate. A few days later, I caught her offering him food from my daughter’s cereal bowl.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Every time I objected, she gave me the same answer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cDish soap cleans everything!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I explained that I didn’t want our family dishes used that way, especially the bowls my children ate from. But Linda acted as though I was being unreasonable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
After nearly a week of arguments, I asked my husband to speak with her.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He did.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
She still refused to listen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Then came the dinner party that finally pushed me over the edge.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We had invited our friends Amy and David over for a lovely meal. Everything was going well until Amy stepped away from the table.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Linda immediately lifted Charlie onto Amy’s chair and let him lick the leftovers from her plate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
When Amy returned, she stopped in disbelief.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWait… is that my plate?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Linda smiled as if she’d done something wonderful.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cOh, yes! You were finished, weren’t you?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Amy looked uncomfortable. David didn’t know what to say, and our guests ended up leaving much earlier than planned.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I was mortified.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
After they left, I confronted Linda.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cYou embarrassed our guests!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cOh, don’t be dramatic!\u201d she snapped. \u201cNobody’s going to die because a dog licked a plate.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
That was when I remembered her favorite argument.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
If everything could simply be washed, then surely she wouldn’t mind experiencing the same situation herself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The following afternoon, I prepared a special surprise.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I wrapped a beautiful ceramic dog bowl in adorable puppy-themed paper and placed it in her bedroom. On the front of the bowl, I had her name printed in large letters.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
When Linda discovered the gift, she was delighted by the wrapping.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Then she opened the box.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Her smile disappeared.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cA DOG BOWL?!\u201d she shouted.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIt’s your new dinner plate,\u201d I calmly replied.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI’m not a dog, Sarah!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI know. Neither are my children.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
She was furious and immediately threatened to call Mike. But before she could finish her complaint, I invited her downstairs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
There, sitting proudly on a dining chair in a little bow tie, was Charlie.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In front of him sat a plate of leftover chicken.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And it wasn’t just any plate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It was a piece of Linda’s treasured family china, a set she claimed was worth thousands of dollars.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The moment she saw Charlie licking it clean, she nearly exploded.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cARE YOU INSANE?! THAT PLATE IS SEVENTY YEARS OLD!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I calmly reminded her of the words she’d repeated all week.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cDon’t worry, Linda. I’ll wash it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
She clutched the plate in horror.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThat’s different! This is MY china!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And there it was \u2014 the very argument I’d been waiting for.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cExactly,\u201d I told her. \u201cThose other plates were mine.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
For once, Linda had nothing to say.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
When Mike arrived home, he found us standing in the dining room, his mother holding her precious china while Charlie sat nearby in his bow tie.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Mike eventually admitted that we both needed to respect each other’s belongings. I shouldn’t have used her treasured china without permission, but she also needed to respect our household rules.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The next morning, something remarkable happened.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Linda prepared Charlie’s breakfast, reached for one of our regular plates, and then stopped.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Without saying a word, she put it back and used Charlie’s own bowl.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
As I poured my coffee, she muttered that I was an impossible daughter-in-law.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Then she looked at the ceramic bowl I’d given her.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI’m giving this to Charlie,\u201d she announced.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cPerfect,\u201d I replied. \u201cIt’s dishwasher-safe.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
For the first time in a week, everyone in our house was eating from the right dishes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And Linda finally understood that just because something can be washed doesn’t mean you have the right to use it however you please.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
For an entire week, my mother-in-law let her dog lick our dinner plates clean before putting them back in the sink with the rest of our dishes. Every time I asked her to stop, she brushed me off. \u201cJust wash them!\u201d she insisted. I tried to stay polite. But after she embarrassed me in front …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":24414,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-24413","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cehre.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24413","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cehre.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cehre.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cehre.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cehre.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=24413"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/cehre.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24413\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":24415,"href":"https:\/\/cehre.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24413\/revisions\/24415"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cehre.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/24414"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cehre.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=24413"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cehre.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=24413"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cehre.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=24413"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}