From The Straits Times    |

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“I don’t want your mum to move in with us.”

Yeo Huiyun, 36, and her husband bought an HDB flat when they got married in 2008 as she didn’t want to live with her in-laws.

She got along well enough with her mother-in-law but had somehow always felt that her mother-in-law never thought she was good enough for her son.

A few years ago, while Huiyun’s son was still a baby, her father-in-law passed away.

“My husband suggested that his mum move in with us so that she could help look after our son and so that she wouldn’t be so lonely,” says Huiyun.

“I wasn’t happy as I didn’t want her to spoil my kid, or be critical about how things are run in my house.”

Their solution: Come to a compromise.

“I gave in to my husband and let my mother-in-law live with us. Although I was unhappy, we came to a mutual agreement: He asked his mother not to contradict my instructions on how to care for our son and on general household matters.

It’s not perfect, but at least there’s some compromise.”

Photos: Tommy Kay/Corbis & Dreamstime

This story was first published in HerWorld Magazine April 2015.