I’m Seira. I live with my husband Kotaro, our 4-year-old daughter, and our 2-year-old son. We live in a first-floor unit of an apartment building owned by my father-in-law, right across from my in-laws’ house. Right after our daughter was born and we moved in, I was completely stunned when my mother-in-law started using her spare key to walk right in whenever she pleased. Still, there were times when it really helped out. I ended up convincing myself that having her right next door, ready to walk in at any moment, gave me peace of mind.
Once we had two kids, there were more and more times when I just couldn’t handle everything on my own. So things just kind of stayed the way they were, leading up to now. The kids adore her, and she’s saved the day so many times. Because of that, I couldn’t really bring myself to put my foot down, which left me stuck in a frustrating loop of being mad at myself.
Then one day, my daughter came down with a fever, and soon enough, my son, my husband, and even I caught the bug… If my mother-in-law barged in unannounced like this, my in-laws would definitely catch it too, and it’d be a total nightmare. I pulled out my phone, explained the situation to her, and texted, “Please, whatever you do, do not come inside.”