My Mother-in-Law and Dishes

The reason she didn't shred the garbage

(이 포스트는 예전 포스트 중 하나인 "시어머니가 설거리 마무리를 안 하신 이유"를 영어로 다시 써본 포스트이다. 시어머니에 대해 쓴 글이 조회수가 29만이 넘었다고 말 하니 남편이 궁금해해서 남편을 위해 영어로 번역해보겠다고 진작부터 약속을 했었고, 비행기를 놓친 바람에 공항에서 밤을 새야 하는 오늘에서야 그 약속을 지켜본다!)

"Mentirosa!"

This was the very first word I heard from my mother-in-law, after coming back home from Starbucks. I was working on some assignment from rotations. I've finished the work around 3 PM, but I had to stop by at Walmart and Vons to buy more formula for the baby. (But neither place had the formula -- it was all sold out. The baby needs more by either tomorrow or the day after ...) It was right about the time that my husband let me know, with his hand gesture, that the baby just fell asleep in the living room.

Mother-in-law, who was casually passing by with playful smile on her face, randomly called me "liar," so I totally thought she was kidding. (Usually we play around with each other. Especially she makes fun of the belly I got after delivering the baby. T_T) But, in fact, there was some misunderstanding during our conversation this morning.

Today I didn't have to check in with my professor, so I could just work on my assignment at Starbucks for few hours. I left home around 9:30AM.

Right before I left, I had a chance to talk with my mother-in-law -- it seemed like she had worked out in the moring. By the time I was about to leave the house, she had finished taking shower and had come down to the 1st floor.

I felt like I should tell her that I need to go to school tomorrow, because I need to leave by 8AM. So I told her so, and also told her that as the professor will have a busy day tomorrow, I believe I can come back home by 12PM.

But the miscommunication happened here -- my mother-in-law thought that I was telling her that I'll be back by 12PM TODAY, not tomorrow. This was all because of my poor Spanish. T_T

I've been living with my in-laws for 3 years ever since I got married to my husband, and I've had the thought (maybe "only" the thought, without much effort?) that I gotta learn Spanish. But the family members all understand English, and I didn't have enough guts to "dare speak in" my poor Spanish. (I would sound like an elementary school kid ... or maybe kindergartener?)

My mother-in-law understands English but she speaks in Spanish; and I (somewhat) understand her Spanish but speak in Enlgish. So when we talk to each other, we talk in different languages. But after I visited Mexico for the first time in the beginning of this year, I realized "Woo, I can actually communicate in my baby-like Spanish?!!" and have been trying to speak more in Spanish; but the attempt was a big failure today.

The family had eaten dinner already and my mother-in-law started washing dishes. I went close to her and asked if she waited for me and told her that I was sorry. But she told me not to worry about it as she was only kidding. I wanted to explain to her that I actually meant TOMORROW when I said I would be back by 12PM, and she was cool with that: "Ah, I must have misunderstood. It's okay!" (But I know it was me who was at-fault ... T_T)

My husband asked if I ate dinner yet, and suggested "You should eat if you haven't?"; I was hungry, so I started eating. The menu was one of my favorite -- home-made veggie soup by my mother-in-law. (The family doesn't really like this soupt, but I really like the warm broth. She puts lots of veggies and chicken meat!)

My mother-in-law has finished washing dishes while I was eating dinner, so I went to the sink to do my dishes. But what is this -- the sink was full of water and unshredded food garbage. There is a button that simply shreds the chunk of garbage, but my mother-in-law hasn't activate the shredder.

Is the shredder broken? Or, maybe there was a big dish that was hard to wash, and she is bloating the dry surface of the big dish? Or, perhaps, she did this secretly expressing how disappointed she was at me as I came home late ...?!

Thousand thoughts had passed by in my head, but I gotta do my dishes so I was grabbing the gloves. But then my mother-in-law passed by and I asked, "Should I activate the shredder?"

My mother-in-law smlied at me and told me not to.

As the shredder makes noise, the baby, who just fell asleep in the living room, would get up.

O. M. G. I am the mother, but am I really deserved to be called mother?

My husband had told me that the baby was sleeping in the livingroom, but I had ZERO connection between his sleep and the noise that would come from the shredder.

(Usually the shredder doesn't even make that big of a noise, but sometimes it goes crazy for 1-2 seconds. My mother-in-law added, one day the baby woke up from his nap crying due to the noise from the shredder.)

My mother-in-law spends more time with the baby than I do, who is the mother of the baby.

While I was attending my classes and being pregnant at the same time, my friends always told me they don't know how I do this; but if it wasn't my mother-in-law's support, I wouldn't be able to go through the whole schooling & pregnancy.

At the end of January this year, the didactic portion of curriculum had been over. I was about to go on the rotations that start in mid-February.

I gave a little gift to my mother-in-law with a little card, saying that it is all thanks to her support that I could successfully finish my classes.

I suck at Spanish, but I tried to translate my letter word-by-word, but I saw my mother-in-law tearing little bit while she was reading the card.

She went to sleep little early today, and perhaps it's because she had a long day with the bady today. (The baby is teething these days, and he cries quite often.)

I've been living with her for 3 years and still BARELY do any house chores. SOMETIMES I do some dishes but that's about it. The more I think about it, I know I wouldn't like a daughter-in-law like me. I am just infinitely thankful that I have such an understanding mother-in-law.

+ The image in the title section is from googling