Chip Chick
This 33-year-old woman and her husband, 34, have an 18-month-old daughter. Her in-laws, who are in their mid-60s, moved into a new house not long ago. The house has a long garden, and a canal runs along the entire length of it.
“The garden runs straight up to the canal,” she said. “There is no fence/bush to separate the water from the garden.”
“Now, I’ve previously raised concerns about my daughter and the canal because she’s super curious about water and is also super quick on her feet.”
“My mother-in-law initially said they’d build a small fence, which was a great solution, but my father-in-law dismissed this, saying there’s no need and they’ll just watch my daughter when she’s in the garden.”
She understands that since it’s her in-laws’ house, they are the ones who have the right to make the final decision on whether or not to build a fence around their garden. However, she wants to create a boundary for her own peace of mind.
She wanted to have a rule that her daughter couldn’t be in the garden or at the house without either her or her husband present if her in-laws weren’t going to build a fence around the garden.
Even though her in-laws are not quite elderly yet, they aren’t in the best health.
“My father-in-law is classed as obese, with a heart problem, and he’s not particularly quick on his feet, and my mother-in-law is going through cancer treatment, which has taken its toll on her strength and overall health,” she shared.
“Bless her. This being the case, I just don’t trust them to be quick enough to react to a potential incident.”
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