Summer had arrived, and I decided to send my daughter, Emily, to my mother-in-law’s house in the countryside for a week. With the good weather, it’s better to be outside in the fresh air than stuck indoors. Plus, there’s a lake nearby where the kids often play, and Emily has friends in the area.

My relationship with my mother-in-law has always been strained. Karen Johnson is the typical mother-in-law who thinks her own daughter and son-in-law are perfect, while her son and his wife can never do anything right. But I never imagined she would treat her grandchildren differently, favoring some while disregarding others.

Last week, I dropped Emily off, packed her favorite toys and books, and told her to be on her best behavior with Grandma. I left some money with Karen — $200 — to cover things like ice cream or coloring books for Emily. I know Karen’s on a small fixed income, so I thought this was the right thing to do.

But just two days later, Karen calls me:
— Can you send another $50 to my account?
— What? You’ve already spent the money I left?
— Yeah, your daughter eats like a horse. I can’t keep up with her!

Now, Emily hardly eats much at all, so her comment left me puzzled. But still, I transferred the money.

When I visited over the weekend, Emily ran up to me crying:
— Mommy, please, I want to go home.
— Sweetie, what’s wrong? You don’t like it here with Grandma? It’s summer break!
— Grandma and the boys are being mean to me.

It turned out Karen had invited her daughter Sarah and her sons to stay, and that’s when things went downhill. She began dividing the grandchildren into the “good” ones and the “bad” ones. Unfortunately, Emily was labeled one of the “bad” ones.

The money I left for Emily was spent however Karen saw fit: she bought Emily a coloring book and paints, but for the boys, she bought an expensive construction set. Emily was left with uncombed hair, wrinkled clothes, while the boys were neat, with trimmed nails and ironed shirts.

At dinner, Karen even scolded my daughter:
— Your girl trampled the garden and crushed all the strawberries! How am I supposed to make jams for winter now?
— I just wanted a snack, — Emily cried. — You gave strawberries to Jake and Luke, but wouldn’t let me have any.

That was the last straw for me. How could she be so stingy with berries toward her own granddaughter? I quickly packed up our things and took Emily home.

My husband is working out of town, so I texted him everything about his mom. Mark already knew Karen didn’t care for us, but this was a whole new level.

I swore that Emily would never set foot in that house again. She can go to my parents’ place instead — there, I know she’ll be loved!