From the Cradle, Still Suckling
“Listen, why dont you just marry your mother-in-law instead? At least then youd only have one extra mouth to feed instead of two,” sighed Helen dryly over the phone to her daughter.
“Mum, must you always pick at him? Youre never happy with anything! Its not like were dipping into your savings.”
“Oh, lucky me, you arent,” Helen scoffed. “But mark my words, it wont be long before you do. His mother wont be around forever. Has that layabout of yours even thought about getting a job? Or is he going to sit around in nappies himself until your daughter turns eighteen? Since when do men send their wives off to work while they play house with rattles and baby wipes?”
“Mum! This is how we live. This is what we agreed on. Im happy. What more do you want?” Emily replied coldly.
“Oh, nothing. Just for you to be with a proper bloke.”
“Mum, if youre not happy with it, dont visit. No ones forcing you.”
With that, Emily hung up. “Still the same stubborn little girl,” Helen thought with a sigh.
She wouldve kept quiet. But after what she saw today, silence wasnt an option.
That morning, Helen decided to visit her granddaughter. She dropped by Valeriesher son-in-laws motherwhere the young couple had seemingly taken up permanent residence. When Helen walked in to greet her son-in-law, the sight before her was a masterpiece of modern laziness.
Dennis was sprawled in his gaming chair, poking at a plate of sausages his mother had just brought him, bits of food tumbling onto his lap. He lazily brushed them off without so much as glancing away from the screen. Meanwhile, Valerie was running a marathon between the cot and the stovesimmering stew for her son while trying to rock the baby to sleep.
“Suppose Id better help, since no one else is,” Helen offered, her voice dripping with icy sarcasm.
Valerie shot her a grateful look and bolted to the kitchen. Helen stayed with the baby. In the two hours she was there, the father didnt once check on his child. Apparently, this was normal for them.
Helen ached for her daughter. Emily was out there slogging away at the shop while this went on. But Emily had made her choice and clearly had no intention of changing it.
Though, really, it had been obvious from the start…
…The first time Helen met Dennis, hed seemed shy, even gentle. But five minutes into conversation, it became clear: this wasnt shyness. This was sheer, unadulterated laziness.
“Dennis, do you work or study?” Helen had asked over cherry pie.
“Er… dropped out of uni. First year.”
“Why?”
“Dunno. Boring. Not my thing.”
“Right… So, working then?”
“Not at the minute,” Dennis hedged. “Still looking.”
Helen knew she sounded like a police interrogator, but her gut was already screaming warnings. She couldnt stop now.
“I see. And you live… alone?”
“Nah, with Mum. Easier that way.”
Easier for *him*, obviously.
That evening, Helen tried to get through to Emily.
“Love, he cant even look after himselfhows he going to manage a family?”
“Mum, hes just job-hunting. Once he finds something, itll be fine. I know him better than you,” Emily insisted stubbornly.
*Job-huntingmore like hunting for someone to carry him*, Helen wanted to snap. But it was pointless. Every conversation ended the same: Emily sulked, said it was “none of her business,” and gave her the silent treatment for weeks. Eventually, Helen stopped interfering. Some lessons had to be learned the hard way.
A year later, Dennis *did* find a jobsome tiny firm paying peanuts. But Emily beamed with pride.
“See? I told you!” she crowed.
That blind confidence was her undoing.
They finally managed to rent a placea shabby little room, but Emily acted like theyd moved into Buckingham Palace. Though even the palace mightve balked at the lumpy sofa-bed and lack of air conditioning.
Dennis tried to take out a loan to spruce things up, but the bank said nolow salary, bad credit, or maybe hed just chickened out. Either way, Emily took the loan instead.
“I dont mind,” said the landlady. “But the bed and AC stay when you leave. And no drilling holes in my walls.”
The couple agreed. They bought a telly, a new laptop for Dennis, and more. Helen watched, shaking her head, but what could she do?
Six months later, Emily was pregnant. With maternity leave looming and money already tight, they moved in with Valeriewho agreed, though not happily.
After the baby came, their life was a house of cards. One nudge, and it all came crashing down.
At first, Valerie helpedbuying the pram, keeping them stocked in nappies. Thanks to her, Emily got some sleep. But a year in, Dennis got sacked (Helen suspected incompetence). Then he had a *brilliant* idea.
“Em, whoever finds a decent job first works. The other stays with the baby.”
The catch? His definition of “decent.” Dennis treated job offers like they were begging *him*. Two weeks in, hed only been to two interviewsno luck. Emily got a shop job straight away.
So Dennis “looked after” the baby. Or rather, Valerie did while he gamed. Helen warned Emily, but she wouldnt hear itrose-tinted glasses firmly on.
Then Valerie passed. The flat went to Dennis. Without her pension, money dried up. The child was now *his* problemso he *had* to work.
(Emily, of course, still worked *and* did everything else.)
Months later, predictably, Emily got firedtoo many sick days for the kid. Employers werent keen on mums. Dennis became the “breadwinner.” Three months in, he announced:
“Sorry, but were done. Fell out of love.”
Emily begged. He didnt budge.
Next day, she turned up at Helens with a bag and the baby. Helen sighed and let her in. Where else could she go?
“Mum… Ive got nowhere. And the loan…”
“You *still* havent paid it?!”
“Well, Dennis needed a proper computer. Said the laptop wasnt good enough…”
Helen buried her face in her hands. A right mess. But survivable.
“Stay as long as you like. But no money. Consider it a lesson.”
Emily sulked but didnt argue. Helen was her last lifeline. Deep down, she knew her mum was right.
Soon, Helen helped her find remote worklow pay, high stress, but doable with a child. Enough for food and bills.
A month later, Dennis had a new girlfriend *and* quit his job. Another woman to mooch off. *Lord, still suckling from the cradle*, Helen thought. *Stayed with Emily while it was easy, traded up when it got hard.*
But she didnt say a word. No need to rub salt in the wound. She just hoped Emily had learned her lesson.
