My PILs visited yesterday & were asking about our plans for our garden. DH took up a lot of the weeds turf back in the autumn with a view to seeding a new lawn this spring. He's booked a week off to complete this in April but at some point we really also need to level our patio, put in a proper retaining wall rather than relying on end-on patio slabs, put a step down from the slightly higher patio onto the lawn & add a fence to stop DS falling off! It's feasible that DH could do these things but it is a lot of work for him to do by himself, he's aiming to get his professional qualification this year & we have DS2 due in June! We don't use the garden at the moment because it's not really child-friendly but we do have green spaces within walking distance that I could take DS1 to so we could manage without the garden, although it would be more convenient if it was usable.
My PILs have offered to pay for basically all the work we'd like to do on the basis that they can afford to do so & it seems silly for them to sit on their money until it comes to us as inheritance in hopefully 40 odd years.
I want us to be able to stand on our own & not need to rely on our parents for things like this. We can't afford to have it done professionally without help but it's nothing that DH wouldn't be able to do to an adequate standard. There's a huge part of me that would rather they gave that money to a charity to help people who need it, rather than using it for something that isn't a desperate need, even if it would make life a little easier/more comfortable for us.
DH is inclined to let them pay for it but wouldn't if I really wasn't comfortable with the idea. He loves DIY things & would enjoy doing it, it's just finding sufficient time to do it that's tricky for him. I'm not capable of doing it myself because of the pregnancy & because I'm just generally not that great when it comes to DIY type things!
DH suggested that we could allow them to pay for it & make a charity donation ourselves of about the equivalent to what we would've spent on the materials if DH had done the work.
I don't like the idea of taking money from anyone & PILs bought DH a flat before we met so we wouldn't even have the house if it weren't for them! Someone tell me I'm just being proud/stubborn & I shouldn't let my own issues stop them from doing something nice for our family! 