My MIL and DM help me out with childcare, 3 days per week. They are invaluable, and they make childcare the last thing that’s ever on my mind; I know my DS is safe with them and I love them both. They share the days between them. They also help me out by cleaning and ironing whilst I’m out; I’m so grateful!
However... more or less every other week, something gets broken. If it’s obvious (and I have to say, it’s always been my DM so far), they will tell me. For instance; 2 weeks ago, my mum knocked a picture off the wall mopping the floor (I have no idea) and broke it, smashing the frame. She also rushed to answer the door, and knocked over said mop bucket all over the floor and under a sideboard. She insists on mopping with bleach, so the wood is ever so slightly stained (not so you’d notice unless you looked close up!) and when she was pulling the sideboard out to dry up all the water, a plate slid off it and smashed. She obviously had to tell me about those things because it’s noticeable, and she apologised profusely and left a note. However, we’ve had clothes shrank in the dryer, cups and glasses smashed, and the wheels of drawers come off (like the dishwasher drawers) and just left for us to find. Just today, I was dusting and I picked up a photo frame and the whole thing had just been leant together so it all came apart in my hands! Some things (like the drawer wheels) are in easy fix, but it’s still frustrating to find.
I’m 99% sure it’s my DM; none of these things seem to happen when DMIL is here, but of course I can’t go round pointing fingers.
My question is; should I say something? It’s more frustrating that I’ll find things broken, rather than the things being broken themselves, iyswim. But both of them were severely abused by both first husbands respectively (mine and DH’s respective dads). So I don’t want anyone feeling like they’re being attacked.
Or should I just recognise that I’m in a very fortunate situation, replace things as and when and put up and shut up?