I’m retired and moved in with my son and DIL. My DIL wasn’t happy about it. One day, at lunch, I was disgusted to notice that she used the same sponge to wash the dog’s plate and my coffee mug.
I confronted her. She snapped, ’If you don’t like it, you can leave!’ My son stayed silent. Later that evening, he came to my room and said, ’You need to understand that this is her home too, and she’s feeling overwhelmed.’ His words stung, but they made me think.

The next day, I bought a pack of new sponges, labeled them, and joked, ’One for the dogs, one for grumpy mother-in-law.’ My DIL burst out laughing, and that small gesture broke the ice.