Agony aunt story translated from Japanese:
Original story: http://komachi.yomiuri.co.jp/t/2013/0315/580044.htm?g=06
Big fight with my mother-in-law. My husband won’t take my side. Should I divorce him?
I live with my child, my husband and my mother-in-law. The house is in my mother-in-law’s name and we pay her 50,000 yen ($526) a month for living expenses. I’ve never gotten along with her so I try not to talk to her unless absolutely necessary.
Whenever she says something nasty to me, my husband says it’s my bad attitude that provokes her to find fault with me. He never takes my side. It seems he can’t stand up to his mother because she paid off a debt of 2 million yen ($21,000) from his bachelor days. An incident happened three days ago and she suddenly hit my face when she was drunk. I was so enraged I hit back without thinking. Things got out of hand and the police were called.
When I explained what happened to the police, they agreed my mother-in-law was at fault. However since it was a domestic dispute they asked us to solve it ourselves. My husband came home in a hurry and I explained everything to him as well. He responded, “It was your fault for taking a drunk person seriously. Apologize to my mother. If you won’t, get out!”
I took my child and went back to my parents’ house. My mother tells me to put up with whatever it takes to avoid a divorce, but I can’t do this any more.
My husband gives me all the money he makes, and our child loves him. I’m unemployed so I’m worried about life after divorce. What should I do?
[do not reply]
Translator’s note: The writer doesn’t state the child’s genre, so it’s a bit annoying to have to translate the term “my child” when I would normally write “my son” or “my daughter.”
