At the age of 23, my sister, who had just graduated from college, got married. Our parents took the news reasonably well; it could have been worse if her husband had made the decision to flee, leaving her in a tough position. Instead, he made a proposal, and the two of them moved in together to begin a genuine family. But now that I’m looking back, I see that maybe it would have been better if he had left her back then—we would be in less trouble now.
They struggle to make ends meet despite renting a relatively small one-bedroom apartment. Prior to starting her maternity leave, my sister and her husband initially succeeded in working and saving money. Our entire family pitched in to aid them during that time.
We didn’t really know his parents, and they were a little aloof. So, the majority of my sister’s financial support came from me and our parents. She happily accepted our assistance. But she revealed that she was expecting again after her first child reached one and a half. Although the timing wasn’t perfect, there was no getting around it. Again, we all had to chip in and lend a hand.
Her husband began missing workdays and whining that he was too exhausted to work. I made the decision to talk to my sister in depth. After all, we’re all adults and we ought to be aware of the difficulties our parents are already facing. They cover my sister’s rent, and I frequently buy groceries for my nieces and nephews to prevent them from going without food.I remarked that if they can’t support them, perhaps it’s time to stop having more kids. We’ll have as many children as God gives us, my sister remarked, looking down at me.
We learned that she was expecting her third child six months later. I’m at a loss on what to do now. In the hopes that her spouse will begin making genuine efforts to provide for a large family, I’m thinking about completely ceasing my financial assistance.
