My MIL Spent $2,000 on a Dinner

My MIL Spent $2000 on a Dinner …Then Asked Me to Pay for My Child

I need some outside perspective because I honestly don’t know what to think anymore. Even weeks later, the whole thing still feels unreal—like I stepped into someone else’s family drama and forgot how to get out.

It started with my father-in-law’s seventieth birthday. A big milestone. My mother-in-law, Carol, insisted on hosting a formal dinner at an upscale restaurant. Fifteen guests. Linen tablecloths. A private room. Speeches planned. She made a point of telling everyone—repeatedly—that she was paying for the whole thing.

“Two thousand dollars,” she said proudly, as if the number itself were a gift.

The night before the dinner, she called me.

Her voice was clipped, businesslike. “I need to talk to you about the headcount.”

“Okay,” I said, already uneasy.

“I budgeted for immediate family only,” she continued. “So I’ll need one hundred dollars for your son.”

I blinked. “My son?”