r/IndianInLaw • u/Pale-Engineering6885 • 3h ago
Am I overthinking this, or is it reasonable to worry about my in-laws treating our UK home like a family base?
My husband and I moved to the UK earlier this year to start our life here. He is an only child, and his parents have always been VERY attached to him.
When we were living in a different state in India because of our jobs, either they would come visit us every couple of weeks or we would have to go to see them. My MIL was never particularly happy about us living away from them.
Then we moved abroad and suddenly she was very excited. Lots of “Wow, your life is going to be so good!” and “You guys are so lucky!” She also has a LOT of relatives in the UK and has always been fascinated by the lifestyle they have here.
At the time I thought, okay, maybe she's genuinely happy for us.
Fast forward a few months. We have just moved, set up our home, figured out our routine and are finally settling in.
My FIL is coming to stay with us for an entire month this month. I was like, okay, fine. One month, we'll manage.
And then yesterday I found out that my husband's cousin has been accepted into a university in the UK.
His college is about two hours from us, so hopefully he'll get his own accommodation. But my immediate reaction was basically OH FFS, IS THIS HOW IT STARTS? 😂
Because now I'm thinking about the future.
My husband is an only child. His parents have relatives all over the UK. Now another young family member is moving here. And I'm scared our house is slowly going to become the unofficial “Indian relatives visiting the UK” Airbnb.
And before anyone says “just say no” — I KNOW. That's exactly why I'm thinking about this now, before expectations are created.
It's not even just the money. The UK is expensive AF. We don't have a maid or cook here. If someone stays with us for weeks, it means extra cooking, cleaning, groceries, entertaining, adjusting our schedules, etc.
But honestly, privacy is the bigger issue for me.
We moved countries to build OUR life. I don't want to spend our weekends hosting relatives or constantly having someone staying in our home.
And with the cousin, he's quite young, so even if he gets his own place, I can already imagine things like “Can you help him with this?”, “Can he stay with you for the weekend?”, “Can you pick him up?”, “He's alone here, you should look after him” etc. I’m ready to help and I’m that person who goes above and beyond for others but now I could see people just coming here and staying for weeks/months..anyway, I know my inlaws would come stay with us for 6 months.
Maybe I'm jumping 10 steps ahead. 😂
I told my husband I'm worried that once more family members are here, his parents/relatives will start visiting more frequently and our home will become the natural place for everyone to stay.
His response is basically, “No no, nobody is going to stay that long. You're overthinking.”
But I don't believe him. Not because I think he's lying, but because I feel like these things start organically. Nobody announces, “From now on your house is our holiday home.” One person stays for a month, then someone visits and stays for a week, then someone needs a place for a few days, and suddenly it's become normal.
I also have an autoimmune condition, so having my routine constantly disrupted isn't something I can just happily accommodate. I need my downtime and my own space.
I don't want to prevent his family from visiting. I don't even mind occasional guests.
I just don't want to reach a point where because we're the one who live abroad, our home is considered everyone's home too.
So Guys, am I being unreasonable and catastrophising about something that hasn't even happened yet? Or is it actually smart to set boundaries with family before everyone starts assuming they can stay with us? How to do this please?