'Mom, how come you don't smile anymore?'
When my daughter told me this, I realized that I had stopped smiling for days since my family started staying in my in-law's place. And there are innumerable reasons for this.
Aside from the fact that a life in general in a 60year-old house almost breaking down, with laundry machine outside, sounds of rats running above the ceiling, floor creaking as you walk, there are other factors that drive a 34 year old mother with two kids (3 / 5 years old) exhausted and depressed about spending days there.
Not to mention the unintentionally mean comments from mother-in-law about how I bring up my kids, father-in-law consistently looks at their grandchildren (including my kids of course) in what needs to be fixed about them. He often compares us with other neighbors and relatives and makes a speech on how better they are than us. This puts a load of pressure and stress on me. Their comments tend to be either judgemental or criticizing towards us.