Her In-Laws Asked Every Couple to Pay $600 for a Thanksgiving Lake House, Then Put Her and Her Husband in a Bunk Room With All Seven Grandkids
A woman’s in-laws rented a lake house for Thanksgiving and asked each couple to chip in an equal share. Then her mother-in-law sent out a hand-drawn floor plan showing where everyone would sleep.
Every other couple got a bedroom. She and her husband were assigned to the basement bunk room with all seven grandkids, and now she’s thinking about skipping the $600 payment and booking a hotel instead.
A Lake House for Thanksgiving
Her husband’s parents rented a lake house so the whole family could spend Thanksgiving together. The plan was to split the cost evenly among all of their adult children.
Group rentals like this can make holidays more affordable. But they can also lead to tension when everyone pays the same and gets very different accommodations.
A $600 Venmo Request
On Friday, every couple received a Venmo request for $600 from her mother-in-law. The memo said it was for the lake house.
Her request is still sitting unpaid. She’s been hesitant to send the money after seeing the room assignments.
The Notepad Floorplan
The next day, her mother-in-law texted everyone a photo of a floor plan she’d drawn on a notepad. Each couple’s names were written in the rooms they’d be staying in.
Her in-laws took the master bedroom. Each of her husband’s siblings and their spouse got their own room.
The Bunk Room With Seven Kids
She and her husband were placed in the basement bunk room. They’d share it with all seven grandchildren, the youngest of whom is 4.
The room has bunk beds on every wall, plus a trundle bed. With the couple included, every bed in the room would be taken.
He’s Too Tall for Bunk Beds
Her husband is too tall to sleep comfortably in a bunk bed. Spending several nights crammed into one sounds miserable.
They don’t have children yet, and she suspects that’s why they were assigned the room. It seems they were chosen to be the adults bunking with the kids.
The Fun Ones
On Sunday, her husband called his mom to ask about switching rooms or paying less. His mom said they were the fun ones and that the kids were excited.
She also said the room assignments were already set. Every couple would still pay the same amount, regardless of where they slept.
A $560 Hotel With a Lock
There’s a hotel just outside town that costs $560 for the same nights. That’s $40 less than the lake house payment.
The hotel would give them a private room with a locking door and a bed her husband can actually fit in. They’d still spend every day at the lake house and join every meal, and she’d bring her usual pies.
$200 More for Each Sibling
The only thing holding her back is the impact on the rest of the family. If they don’t pay, her husband’s siblings would each need to cover an extra $200.
Her mother-in-law also put down the deposit on her credit card back in September. She’s left weighing whether paying less for a better night’s sleep is fair, or whether skipping the payment could turn a family holiday into a much bigger fight.
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