Mariah had been feeling less than healthy lately, causing her to admit herself to the hospital so that she could have a check-up. But in her absence, her children decided to rent out her house as an Airbnb, ready to pocket the money for themselves. When Mariah found out, she decided to teach her children a lesson. \u201cMariah,\u201d my friend Liz said on the phone, \u201cwhy on earth is your house listed as an Airbnb?\u201d \u201cWhat?\u201d I asked, completely confused. \u201cWhat are you talking about?\u201d \u201cDenise was looking for a house to rent for the weekend because it\u2019s her bachelorette weekend, and she came across your house. Aren\u2019t you still in the hospital?\u201d she asked. \u201cLiz, I truly have no idea what you\u2019re talking about,\u201d I said, looking at the IV drip away into my bloodstream. \u201cSend me the link to the site Denise saw.\u201dThis is how I taught my children a valuable lesson:\n
Recently, my blood pressure had been all over the place, causing me to faint at odd moments. \u201cMom,\u201d my son, Liam, said, \u201cyou need to get it checked out. There\u2019s no point in going to the pharmacy and getting medication over the counter just because you think it\u2019s going to help. You need to get everything assessed properly.\u201d\u201cAnd you need to start eating better,\u201d Leah, my daughter, said. \u201cHaving oats in the morning, toast during the day, and soup at night isn\u2019t a balanced diet. You\u2019re playing with your health. It\u2019s time to take things seriously.\u201dLeah moved around my kitchen, slicing vegetables to make a salad to go along with the grilled chicken she had been marinating. \u201cAnd what about your constant headaches? It\u2019s time to get everything checked out. You should go into the hospital and do a full check-up,\u201d Liam said. \u201cBut I feel fine, other than the headaches and dizziness; I\u2019m good!\u201d I retorted.\n
Both my kids snorted and rolled their eyes at me. \u201cDo it, Mom,\u201d Leah said, pointing her finger at me. I had to agree with them. I had been downplaying my health lately. I still walked every second day and did as much yoga as my body would allow during the week. But still, there was a nagging feeling that something could be wrong. \u201cJust go to silence that feeling,\u201d Liz said when we met for smoothies after our yoga class one day. \u201cBut what if we find something?\u201d I asked, suddenly nervous to be speaking my thoughts out loud. \u201cThen, we\u2019ll deal with it together. I know that Paul isn\u2019t here anymore, but I\u2019m here,\u201d Liz said. \u201cAnd anyway, we need you up and running for Denise\u2019s wedding. I don\u2019t know how to do the mother-of-the-bride things.\u201d\u201cI\u2019ll go to the GP and take it from there,\u201d I said. \u201cIf he thinks that it\u2019s the way to go, then I\u2019ll do just that.\u201d \u201cYes, Mariah,\u201d the doctor said. \u201cI think it\u2019s a great idea for you to go for a full-body check-up. There\u2019s nothing wrong with just knowing your health and body. And I\u2019ll recommend a CT scan for your headaches, too.\u201d Which is how I ended up at the hospital, and how my children chose to take advantage of the situation. \u201cI\u2019ll bring your lunch soon,\u201d the nurse said, smiling at me. \u201cYou just rest after your CT scan.\u201d \u201cThank you,\u201d I said. \u201cI\u2019m just going to call my best friend and catch up with her.\u201d\n
Catching up with Liz meant that hearing that my children had let my house out as an Airbnb for the week that I was scheduled to be in the hospital. \u201cSo, what are you going to do about it?\u201d Liz asked me when I called her back after I confirmed that it was my house on the site. \u201cI don\u2019t know,\u201d I admitted. \u201cBut I want to teach them a lesson. Leah and Liam should have known better. But Leah and her husband are always looking for ways to make extra money. I\u2019m sure that Andrew has a gambling problem, too.\u201d \u201cTell me what you want me to do,\u201d Liz said, chewing something into my ear.\u201cI want you to tell Denise to book it,\u201d I said. \u201cBut they\u2019ll recognize that it\u2019s her, so she\u2019s probably going to need to create a new account. Do you think she\u2019ll be okay with that?\u201d\u201cOf course, she will!\u201d Liz said. \u201cAnything for you. But then what?\u201d \u201cI\u2019m getting discharged tomorrow,\u201d I said. \u201cBut the kids think that I\u2019ll be here until the end of the week. So, let them think that they\u2019re going to make some money off the place.\u201d \u201cYou want Denise to rent the place, but you want to mess it up?\u201d Liz chuckled. \u201cThat\u2019s devious.\u201d \u201cNo, my children are devious,\u201d I said. I hung up the call, and the nurse brought my lunch to me, ready to leave me alone to eat while she did her rounds. If I was being honest, I didn\u2019t know how I felt about my children\u2019s betrayal.\n
But it hurt me to imagine that while I had been away at the hospital, my children were perfectly fine with having strangers take over my home. \u201cWhat were they thinking?\u201d I asked myself. They hadn\u2019t given a second thought to people using the mugs I had hand-painted, or people sitting in their father\u2019s worn armchair. Paul has been deceased for a few years now, but it still felt like his chair.\u201cNo,\u201d I said to myself. \u201cI\u2019m going to get back at these kids.\u201d The next morning, I was discharged with a clean bill of health, despite warnings to keep my stress down. \u201cAnd keep an eye on your cholesterol, Mariah,\u201d my doctor said. \u201cEat lots of green leafy vegetables.\u201d I drove myself to Liz\u2019s house, where I was going to wait for Denise to meet me with the keys to my house. \u201cAre you sure about this?\u201d Liz asked, making me a cup of tea and buttering a lemon and poppy seed muffin. \u201cYes,\u201d I said. \u201cAnd this way, they\u2019ll truly have to feel accountable for their actions.\u201d I went home a few hours later. There was something different about the house. The smell was different, and I knew for sure that someone else had been staying there.There was a sweet perfume scent that took over my usual woody-scented house.I had a long shower, ready to wash away the scent of the hospital that clung to my skin. I was ready for a long sleep in my own bed. For tomorrow, the fun began. The next morning, I made myself some breakfast and dutifully took the array of vitamins and supplements that the doctor had given me. Then, I began to pack away all of my appliances. \u201cWhere are you going to put everything?\u201d Liz asked me when she came over.\n
\u201cI\u2019m going to put some into the trunk of my car, and we can hide the rest in the garage for now,\u201d I said. Together, Liz and I emptied out the house, leaving only the old toaster behind. \u201cCome on,\u201d Liz said, linking her arm in mine. \u201cLet\u2019s get you out of here.\u201d I waited until Friday, staying with Liz. And then I drove myself home that afternoon. \u201cHi Mom!\u201d Leah said excitedly when she saw me pull into the driveway.\u201cHi, honey,\u201d I said, taking out my bag from the backseat. We walked into the house, and there were entirely new appliances all over my kitchen. \u201cWhat\u2019s all this?\u201d I asked, pretending to be shocked. \u201cLiam and I thought that you deserved new things!\u201d Leah said, looking at the floor as she spoke. \u201cNo, you didn\u2019t,\u201d I said. \u201cYou came back to my home when your guest was supposed to check out and you found everything gone.\u201d Leah stared at me with her mouth open. \u201cYou know?\u201d she said. \u201cOf course, I do!\u201d I exclaimed. \u201cI took everything! You needed to be taught a lesson. Why would you let my house out?\u201d Leah blinked slowly. \u201cMom,\u201d she said softly. \u201cI\u2019m so sorry. Andrew and I thought that it would be a good idea because it seemed like a great opportunity to make some extra money. Liam said that it was okay as long as nothing was broken.\u201d\u201cDarling,\u201d I said, hugging her. \u201cYou can\u2019t do this. If you and Andrew need money, you come and talk to me about it. Don\u2019t do things like this. It\u2019s going to ruin our trust.\u201d My daughter smiled and took my bag from me. \u201cCome,\u201d she said. \u201cI\u2019ll make you some tea with the new kettle. I\u2019ll return everything else tomorrow. And the money is all yours.\u201d What would you have done?\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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