Consequently, Jordan became the primary target of her entitlement.
When Jordan and I bought our three-bedroom suburban home two years ago, I put down 80% of the cash down payment using the savings I had built up from 10 years of highlevel software engineering.
Jordan contributed the remaining 20% from his modest savings account.
We agreed to split the monthly mortgage payments proportionally to our income, meaning I paid 65% of the household bills while Jordan covered 35%.
Yet, despite the fact that I funded the vast majority of our lifestyle, Victoria treated me like a temporary guest in her son’s house.
Over the past two years, Victoria had shown up unannounced with her friends for weekend stations, borrowed our lawn equipment without asking, and even gave a spare set of our house keys to her neighbors so they could park in our driveway when attending local events.
Every time I brought up these boundary violations to Jordan, he would hang his head, apologize to me in private, but refused to confront his mother in public.
“She’s just old-fashioned, Sandra.” Jordan would make excuses. “She just loves having the family around.”
“Please don’t make a big deal out of it.”
The week leading up to New Year’s Eve was the absolute breaking point.
On Tuesday morning, 2 days before Victoria’s family was set to arrive, I packed a large rolling suitcase with my winter clothes, my laptop, my favorite books, and my personal documents.
Jordan walked into the master bedroom while I was zipping up my bag, looking completely confused.
“Sandra, what are you doing?” Jordan asked, leaning against the door frame.
“Where are you taking that suitcase?”
“I told Victoria I was going away,” I replied, standing up straight. “My company gives us a mandatory year-end break from December 28th to January 2nd.”
“I booked a luxury oceanfront spa cabin up the coast 3 weeks ago as a surprise for our anniversary. I was going to tell you about it on Monday night, but after you sat on that couch and let your mother kick us out of our own home, I decided to go alone.”
Jordan’s jaw dropped open.
“You’re going to a spa cabin by yourself for New Year’s.”