Cleaning daughter-in-law and son's house

by Anonymous

My son and daughter-in-law live in a very dirty and disorganized house. The garage and outside are equally a mess. The situation was the same when they lived together before they were married and had no kids. They now have a 4 year old and 18 month old and my daughter-in-law's sister lives in their basement with several dogs. My daughter-in-law's sister and her mom who comes over almost daily don't help to clean.


My son and daughter-in-law have asked me on numerous occasions to help them clean and organize. What that really means is that I do all the cleaning and organizing. After their first child was born, I hired a housekeeper who spent all day cleaning the inside of the house. Recently, I paid someone to help with organization to no avail.

I make a point of never criticizing. I have cleaned and tried organizing their house many times, but I fail to see that my efforts are maintained. How do I gracefully decline?

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