Am I being overly sensitive?
Our daughter in law is just opening her own veterinary hospital which will serve her specialty practice (theriogenology or veterinary reproductive medicine, primarily show dogs) as well as employing three other vets. Due to governmental bureaucratic harassment, the project is opening several months behind schedule but is finally over.
Because of bungling by the bank that she chose to deal with, my wife and I ended up contributing a seven figure sum to the project. Without our contribution, instead of the hospital opening, there would be a bankruptcy sale to dispose of the property. Once open, this business will be hugely lucrative, insuring financial security for her, our son and young grandson as well as greatly improving her work environment . We chose to support this project because we are fortunate enough to be able to do so without without changing our lifestyle in retirement and our son is an only child so doing so was essentially just prepaying some of his inheritance.
During construction, since I am retired and have time, I worked closely with the contractor to help things along when necessary. I would regularly get panicked calls for things like finding a structural engineer on one day's notice, finding a data cabling company to wire the building because the quote from the data system company didn't include that, or using a inside contact I have with one of the suppliers to avoid a further month's delay.
Here's the issue that's bothering me, and admittedly it should be not big deal, but it keeps gnawing at me. There are sinks all over the building so the vets and techs can conveniently wash up after procedures, etc. In order to insure that these would be usable as soon as the facility opened, I ordered enough commercial towel dispensers to service all of them. Just before the place opened and I was getting ready to hang them, my DIL informed me that she didn't like what I had selected and would get something else.
My DIL is a lovely person, but she's a my way or no way type and these kinds of issues have arisen in the past but again they weren't important enough to really bother me. But I can't get this out of my mind. I feel unappreciated and disrespected. I'm not going to confront her on it because it's not worth jeopardizing our relationship but I'd like some assurance that I'm not being totally neurotic.
Posted: 12/08/2025 at 09:32 AM ET
Thread Replies (26)
Am I being overly sensitive?
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-- Galenahokie
Dec 08, 2025 at 09:32 AM ET
Galenahokie
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12/08/25 09:32 AM ET
As a dentista who washed his hands often a few times on every patient the
-- DonHo-kieHi
Dec 09, 2025 at 01:55 AM ET
DonHo-kieHi
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12/09/25 01:55 AM ET
Was your financial contribution a gift, or a loan?
-- MP4VT2004
Dec 08, 2025 at 09:16 PM ET
MP4VT2004
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12/08/25 09:16 PM ET
It was an outright gift, no strings attached. Having read through all the
-- Galenahokie
Dec 08, 2025 at 09:58 PM ET
Galenahokie
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12/08/25 09:58 PM ET
If your contributions are simply a gift, there should be no strings
-- Tank
Dec 08, 2025 at 06:25 PM ET
Tank
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12/08/25 06:25 PM ET
It was a gift. My purpose in getting the towel dispensers was simply to
-- Galenahokie
Dec 08, 2025 at 09:51 PM ET
Galenahokie
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12/08/25 09:51 PM ET
Working in clean room environments, we are pretty picky about that type of
-- No Clue
Dec 08, 2025 at 02:53 PM ET
No Clue
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12/08/25 02:53 PM ET
There sounds like things in her personality that will probably make her
-- Hokebury
Dec 08, 2025 at 12:30 PM ET
Hokebury
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12/08/25 12:30 PM ET
Giving is tougher then it seems. Learning to give without strings is tough
-- UTPr0sim
Dec 08, 2025 at 12:25 PM ET
UTPr0sim
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12/08/25 12:25 PM ET
nice humble brag, btw. 👍🏻**
-- B777Fr8Dog
Dec 08, 2025 at 11:49 AM ET
B777Fr8Dog
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12/08/25 11:49 AM ET
Thanks in part to all those sailboats I sold in the 80's & 90's**
-- Galenahokie
Dec 08, 2025 at 02:13 PM ET
Galenahokie
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12/08/25 02:13 PM ET
You sound like a man that would appreciate what Axl Rose once said about
-- jdkhokie
Dec 08, 2025 at 11:08 AM ET
jdkhokie
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12/08/25 11:08 AM ET
remind her politely to STFU and you can change them later if you like **
-- VT Pez4Life
Dec 08, 2025 at 11:01 AM ET
VT Pez4Life
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12/08/25 11:01 AM ET
My question, did you consult her on what you ordered? If not...
-- vthhhi
Dec 08, 2025 at 11:00 AM ET
vthhhi
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12/08/25 11:00 AM ET
Depending on her tone and demeanor it might bother me too.**
-- HokieNoVA
Dec 08, 2025 at 10:49 AM ET
HokieNoVA
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12/08/25 10:49 AM ET
2 Thoughts from someone completely lacking a PHD in Psych.
-- Late 80s Hokie
Dec 08, 2025 at 10:39 AM ET
Late 80s Hokie
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12/08/25 10:39 AM ET
This. To be blunt, get over it. It is her business and she should be
-- KeithHokie89
Dec 08, 2025 at 11:57 AM ET
KeithHokie89
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12/08/25 11:57 AM ET
Has she been thankful for your contributions?**
-- BG Hokie
Dec 08, 2025 at 10:34 AM ET
BG Hokie
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12/08/25 10:34 AM ET
Since it doesn't appear she's fluent in business practices, you should...
-- EDGEMAN
Dec 08, 2025 at 10:31 AM ET
EDGEMAN
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12/08/25 10:31 AM ET
My wife has spent some time as a vet tech and is licensed so she's
-- ElbertoHokie
Dec 08, 2025 at 10:21 AM ET
ElbertoHokie
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12/08/25 10:21 AM ET
She is what she is. Bite down on the leather strap and move on. She owes
-- ColoVT82
Dec 08, 2025 at 10:09 AM ET
ColoVT82
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12/08/25 10:09 AM ET
As a paper guy, I would have told you to have her find a supplier before
-- reestuart
Dec 08, 2025 at 09:58 AM ET
reestuart
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12/08/25 09:58 AM ET
Scope of work. Everything is outlined in an agreement ahead of time so any
-- reconhokie
Dec 08, 2025 at 09:57 AM ET
reconhokie
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12/08/25 09:57 AM ET
My wife handles the babysitting detail!**
-- Galenahokie
Dec 08, 2025 at 10:31 AM ET
Galenahokie
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12/08/25 10:31 AM ET
Maybe a little oversensitive but not entirely....
-- BleedinOandM
Dec 08, 2025 at 09:44 AM ET
BleedinOandM
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12/08/25 09:44 AM ET
You did all that and she only complained about the towel dispensers?
-- RhinoVT
Dec 08, 2025 at 09:44 AM ET
RhinoVT
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12/08/25 09:44 AM ET