Dad fed up with chronically-late in-laws devised brilliant ‘5-minute rule’ and it's the perfect example of 'good boundary'
When parents set up rules and boundaries, they do so with much concern and in the best interests of their family. These should be adhered to and respected by all, even close family members. A dad, who goes by u/jax904dude on Reddit, revealed that when his in-laws continually ignored punctuality and hindered their plans, he had a top-notch solution. The in-laws were always late to every event and it was causing much inconvenience to the man and his family. When they refused to make changes despite being confronted, he came up with a straightforward boundary that was sure to be efficient.
The dad mentioned that he was married for 16 years and his in-laws had “never been on time” to any event. He added that they weren’t even a few minutes late but delayed by half an hour or so all the time. The man recalled a situation that was the last straw that broke the camel's back. His teenage kids had canceled their plans to spend time with their grandparents on Halloween but they were late as usual. “They were supposed to be here at 6:30 PM to go trick-or-treating. At 7:15 PM, we called and they said they were '5 minutes away.' 22 minutes later, they arrived without any concerns,” the dad mentioned. The dad then came up with the “5-minute rule.”
He finally put his foot down and explained that the in-laws get no more than '5 minutes' of delay. “If you tell me you're gonna be somewhere at a time and aren't, after 5 minutes, I will leave. If we are meeting to eat or something and you're late, we will order and eat without you, we will leave when we finish even if you're just getting there,” the dad explained. He didn’t just devise the plan but also executed it unapologetically so the in-laws would learn a lesson. “Tonight, they had plans to take my kids out for dinner. They said they'd be here at 7 PM,” the dad noted. Despite being reminded about the rule, they hadn’t arrived by 7.05 PM.
“I called them. They said they were 10 mins away. I told them to not bother with it. They tried to ask me to give them another chance since they live an hour away, and I said no way and stuck to it,” the dad mentioned in his post. He added that he felt the in-laws were being “disrespectful and not valuing” his time and had to draw the line somewhere. His confident and assertive response is a perfect example of setting clear boundaries. People supported the dad’s reaction and applauded him for taking a stand for himself. u/islandtan11 said, “Clearly your in-laws don’t respect or the time frame you gave and importantly - your kids.” u/kipsterdude wrote, “It's one thing if it's a rare occurrence but their behavior is chronic.”