When I went into labor, I was already overwhelmed with the stress of the impending delivery. My husband was at work, and I wasn’t sure when the contractions would hit hard enough to rush me to the hospital. With no immediate family around to help, I called my mother-in-law, Karen, who lived nearby, to ask if she could walk and feed our dog until we could get back from the hospital.

Karen, who had always been a little difficult, said she’d help—but when I mentioned it, she casually threw out, “That’ll be $600.” My jaw dropped.

“Excuse me?” I said, trying to process what she had just said. “$600? For walking my dog for a couple of days?”

She nodded, all business. “I have my time, you know. I’m not doing this for free.”

I was shocked. $600 felt excessive, especially for something as simple as taking care of our dog. But I wasn’t in a position to argue while in labor, so I agreed—but only on one condition.

“If you’re going to charge me $600, then I’ll need to see some receipts for the time and effort you put in. And I want to make sure the dog is well cared for, so you’ll also need to give me a written report of everything you did for her while I was gone. I’m not paying for just a walk around the block.”

Karen hesitated for a moment before agreeing, perhaps realizing I wasn’t going to let it slide easily. A couple of days later, she handed over a detailed report and receipts for the “time spent.” I took one look, laughed, and said, “You can keep the $600. It’s not worth it.”

From that day on, I made sure to set clear boundaries with Karen. If she thought she could manipulate situations for cash, she had another thing coming.