Would you like to work with your family?

There’s an idealised view of wholesome family businesses, and some massive success stories out there – just look at the Kardashians, for example.

But working with your family can lead to some blurred lines and end in heartache, as an independent bakery owner found out in this story.

Let’s see what she had to say.

AITA for asking my employee to show up at their scheduled time?

I own a bakery business.

My fiancee’s mother works for me as the primary baker.

I offer a flexible schedule and told her she could pick the hours she would like to work.

Prep takes place in a kitchen set up within my home.

Every week she tells me what day and time she would like to come do her baking prep work.

Every week she has been late and I have never complained to her about it or made any comments.

Let’s see what happened to make this arrangement go so wrong.

A few days ago she told me she would come to bake at 4:30pm. Not a problem.

I got off work around 3:30pm and began prepping dough for her to bake on her arrival.

I turned my oven on around 4pm because it takes a while to heat up.

At 4:20 she texted me she was going to dinner and would come by after. She did not give a time of arrival.

I didn’t say anything to her about it.

I didn’t complain.

I had the oven on and time to kill so I just started doing some of the prep to get ahead of the game.

I figured since she was going to be late, I might as well utilize the time I had.

Here is where the story starts to take a downward turn.

My fiancee’s mom showed up at 5:58pm.

When she got there she asked why I was baking.

I said I just figured I could get ahead of the game rather then let the dough sit.

She asked me if I had a problem with her being late.

I said I have no issues, I would just appreciate if the next time she could give me 24 hour notice of when she plans to come work so I can plan accordingly.

She then said that SHE had an issue with it.

I asked what she meant. S

he told me it was insulting that I began her job.

I told her I didn’t mean any ill will by it, I was just trying to use the time I had.

She told me she just wanted to get the work done and we would talk about it later.

And her confrontational comments didn’t stop there!

I gave it a couple of hours and went back into the kitchen to ask if she could take a quick break and we could discuss the issue, because I’d like to find a resolution if possible.

I asked her how she was feeling.

She told me that if I think there are issues, then I should speak first.

I said, “well I said I had no issues, you were the one who said you had a problem and I’m just trying to understand.”

She told me again it was insulting that I started her job.

She said that I told her she could pick her own hours, and if I had different expectations, I should communicate them.

I said, “I don’t have a problem with you picking your own hours. I am just asking that you could let me know when you plan to come, and arrive at that time so I can plan accordingly.”

To this she said to me, “well, this is how I feel. I’m not the one for this job. You are the way you are, and you can find someone else.”

Let’s see how the daughter in law was left feeling after her employee walked out.

My fiancee was in the other room listening and was as confused as I was.

I went upstairs and cried.

I have been close with my fiancee’s mom for years and have never had any sort of argument or disagreement.

We have only ever had a very positive relationship.

AITA?

I’m so confused.

It seems like this woman’s future mother in law didn’t appreciate quite how good she had it working for this bakery.

Let’s see what people on Reddit had to say.

This person is in total agreement, offering some suggestions as to why the future mother in law could be behaving so inconsiderately.

Though the commenters were in agreement that the daughter in law was NTA, they did have some suggestions for her as a manager.

This person agrees that she needs to take a stricter stance with her employees in future.

According to this Redditor, the situation may have actually worked out for the best.

Working with family can be difficult to navigate: it takes a lot of consideration and understanding from both sides.

This baker needs to set some clear boundaries, otherwise her employees will be walking all over her.

If you thought that was an interesting story, check this one out about a man who created a points system for his inheritance, and a family friend ends up getting almost all of it.