Punctuality is a sign of respect, but not everyone shares the same clock.When her in-laws repeatedly showed up late without a care, she decided it was time for a new rule — and this one wasn’t negotiable.

Read on for the full story!

AITA for not letting my in-laws continue to be late for everything?

I’ve been married for 16 years, and my in-laws have never been on time for anything.

It’s not just a couple of minutes late — usually, it’s 20-30 minutes or more, and they never bother to tell us they’re running behind.

They were even late on holidays.

On Halloween, they were supposed to be here at 6:30 to go trick-or-treating.

My kids are teens, so they already had plans but canceled to spend time with them instead.

At 7:15, we called, and they said they were “5 minutes away.”

Twenty-two minutes later, they arrived without any concern for being late.

So finally, a boundary needed to be set.

This inspired a new rule for me. I called it the 5-minute rule.

Basically, if you tell me you’re going to be somewhere at a specific time and you’re not, after 5 minutes, I will leave.

If we’re meeting to eat or do something else, and you’re late, we will go ahead, order, eat, and leave when we finish — even if you just arrived.

They gave their in-laws plenty of fair warning about this rule.

Tonight, they had plans to take my kids out for dinner.

They said they’d be here at 7.

We talked at 2 PM, and I reminded them of the new rule.

But still, they couldn’t get themselves to their destination on time.

At 7:05, they still weren’t here and hadn’t called, so I called them.

They said they were 10 minutes away.

I told them not to bother with it.

They tried asking me to give them another chance since they live an hour away, but I said no way and stuck to it.

I feel like they are being disrespectful by doing this and that they aren’t valuing my time.

AITA?

Some people just refuse to change, no matter how bad you want them to.

What did redditors have to say?

Some people just tend to think the world will stop for them.

When polite requests don’t work, sometimes you just have to send a message the hard way.

Lateness isn’t just inconsiderate; It can also be hurtful to those on the receiving end.

This commenter thinks their strategy of boundary setting is exactly what needs to be done.

This new rule didn’t just hold others accountable, it brought her peace of mind.

Because in the end, respecting your own time is the one thing you can control.

Time waits for no one, and these in-laws are no exception.

If you liked that story, read this one about grandparents who set up a college fund for their grandkid because his parents won’t, but then his parents want to use the money to cover sibling’s medical expenses.