Most people would agree that family visits are meant to bring joy, not judgment.

When one woman and her husband opened the door to his sisters, they took the opportunity to turn her hospitality into a home evaluation. So next time they asked to stay, she drew a firm boundary that ended up raising tensions even higher.

Read on for the full story.

AITA for Not Inviting My In-Laws to Stay in Our Home?

Several years ago, I was a full-time caretaker for my husband, who was awaiting back surgery, and my mother, who was in palliative care with dementia.

In addition, I worked full-time.

It was a lot, so I used the services of someone who cleaned every few weeks.

One would think her husband’s family would have a certain amount of grace, but sadly this wasn’t the case.

After my husband’s surgery, his sisters decided to visit, and I welcomed them into our home.

After their visit, I learned that they’d entered parts of our home that were not open to visitors, looked through things, and commented about its cleanliness.

This cut deep for several reasons.

Granted, the private spaces were not as tidy as the public parts of our home, but I was doing the best I could.

This was especially hurtful to my husband because there is shame associated with this topic in their family.

Now she doesn’t feel comfortable inviting her husband’s family into their home again.

Fast forward, and we have a family event coming up.

My husband has suggested that the family stay with us, and, based on the last experience, I said no.

I’m in school and have a full-time job, and he may say he’s going to clean, but he won’t and will become angry with me because it’s not done.

She tries to offer other alternatives, but this just leaves her husband upset too.

I suggested they stay at a hotel (even if we pay) because I don’t want the stress associated with the visit because our standards don’t align.

He’s pretty upset, but AITA?

Some guests bring warmth and a gift for the host, but her husband’s sisters only brought their unwelcome opinions.

What did Reddit think?

There’s no point in voluntarily signing yourself up for stress if you can avoid it.

Her sister-in-laws have proven they aren’t trustworthy people.

No one should feel pressure to be perfect in every area of their life – especially from family.

Her sister-in-law may be the ones at fault, but her husband doesn’t come out of this looking so great either.

Fool her once, shame on them — fool her twice, not a chance.

If you thought that was an interesting story, check out what happened when a family gave their in-laws a free place to stay in exchange for babysitting, but things changed when they don’t hold up their end of the bargain.