Parents of the olden days had many children under the guise that they’re their ‘investment’ and they would yield profits when they grow into responsible adults – nothing bad about that. It’s a joy for a parent to see their investment yield good profits and enjoy the fruits of their labour. Some don’t need to partake in the profits because they are comfortable enough…

Just unfortunately, some parents, when their daughters marry, they think it’s now time to enjoy double bounty. Some have put their names on the payroll of their son-in-laws to cater for their needs because they are married to their daughters. It’s even worse if the in-laws are living close, it is one demand after the other and the wife don’t see any problem with that (sometimes).

When they’re placing the heavy demands on couples, they don’t pause to think about the consequences and the tension it creates in their marital homes. Some I think do it deliberately if they don’t like the men their daughters married.

Sometimes, I can’t really blame the wives who find nothing wrong with how their parents sponge off their husbands because if their mothers refused the union in the first place, the best way to sweeten them is to show the men are good providers—even before the marriage.

There are some people who right from the word go, you don’t start doing them any ‘favours’ because it won’t be a one-off thing – the moment you do them that first ‘favour’, you’ve automatically signed a contract you must stick to otherwise you’re not ‘caring enough’.

Personally, I don’t think it is right for the husband to provide for his home, his family (maybe) and then use the little money left to cater for the ‘entire’ family of his wife. Some parents, with the little/much money they have support their children on a sound footing when they marry and others are using their daughters’ marriages as a meal ticket. Is bride price not enough?

We’re in a new era where things have really changed. The children we are having now will be a generation of kids where we have to support them to the point of even assisting them to buy/build their own homes.

But seriously, should a man marry a woman as well as all the financial problems that come with her family?