I (22F) have to get up at 7am in the morning to leave for work and I do work jobs so I’m very tired at the end of the day. Recently there was a International cricket tournament going on and now a Football Cup which my Husband and FIL along with my FIL’s caretaker watches. I barely know about sports and am too busy to watch. The cricket cup would end by midnigh but the football one in local time ends at around 4 am in the morning which means all three men watch it on TV in my bedroom where I sleep which has the only one TV where live football can be streamed and is fixed to the wall and the other TVs are too old and doesn’t support streaming and only have local/regional channels
It was fine for a few days . We have in past together seen movies. But that was like once in 6 months. But this football tournament is going to go for about a month and everyday it’s becoming intolerable for me to have the lights and tv on cheering while I’m trying to sleep.
My husband has very flexible working hours and works from home so he can get up anytime he wants. And my FIL is like 80, retired and a very lonely man (MIL died a couple of years ago). I don’t like saying no to him because he is older than my grandfather and i respect him a lot. But him sitting in my bedroom from 9 pm till 2 or 4 o’clock in the morning is something I don’t like anymore. I’ve tried to tell my husband several times how them being there affects my sleep as I have to work 13 hours the next day. He just shrugs and says that his father will take offense if he asks him to not come as seeing football together has been a tradition for them. This led to me being very pissed off and I am not talking to my husband anymore. He is now all sad and stuff.
But my friends and family had shown concern over this and asked me to ask my FIL directly. I’m just afraid he might be hurt because he is a proud man and will take these things to heart and he might end up not coming to my room at all which is bad as he barely goes anywhere else, most times we have to put in so much effort just to get him out of his own room as he has lots of health problems and can’t walk very far. So now I’m in a dilemma.
INFO/ADD- No I don’t have another room I can shift to. It’s like 40°C here, so A.C is an important factor hence moving the TV somewhere else is not gonna work. And there is not much space to just move the TV and buy another one. If i had enough money to just buy another TV then I wouldn’t be working 2 jobs. Also where I’m from TVs are not that cheap. Other TVs are so so so old that no, none of the solutions you people gave with wires and plugs and stuff is gonna work on it.
The Unexpected Twist: I finally gathered the courage to talk to my FIL privately, explaining that I value him and want him to be comfortable, but I desperately need my sleep for work. He listened quietly. Then he sighed and said, “My dear… I know. I know it bothers you. But… you know this room was your mother-in-law’s and my room. This TV… it’s the one we got when we moved in. Your mother-in-law… she didn’t like football. But every night, after my son [my husband] went to bed, she’d stay up with me here, and we’d watch whatever was on, or just talk. It was our time. Since she passed… I get so lonely. This room… watching TV in here late at night… it’s like the only way I feel like I’m still with her. My son and [the caretaker]… they know. They come here to be with me, so I’m not alone in this memory. I’m sorry I’m disturbing your sleep.”
Hearing that didn’t solve my sleep problem, but it added a layer of tragedy and pain to the situation. It wasn’t just about watching football; it was a ritual of remembrance, a desperate attempt to connect with his late wife in the last space they shared.