For months, every visit to my mother-in-law’s house ended the same way — with my kids coming home sick. Runny noses, coughs, even bronchitis. It became so routine that we started dreading their visits, even though our boys were rarely sick otherwise. Something felt off, but we couldn’t figure out what it was.

One weekend, we dropped them off for a short break and headed home. halfway back, I realized I had forgotten a bag of their things in the car. Annoyed but determined, I turned around and made the hour-long drive back to my mother-in-law’s home. I expected to simply hand over the bag and leave. Instead, I walked into a scene that made my stomach drop.

When I stepped inside, I found my mother-in-law hovering over my sons, who were lying down on the couch. The room smelled heavily of strong cleaning chemicals, and the windows were tightly shut. She was spraying the air — and even the blanket covering the kids — with a harsh disinfectant mist she believed would “keep them healthy.” My kids were coughing and rubbing their eyes, clearly uncomfortable.

In that moment, everything made sense. They weren’t getting sick from germs — they were getting sick from her. I confronted her immediately, furious and shaking, and told her she was never to use those chemicals around my children again. That day, I realized protecting my kids sometimes meant protecting them from family too.