While I was hospitalized, my children put my house up for rent on Airbnb — I devised a plan to give them a memorable lesson

Mariah had been feeling less than healthy lately, causing her to admit herself to the hospital so that she could have a check-up. But in her absence, her children decided to rent out her house as an Airbnb, ready to pocket the money for themselves. When Mariah found out, she decided to teach her children a lesson.

“Mariah,” my friend Liz said on the phone, “why on earth is your house listed as an Airbnb?”

“What?” I asked, completely confused. “What are you talking about?”

“Denise was looking for a house to rent for the weekend because it’s her bachelorette weekend, and she came across your house. Aren’t you still in the hospital?” she asked.

“Liz, I truly have no idea what you’re talking about,” I said, looking at the IV drip away into my bloodstream. “Send me the link to the site Denise saw.”

This is how I taught my children a valuable lesson:

Recently, my blood pressure had been all over the place, causing me to faint at odd moments.

“Mom,” my son, Liam, said, “you need to get it checked out. There’s no point in going to the pharmacy and getting medication over the counter just because you think it’s going to help. You need to get everything assessed properly.”

“And you need to start eating better,” Leah, my daughter, said. “Having oats in the morning, toast during the day, and soup at night isn’t a balanced diet. You’re playing with your health. It’s time to take things seriously.”

Leah moved around my kitchen, slicing vegetables to make a salad to go along with the grilled chicken she had been marinating.

“And what about your constant headaches? It’s time to get everything checked out. You should go into the hospital and do a full check-up,” Liam said.

“But I feel fine, other than the headaches and dizziness; I’m good!” I retorted.

Both my kids snorted and rolled their eyes at me.

“Do it, Mom,” Leah said, pointing her finger at me.

I had to agree with them. I had been downplaying my health lately. I still walked every second day and did as much yoga as my body would allow during the week.

But still, there was a nagging feeling that something could be wrong.

“Just go to silence that feeling,” Liz said when we met for smoothies after our yoga class one day.

“But what if we find something?” I asked, suddenly nervous to be speaking my thoughts out loud.

“Then, we’ll deal with it together. I know that Paul isn’t here anymore, but I’m here,” Liz said. “And anyway, we need you up and running for Denise’s wedding. I don’t know how to do the mother-of-the-bride things.”

“I’ll go to the GP and take it from there,” I said. “If he thinks that it’s the way to go, then I’ll do just that.”

“Yes, Mariah,” the doctor said. “I think it’s a great idea for you to go for a full-body check-up. There’s nothing wrong with just knowing your health and body. And I’ll recommend a CT scan for your headaches, too.”

Which is how I ended up at the hospital, and how my children chose to take advantage of the situation.

“I’ll bring your lunch soon,” the nurse said, smiling at me. “You just rest after your CT scan.”

“Thank you,” I said. “I’m just going to call my best friend and catch up with her.”

Catching up with Liz meant that hearing that my children had let my house out as an Airbnb for the week that I was scheduled to be in the hospital.

“So, what are you going to do about it?” Liz asked me when I called her back after I confirmed that it was my house on the site.

“I don’t know,” I admitted. “But I want to teach them a lesson. Leah and Liam should have known better. But Leah and her husband are always looking for ways to make extra money. I’m sure that Andrew has a gambling problem, too.”

“Tell me what you want me to do,” Liz said, chewing something into my ear.

“I want you to tell Denise to book it,” I said. “But they’ll recognize that it’s her, so she’s probably going to need to create a new account. Do you think she’ll be okay with that?”

“Of course, she will!” Liz said. “Anything for you. But then what?”

“I’m getting discharged tomorrow,” I said. “But the kids think that I’ll be here until the end of the week. So, let them think that they’re going to make some money off the place.”

“You want Denise to rent the place, but you want to mess it up?” Liz chuckled. “That’s devious.”

“No, my children are devious,” I said.

I hung up the call, and the nurse brought my lunch to me, ready to leave me alone to eat while she did her rounds.

If I was being honest, I didn’t know how I felt about my children’s betrayal. But it hurt me to imagine that while I had been away at the hospital, my children were perfectly fine with having strangers take over my home.

“What were they thinking?” I asked myself.