What do you do when a relative overstays their welcome?

A couple is facing this situation with the husband’s younger cousin who lost her job. She went to stay with them for 2 weeks; that turned into 6 weeks. Now, the wife’s elderly mother is coming in for a visit (they had arranged that months ago), and the husband and cousin are asking that she go to spend her stay in a hotel instead of in the guest room, as it was promised to her, all because the cousin doesn’t want to feel “shipped off.”

Now, I’ve had relatives lose their jobs, make mistakes, feel like their lives are coming apart, and it’s okay to go find help from other members of your family. But everything has a limit. None of us has allowed them to overstay their welcome or take advantage of our generosity. If they are grown people, they need to get back on their feet without whining and complaining about feeling rejected. If an elderly member of the family needs help, they are a priority. None of us would dream of telling our mother or grandmother to go stay at some expensive hotel, because the 20-something-year-old cousin now practically lives with us. At least that’s how we handle things in my family, and so far, we’ve felt that it has worked out. 

Helping family who needs a hand is okay and is a way to show them that we love them. But there’s a difference between lending a helping hand and letting them behave like kids. This cousin should probably put on her big-girl pants and take control of her own life instead of crying in her bedroom.