I'm so angry right now- does someone have advice?  

Well what does your husband say about this? Maybe he can talk to your FIL & ask him to hire an electrician. If he refuses then I would refuse to pay the rent until he does get the problem fixed. I know this is hard to do because he is your FIL, but you have your children to think about. Your right it is dangerous to have those cords all over the place. Not only could they be hurt but you or your husband could be as well. What if you get up during the night to go to the bathroom or get a drink in the middle of the night? You could trip & break your neck. Since your FIL is obvisously looking out for himself then I suggest you get tuff.

I can totally understand your anger. I don't know how you can get him to realize how unsafe that is. Maybe if a third party mentioned it. You know, we don't always listen to those who are closest to us. My neighbor's house caught on fire in July. It turns out that he put an addition on the back of his house and ran electricity out to a shed years ago. Well, he did the work himself and guess what - he didn't do it correctly. So, back in July the circut box exploded. His family and him were asleep and he was lucky that he fell asleep on the sofa. Another neighbor helped get him and his family out. Since he did the work and was not a licensed electrian, the homeowners insurance company only paid a portion of what the house was worth since it was his own fault. He can't even afford to rebuild. Maybe you know someone that might know an electrician that can come over and take a look and give you an estimate for free. Good luck. And if you really want to scream, a pillow works well.

Does your husband not have a friend with a meter that could check it out? It sounds like your breaker for that circuit has opened up. If that is the problem it would be as simple as replacing the breaker. Don't let anyone into it tho unless you are sure they know what they are doing.

Get a circuit tester and test each outlet and the fixture in the kitchen.

This will determine if you have a problem with the outlets/fixture.

It sounds like a main breaker has been compromised, but it could also be a problem with the wiring or the outlets and fixture have just worn out.

Check for power first, if there is no power, recheck the breakers. Chances are there are two or more in question. A GFI circuit likely runs the bathrooms a 20 amp runs the outlets in the Bedroom and another runs the light. Since its only the kitchen light out, I think that the fixture may have problems, since no other lights are affected. Its possible that the wiring was installed improperly and the bedroom outlets are run along with the kitchen fixture. Untwist the fixture in the kitchen to test the wires leading to the fixture. You can just put the prongs into the outlets to test for current.

It really sounds like your circuit breakers have blown to me. If thats not the problem then an electrician is in order. Remember electricity don't care. It will harm you if it is present when touching bare wires. If the outlets test ok then the breaker is good and you have a loose connection or the outlet itself has gone bad. If thats the case purchase new outlets and after turning the breaker off switch them out.
If the fixture in the kitchen tests ok it may be the switch itself. Again, before replacing, turn off the breaker. The onlt tools you'll need are a circuit tester and a flat screwdriver.
Be careful and good luck. You should be able to change the outlets and switch in about fifteen minutes.

If there is no power at these locations then its likely the breakers are bad. You can replace them too. You'll need a light and to turn the main breakers off.
I dentify the bad breakers and replace then with the same kind, be sure to note the amperage of each breaker. After replacing the breakers, turn on the mains again and everything should be ok. If not, then call an electrician to diagnose the problem. If its something else, you can return the outlets and breakers to the store for a refund, so save and take care of the packaging and save the receipt.

If you are uncomfortable doing this invite a neighbor over for dinner and ask them if they could help.

Good luck.

You could always call a city inspector in and let them look at the situation. Then your FIL would have to fix the problem. This route could cause you more problems though. It would probably severely strain family relations!

Kats, the electric cords can be dangerous, especially as you say, in the bathrooms. But what would concern me is the fact it might be a broken wire some place in the walls and this could cause a fire. There has to be a problem since you have it in the rest of your house.

My husband told me two more things that it could be. He said sometimes a circuit breaker will look like it isn't tripped, but if you have a tester to test it, you will find it is bad. We've had to replace one like that before. Also, he said that there are some outlets in homes now where there is a little trip switch. Our daughter had a problem in her kitchen awhile back. He told her to look on the outlet there (switch on the wall) and there should be a little button or something that had to be pushed sideways to cut the power back on to that switch. She didn't know that, so she looked, and sure enough that was her problem. She pushed it and her lights in the kitchen came on. Hope yours is something easily fixed.

Ok, speaking from experience here, it is not the breaker box. It is in one of the outlets in the rooms that you do not have power to. We lived in a mobile home that had that same problem. It was very unsafe, but was a very inexpensive, easy fix once we figured out what it was. You just need to take the outlet covers off and look for the one that has the wires crossed, frayed, or burned up. That is where your problem is. Just replace a few wires and it will be fixed. At least, that is what worked for us anyway. I wish you all the best. I think it is time to sit down and have a serious talk with your husband about the fact that he is married to you and should be standing behind you and your children, not cowering to his father. If you don't talk to him, there is no chance at all that it will get better.

be careful a fire dont start. would really get someone to at least do an estimate to see what it is. i mean if there is children involved and unsafe wiring that could be some dangerous reaction. be safe. and good luck with it.

We had a problem once with our dishwasher tripping the breaker every time I used it. We had 3 repair men look at it and they couldn't figure it out. My husband finally checked the breaker and realized the wire was lose and was sparking where it connects to the box. He changed the box and made sure the wire was tight and it works good now. I'm not saying that's what it is, but you may want to check the breaker ad make sure the wire is tight. Also it could be bad. Hope you can get it figured out, I know how frustrating it can be.

dont worry....everything is going to be fyn.....

first of all to control ur anger .......count the numbers from 1 to 10.....that way u can control ur anger......

if u control ur anger....then u can calmly think on what is happneing in the house...and what should we do.....

thinks are not going to get solved if u are angry....so please calm down....it will be helpful to u and ur kids.......

make sure that u have an eye on ur kids.......then make ur own arangements to cover the electric wires or what ever may be that is causing u trouble......

wait for the time to come......or borrow some money from others and make a repair for those wires....

thanq....

cheers.....