She has dominated her childrens' lives with little concern for anyones' feeling but her own. She is now in a wonderful assisted living and her dementia (I think) has illuminated her personality into a person who I can no longer bear to be around. She has again managed to alienate everyone around her with her insults and insensitivity. She is nasty and uncooperative with the aids (who are wonderful) And complains, complains, complains about everyone, everything and blames my sister and myself for the air she breathes. I am sick of her and I don't want to visit her anymore and don't feel that my adult children need to be manipulated like I was and be around her negative attitude anymore. I hate feeling obligated to have her at my house as I have every holiday of our lives and force my children to "tolerate" her for my sake. The guilt is unbearable but I feel that now being 60 years old I would like to feel that this person does not dominate my whole life. I would like to have a happy holiday for a change and have my children WANT to come home (without Grandma always there)
There has never been any pleasing her before and now she sends me into bouts of depression that I have a hard time shaking. Am I alone? I feel like a selfish person but I don't like her now and never did before. The guilt is killing me.
You are like the embattled Debra who just puts up with it.
Just stop now and stop forcing your family to deal with her. You by your misplaced loyalty are ruining for everyone you love what should be a happy occasion. Without your mother it will be one.
Since your mother insists on seeing it her way round, though, you might as well go with her view. Okay, so you are Dr Evil in this scenario, but so what? The important thing for her to focus on is making some kind of practical plan for her future, near, middle and distant. Tell her to stop worrying about you and concentrate on herself: given that you ain't budging, what arrangements are available to her that she would prefer?
She'll likely reply along the lines of "what do you care?" at which you may sigh heavily and say "yes dear mother, we've already established that I'm evil and ungrateful, but there you go - let's say I'm taking a purely academic interest…" It's a variation of the broken record technique, where you keep returning her gently but firmly to the subject in hand, namely practical provision for her independent - stress the "independent" bit, she'll like that - old age.
And if/when she loses it and hangs up on you, sigh again and carry on regardless. She wants to be angry, let her be angry. She wants to be accusatory, let her. Just let her be, while you get on with your life. And then, in the fullness of time, when she needs practical support for real problems, you'll see what really needs to be done and you can deal with that. But not by moving down there. There will be a better alternative, simply because nobody is indispensable and that includes you.
Yeah right!"
I want to live on the planet where this constitutes an apology. Saying sorry is something I myself am very bad at (it's like pulling teeth - the worse the thing I have to apologise for the more painful it is) so I am always on the look-out for new and interesting ways to do it.
Elmo, I am so glad that clear line-drawing conversation is over for you - well done! Of course Jeanne is right - "she'll be back…" - but you have successfully blocked off that one route, the one that leads to her living with you. Lots of other forms of guilt and accusation, sure, but now you know where you are and you know where you want to be. Good for you, I'm so proud of you.
Desperately need practical advise… And I got it, on this very forum… Thanks to all… Now my mother has all doctors aware of the situation and monitor her behavior, eventhough she is not taking their advise, period. I found a lady who is with her 4 times a week, 9she is still get back at me the other 3 though)… I try to tune out when I leave her to go home… And firmly tell her that I am at work, when I am, and can not listen to her laundry list of usual "wants" and "needs" at 9 am… on a daily basis. List warries mind you… as soon as I resolve one item, it gets replaced with a new one…
She is not making any progress, but at least I am, thanks to all of you out there...
You must be tearing your hair out. Who put this wretched item on the agenda (as if we can't guess), and what do you have to do to get it [bleep-bleep] off again???
It's amazing what people will overlook to avoid having to make changes.
I hope you can make it crystal clear to the family you are not going to be the caretaker for mom in any city of any state. They are going to have to figure it out.
It doesn't matter who understands what in or out of the family. You are an adult who gets to decide who you live with and where you live. You get to say "NO, I have my own problems and won't take on yours too."
Stay strong and don't let anybody run you over like a doormat.