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My mother is very hard to please & can't understand why I can't always take her out. I work 40 hours a week & exhausted when I get home & she doesn't like gng out with any other family only me & often wants to go to my friends place or go out with my friend with me she nearly drives me crazy. I have got siblings who help, but I live with her & she very, very demanding. Any ideas be much appreciated.

Why don't you move out? She can hire help or sell her house and use the money to move to assisted living. You aren't required to live in misery and craziness. Reclaim your life and have pleasant visits with her as another adult rather than resentfully being mistreated as her servant.
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Reply to MG8522
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lealonnie1 Dec 11, 2025
Bingo
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Mom is bored and wants you to entertain her . Stop telling her what you are doing and who you will be with. You are an adult without a curfew . You don’t need to bring along a chaperone . Your mother is not entitled to know where you are or who you are with.
“ Mom, I’ll be home later “. And leave immediately out the door . Don’t have a discussion about it.

Don’t live with Mom if possible .
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Reply to waytomisery
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Tell her you’re not her trained monkey. With any luck she’ll kick you out and you can have a life.
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Reply to Fawnby
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Another option to try might be a double whammy:
1) Book a weekend away for yourself for at least three consecutive weekends.
2) Arrange a carer for three hours in the afternoon on each weekend you will be away. The tasks for the carer are to take M out and then get her dinner ready.

If she asks why? Why? Why? (which she certainly will), you tell her straight out that your life has started to revolve around, and hers to revolve around you. You want to break that up, because the alternative will be for her to go into and Assisted Living facility so that you can have a life of your own. This is a good option for both of you. You can discuss it further after this experiment.
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Reply to MargaretMcKen
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Your mother is self centered and selfish. This may be a result of dementia, or it may be her choice. Things to consider:
1) Say ‘I need an hour by myself when I get home from work’. Get a simple hook and eye lock for your ‘private’ room, and make it comfortable for yourself.
2) Say ‘I will take you out with me once for every time you go out with someone else’. Stick to it.
3) Find a senior citizen day group close to you, and arrange transport.
4) Learn to say No. No reason, no excuse, just No.
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Reply to MargaretMcKen
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Lack of empathy is a dementia behavior. Her personality (and health) will continue to deteriorate. Is there any way to not live together? She'd have more social opportunities in AL, or if she hired a companion aid to take her places and entertain her.

My Mom never had close friends, mostly relied on her sisters for social and entertainment... and me when she moved to my state. I stopped feeling guilty about not taking her with me to outings with neighbors because I realized she is capable of making her own friends but chose not to. She was also Debbie Downer and cluelessly would veer the conversations into distressing and negative news stories and politics. No thanks.

You do not need to be your Mom's only solution. Please make yourself the #1 priority and do lots of self-care.
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Reply to Geaton777
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Mom's not changing, except to worsen. It’s you who has the power to change the situation. When you stop caving to her demands, when you stop discussing her going with you to your friends, when you live your own life, she will accept help that isn’t you. Maybe you need to live separately, you can figure that out, but you can change this
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Reply to Daughterof1930
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I’m right there with you in this regard. My mother is also very very demanding.. also only wants to go out/do activities/ physical exercise and things with me, and just expects me to be able to do it all even though I also work a full time job, and if I don’t,
do those things with her right when she says.. I get guilted for days and days. I’m newer to care giving. My mother is alert and oriented so im able to try and set firm boundaries with her about how I need to care for myself in SOME capacity so I can care for her. I try and set designated times I do things with her so she can expect it & look forward to it. Example: . “we can do walks together on Saturday afternoons.” Now, That can make it hard if you have a day you feel like you can’t make it to one of those designated times and they expect you to, and be honest if that happens it’s OKAY! but I find sometimes it helps. Gives us both realistic expectations. maybe ask her why she dosent want to spend time with others if you haven’t already and solve any issues there with her if possible, lean on the siblings a bit and offer her options of doing those activities with someone else but firmly “you can do an activity with so and so today but I’m not available if you choose not to do the activity because it’s not with me, that is your choice.” I’m not sure if your mother is in a similar spot with her mentation but if she is, then maybe this would be helpful. It’s hard but I think as care givers we HAVE to set boundaries and realistic expectations of what we can do and what we can’t. or there is no way to survive it with any semblance of yourself or your own life. I hope my advice didn’t come across as harsh, having a “I can’t do this anymore” day myself over here. I’m cheering for you from here, I’m so sorry for the trouble she’s giving you, remember sometimes. You come first ❤️
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Reply to Strugglebus123
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Geaton777 Dec 12, 2025
You sound like you believe you have no control over your situation. There IS a solution but you probably don't want the blow-back you know will come with it: you tell her you're not her entertainment committee and if she wants a companion she can pay for one through an agency or Care.com and then end the conversation with "I'm DONE talking about this." Then when your Mom starts haranguing you, you let all her calls go to voicemail to screen them. Then you call her back when it's convenient for YOU, and the minute she starts the harangue, you remind her to call and hire someone today and then keep changing the subject. If she can't get off the topic you hang up. This is what I've had to do with my own Mom, a single parent from immigrant parents raised in the Bronx with a very strong (bully-ish) personality and "baby of the family" brat attitude. No thank you. Figure it out for yourself, Mom.
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"My mother is very hard to please..."

You aren't responsible for her happiness. She is a grown adult and knows how to make herself happy when it doesn't involve you. She's just lazy and doesn't want to.

Her demands are not your commands. Her emergencies are not your urgencies. Use the word "no" and use it often. Or, "no thank you" if you want to see a confused look on their face.

Please see a cognitive therapist to help you find and defend healthy boundaries if you insist on living with such a person. The boundaries are for YOU to defend, as she will be very angry at your boundaries and will continuously try to ram them and break them down. The only person you can control is yourself. She doesn't make more work for you, you volunteer to do the extra work she's nagging you to do. Just say no.
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Reply to Geaton777
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I could ask you why younger people don't set limits.
Answer? Some do, just as some older people don't ask for a whole lot of help.

If there is a problem with a specific individual then you explain why you cannot continue what you are doing to help them.
If living with her isn't working, then you move out and are on your own.

The answers, to me, seem a bit obvious. Can you tell me what I am missing in your story, or what I don't understand, and need to know?
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Reply to AlvaDeer
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BurntCaregiver Dec 12, 2025
@Alva

The OP needs down time without mother. Their own social life with their own friends that she is not part of. I know exactly what the OP is talking about.

The mother is needy and clingy, yet stubborn. She wants everything her way when she wants it. It also sounds like she's lonely, bored, and a bit selfish. She expects her adult child's whole life outside of work to be dedicated to her care, comfort, and entertainment. That's not reasonable.
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