Appreciate your thoughts on this one - DH & I looked after parents-in-law for several years through various chronic illnesses. When we were on holiday, my sons & partners living not too far away were on emergency call, & A&E visiting once, & were brilliant.Their daughter, although not estranged, had a few issues with her parents & didn't help with care / days out / appointments. She was further away & we accepted this.
Now my step-father ( my side) is ill and in a long hospital stay from which the outcome is uncertain although we would all root for him to get home with Mum.My parents-in-law are no longer with us.
My brother, who lives close to my mum in the family home (she has a second home on the farm) cares for my mum & as she has dementia, it has been quite hard for him these last few weeks as she has been living alone. He asked me if I could help so he could take a pre-booked holiday so this last week I have been living with her (we are >100 miles away so daily visiting isn't practicable). My son is now staying with her & I'll go back tomorrow to take over till they return on friday.
The issue is that we were always one of those families where there were favorites, Dad & I were tight,so were Mum & my brother.My mum was hugely jealous of me growing up, & could be abusive (I remember hiding in a cupboard till I heard Dad come home because I only truly felt safe when he was there).Dad died in 1990. We were left something by him, but nothing like the amount my brother had (and I already had children at that point, whereas my brother & his partner are childless).
This past week I have been hit by her 4 times whilst staying with her (once with a book) and she can be pretty verbally cruel still, despite the dementia. Her dementia is moderate, but she is very anxious and has disproportionate loss of short-term memory, so conversation is extremely frustrating. She cannot come to me as she is stressed by anyone else (even my brother) driving her.I am absolutely committed to going back & staying till my brother comes home.
Question is - is it fair to say I will not be doing this again? It is emotionally exhausting to be abused regularly & the fact that she used to do this to me before she had dementia makes it harder to bear.I took on care of my in-laws without expecting any help from the other sibling, as I was closer & thought the world of them - given all that my brother & partner have had from Mum over the past 40 years, isn't it fair to say to my brother, unless you bring her down to me, you'll have to make alternative arrangements (respite?) for holidays in future?
Unite the Kingdom and Pro Palestine marches Cup 16th May 2026
