Follow
Share
Read More
This question has been closed for answers. Ask a New Question.
1 2 3
"Now the community that is being built is out of her price range."

Try looking into BMR (Below Market Rate) housing in the community being built.

She still might need a caregiver wherever she lives.
Helpful Answer (2)
Report

Scarlett, probably the most frequent posts on this site are about the problems of living with both a spouse and an elder. Kids make it worse. Problems range from ‘burn out’ to divorce. The very very few successes are with sweet little old ladies who are always cheerful and never complain. Even the 'little' matters, as overweight elders with mobility issues (often also diabetes) can ruin your own back quite easily, as well as your mental health and your marriage. Remember that things get worse over time, not better.

If you click on Care Topics on the top right of the screen, you will find a list of topics. Click on M for Multi Generational Living to start. You will find other examples under virtually every topic, from incontinence to abuse.

If you still have to have the talk that Country Mouse is suggesting, it would be good to lead with the other options. Use the Care Topics to check out Senior Living, Independent Living, Assisted Living, and complexes that will move up to Nursing Home and Memory Care. Take MIL to see local IL and AL places, perhaps have a meal there and look over the facility. If that’s too difficult, most facilities have attractive web sites. Certainly don’t start with the option to ‘move in here’! If that topic comes up, say that first of all it’s important to check out the other options which have so much more to offer – particularly to a young elder who finds it difficult to make new friends and find activities to enjoy.
Helpful Answer (9)
Report
MargaretMcKen Apr 2022
Thinking some more about your conversation with DH (Dear Husband, if you aren’t yet used to the abbreviations), it should start with WHY he thinks it would be good for her to move in. If MIL keeps asking DH to go around to deal with trivia, she must want company. DH probably thinks that she would have company living in an annexe with you. Unless you put a bolt on your side of that connecting door, you can be sure that she will be in your side of the house whenever she wants. In the evening she will frequently expect dinner with you, and then will stay on. It will take an argument to get any privacy.

DH is already frustrated and stressed when she wants him unnecessarily. If the same thing happens when she lives with you, he will be just as stressed as before and YOU WILL BE FAR MORE STRESSED every day. There will be additional stress over boundaries, rules, complaints …

DH really needs to know that if he can’t cope with her now, it will be MUCH WORSE for him, and for you. Blended families have their issues, and stressed out parents don’t work well for any of the kids. He may relate to his own issues, even if he can't grasp yours.
(7)
Report
Divorce him if he insists on moving her in.

Always beware the Mommy's Boys, there's a reason Norman Bates was single.
Helpful Answer (17)
Report
Beethoven13 Apr 2022
Yes, indeed. When you see this kind of mom/son enmeshment During Dating, that is a big Red Flag. If boyfriend does not seem able to stand up to mom and goes along with her to avoid conflict, this is what usually happens down the road. Address it, see if he will make the needed adjustments Before marriage. If not, its a no go. Its not "sweet or he's such a good son." He is being manipulated by a master manipulator who never cut the apron strings. Men can be firm but kind to the mother and calmly inform mom what is possible what is not. If she throws a fit and has some medical crises to get attention, (or breaks things) that's the usual ploy. stay firm. The elderly mom will likely not change, the son has to be firm and kind as possible. Its difficult if he has never done this and just kicked the can down the road. The stakes just get higher.
(2)
Report
Marriage has many compromises.. but unless you want to sign up for MIL-care, this does not need to be one of them.

Rehearse your wording then find the right time when your husband is listening & tell him how you feel. Depending on your style, be gentle or be brutally blunt.

Explain all the details if you like or make it one sentence... but leave the message clear *MIL will not live with us*. This is Not Negotiable.

When he starts with the "But.. " separate dwelling fantasy..

You can explain you love her etc but two Queens in one castle seldom works. Unhappy wife = Unhappy life (for him).

Or you can paint a picture of how he will be at her beck & call all day - & night. Because it will ALL be on him as you have said no already. Does he really want to be that position?

Or if you have journalist streak, pepper him with questions. Why do you want her to live here? Do you think that makes you a "good" son? Are you afraid of how others will judge you of she moves to IL/AL? Get to the bottom of his reasons.

If the hints of 'Mother may need to move in' turns into a unmovable fact in his head - make your boundaries crystal clear.

ideas would be;
1. He cannot move his Mother into your home without your permission.
2. However, he CAN leave to move in with his Mother.
3. If he does move Mother in without your permission, you will leave.
4. You can consider Mother staying *temporarily* IF you both agree eg to recover from a hospital stay or illness. But only if she has a forwarding address & adequate care arrangements to follow on.

Good luck!
Helpful Answer (6)
Report
Myownlife Apr 2022
Definite NO to # 4.
(2)
Report
I’m confused as to how the retirement community idea is too expensive but building an addition for $100,000 is not. ..& you know that every time you do home additions &/or improvements, it always ends up being more expensive. Maintain separate residences. If he insists on moving his mother in, you will automatically become her full time babysitter/caregiver. If she’s starting to fall often, she may have some dementia. Suggest to husband to get her to neurologist. Stand firm in your beliefs. Hugs 🤗
Helpful Answer (7)
Report
Goldstar Apr 2022
$100K investment in the house will add equity and can be paid for with a mortgage. $100K to pay for assisted living is about a year - maybe two - if things go well...
(2)
Report
Scarlet,

Just want you to realize that members like me and Alva are older Seniors, me 72 and Alva 80. A number of us in that age group. Some of us married at least twice. Most have had parents move in and regretted it, especially when there are children still at home. I cared for my Mom, 86, for 20 months and I found I was not a Caregiver and with her money placed her in an AL and later LTC. And she was easy. The problem was me. Alva had a brother in an AL and took care of everything he was not able to. As others on the forum, we have been there. I had it easy compared to a lot of members.

We tend to look at Caring thru Rose colored glasses. That Dementia lady on TV rocking away in her rocker staring at the wall, someone says "whats wrong with her?" "senial ". Believe me those suffering from Dementia do not sit in a rocker all day staring at a Wall. You will be caring for this woman if u bring her into ur home. I had two friends with diabetes, one juvenile the other #2. Both had leg amputations because gangrene set in. Both wheelchair bound and lucky they had spouses who cared for them.

I think your husband is looking at this as a solution so he doesn't have to run back and forth. The one thing I would say to him is, you bring her here, you are responsible for her. Tell him just because she lives there does not mean she needs to be included in everything you do as a family. If she gets to the point she needs to be cared for physically, he will be doing it right down to bathing and showering unless she hires an aide. Her neediness is going to get worse. She will be crying how lonely she is. No one cares. The kids don't talk to me. (Kids are smart, they can leave)

Me, I would be perfectly happen with a bathroom, bedroom and sitting room (with a fridg and microwave) added on to daughters house. She probably would never see me. No different than being in my Den all day.
Helpful Answer (10)
Report
chestershaba Apr 2022
Sort of contradictory? You'd be happy in daughter's house but ur telling Scarlett NOT to do that.
(0)
Report
Convince him by asking who is he emotionally married to and tell him if he does not say you, then divorce. Times and situation like this really shows the depth of one's marital intimacy.
Helpful Answer (4)
Report
Sendhelp Apr 2022
The OP does not have to divorce her husband.
She can move into the 'in-law' suite.
(3)
Report
The OP *does* like her! She says so. And nowhere is it written that liking a person necessarily implies that you want her living on the other side of a connecting door in your house.

Asking someone what she would like for her latter years equally does not imply that you're offering your own home, and especially not if the adaptations would cost $100K - I don't see anything to suggest that MIL herself even sees this as being on the cards. I think the OP and her DH are making the classic error of guessing in advance what the person will say without consulting her, and this is the conversation that needs to be had *before* anybody packs to leave or anybody else hires an architect.
Helpful Answer (7)
Report

How old is MIL because our replies should be based on that. You mention kids living home, if she is 60 or 70, she can still be on her own. 80s or 90s, placement is better. Diabetes and mobility issues does not mean she can't be on her own. The last thing you should do is bring her into your home. There are options and they should be researched. Your husbands frustration with her will not get better. Now he can walk away if she is living with you very hard to do.

Like I have told my husband for years, two women cannot live in the same house. One always considers it hers and resents anything the other tries to do. Like you, I liked my MIL but I did not love her. Because of lies she told people concerning me I only visited when my DH was with me. I am sure that if she returned here to live after FIL died, she would be doing exactly what ur MIL does. I TG that the decision for her to live with us never needed to be made. She passed at the age of 92.

So MIL has options. There must be more affordable places than the cottages. Maybe a nice apartment nearby. Sell her house and use those proceeds to offset her SS and any pension she may receive. Depending on her age and health issues maybe a nice AL. But the proceeds of the house will only last so long. So then its Medicaid paying for her care in a nice LTC facility.

Like I said age should be a factor in your decision. If Mom is in her 60s even 70s, she could live another 20 or 30 years. Her needs, especially as a diabetic, will change and are you willing to be her Caregiver. Some of the questions on this forum are "How do I get my husband to care for his mother, he seems to think thats my job"

Does husband think that he can use proceeds of the sale of Moms house to build the addition? If Mom needs Medicaid within the next 5 years, those proceeds will be considered a gift and there will be a penalty. Medicaid does not look at the addition as something done for Mom but something you profit from if u sell your house. Any upgrades done for Mom do not get done out of her money if there is a likelihood she will need Medicaid within 5 yrs of the upgrade.

Construction materials are very high now. Maybe better putting the addition on hold and finding her a nice apt nearby. Then go from there. DH needs to set boundries especially if he gets frustrated with his Mom. He has to be ready to enforce them too. "No Mom, I cannot come over right now". He does not break plans with your or the kids to run over to Moms to fix a sink that she can call a plumber to do. Really, she would have to wait either way. She will try to step over these boundries its up to husband to stand firm. He has a family and they have priority.
Helpful Answer (10)
Report
AlvaDeer Apr 2022
To me it doesn't matter a bit how old she is. The OP doesn't LIKE her. That won't change and the MIL won't get younger or easier to be around.
(6)
Report
See 1 more reply
I don't see the part where you and your husband talked to MIL about where she'd like to live..?

You've talked to each other, you've each started forming (pretty much opposed) plans, you've concluded that she can't continue to live alone. But has either of you asked her what she thinks about beginning to move forward?

Meanwhile, ask her to consider a falls alarm. I'd take yesterday's incident as pretty positive, seeing as she apparently managed to get herself out of it (did she?); but I haven't yet met a client who was sorry she had an alarm. Plenty who'd been very sorry they hadn't, though.
Helpful Answer (11)
Report
AlvaDeer Apr 2022
To me, talking to MIL about what she might want indicates she is being given options or choices. I think it would be awful to indicate she might have the choice to move in by them when in fact she doesn't. I honestly think the OP and husband have a problem here that almost doesn't involve MIL, though MIL IS THE PROBLEM. One wants her living there. The other doesn't. For me this would be deal breaker pure and simple.
(11)
Report
See 1 more reply
Do not allow any talk of her moving in with you. If mommas boy makes her a higher priority than you, count your divorce among your blessings. She cannot live with you and that is final end of
Helpful Answer (14)
Report
AlvaDeer Apr 2022
I wouldn't call him a Momma's boy for loving his Mom. But he suffers magical thinking if he thinks an unwilling wife, sinking 100,000 into this, and moving a Mom into a situation where she isn't welcome as she sinks into further age and infirmity, and thereby utterly destroying a marriage and etc is a good move.
It isn't.
She needs to stand strong or this is ONE and DONE and it means the destruction and unhappiness of three people. I hope she can stop this and stand firm.
(7)
Report
See 1 more reply
For me this would be a simple deal breaker in the marriage. It would not be something I would consider. I would sit my husband down and tell him I understand how well meaning he is, I understand his love of his Mom, but I would not be able to live with his Mom on my property, and I would be leaving the marriage if this occurred.
I would tell him I understand his dilemma, but that imho Mom needs placement if she cannot remain on her own.
I would not argue why.
I would not discuss my own issues.
I would simply say I have limitations, I understand that I am not a Saint and won't be applying for Sainthood soon, but that it is a very simple me or Mom proposition.
So that is where I am in all of this. The discussion would stop right there. And if the building of the addition began I would leave RIGHT THEN AND THERE and go on my own. I would remain sweet to my beloved hubby and I would tell him I can perhaps help with shopping and the occ. casserole, but I will be busy making my own life.
Now it's up to you. You can only decide for you. If you let your husband go ahead with all this without making him understand you cannot do this and may leave then it is ON YOU when the marriage ends and ends with bankruptcy. You already know you don't want this. The reasons are not important. I am not here to argue the issue of how nice MIL is or how much privacy you will have (you WON'T have ANY) or how much care you won't have to do or and of the rest of it.
If you cannot bring yourself to be honest here, and are not certain in your own mind where you stand then I suggest counseling RIGHT NOW. Because this is coming fast, and will be here before you know it.
Reference another poster today who moved Dad in and now Dad is sitting and saying "Too bad. I am not leaving. I am not going anywhere."
I am being tough here, but imho you need to "get this", or you will be drowning in decade of caregiving to someone you don't even LIKE instead of spending the best, the most carefree time of your life, you and your husband, traveling, perhaps building a little second home in the woods to watch the wildlife as I did with my Partner.
Please think about this. Get help. Give up the wishy-washy and embrace your own limitations and your own needs for your OWN LIFE.
I wish you the best. Believe me. I DO.
Helpful Answer (26)
Report

1 2 3
This question has been closed for answers. Ask a New Question.
Ask a Question
Subscribe to
Our Newsletter