This one is a struggle for me. My mom is almost 80, she is pretty self sufficient except when she is sick. Then she turns into a little kid needing to be taken care of. And she is sick a lot! It’s frustrating and difficult. I’m an only child so she relies on me, however I have 3 grown children who live close by and are happy to help but she still only wants me.

It’s hard to watch someone who is as stubborn and aggravating as my mother struggling with simple things like taking care of herself when she is sick. She doesn’t like drinking water so she doesn’t, she “forgets” to drink other things so she gets dehydrated, she takes water pills for a heart condition and this pulls even more fluid out of her body. She hates the hospital so she refuses to go, despite multiple doctors telling her to. Then since she had COVID her sense of smell is still wonky making food difficult to eat because nothing tastes good.

I try to be patient but it’s not my best quality. So I’m trying to learn how to navigate this new normal. Which actually isn’t really that new to me. I’m the child of an alcoholic, surrounded by addiction my whole life (not my mother she just liked the chaos) so hyper focus and knowing how to handle an emergency are some of my greatest talents. They have served me well in life, not gonna lie but sometimes it’s exhausting. Now I’m trying to find balance.

I can do what I can but I need to know when to draw a line and tell her we need to call in outside help. My go to setting has been to do everything myself but little by little my wife has taught me to ask for help so I don’t burn myself out.