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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

To ask my parents to move out ?

88 replies

mummymcphee · 07/06/2014 23:38

My parents offered to help me out with 2 days week childcare in return for board and lodging (they do buy some food).

My dad has been a big support to me since I escaped an abusive relationship whilst pregnant. He has helped with household chores and cooking and childcare where able since my DD was born. I work full time they are both retired.

My mum has been quite hostile towards me (including during DD's birth where she was absent for long stretches) and since moving in to my house she has set up a business and is out of the house at every opportunity, she told me she can't be the mother I wan't or need her to be and that she is unable to provide me with the emotional support I need and that she is keeping interaction with me to a minimum so she can survive the next year unscathed. Last weekend my parents went to visit my brother to ask him if they could move in with him. I was unaware this was their plan and my brother phoned me on wednesday to say my mum had said she had problems bonding with my daughter. Needless to say he didn't want them to move in.

When I talked to my mum about it today she just repeated... 'ididn't go behind your back' 'i don't need your love' and 'i can't be the mother you want me to be' and our relationship is 'irreparably damaged'. Our last heated discussion was when the dishwasher broke and I asked her about help to get it fixed. She ran upstairs to my dad and he came out defending her as he always does saying that I was lazy for not being prepared to wash the dishes as they have no money to help with repairs (it's their dishwasher and I was asking out of courtesy.) She denied today having said she hadn't bonded with my dd and said that it was our relationship that was permanently damaged.

Do I really have to live with this situation for the next year...they have been with me for two years now? I feel so lonely!!!

OP posts:
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igggi · 03/08/2026 21:22

Bellbells10 · 03/08/2026 13:10

Hi I have my mother living with as she moved in with me when she got her pension and her sick benefits stopped as she has blood cancer and other health problems and I was pregnant and needed help but 2 years later its starting to get to much as we in 2 bedroom house and my son needs to go into his own room and we just seem to be arguing all the time Im just starting feel like it was when I lived at home as a teenager cant have people over which is why my last relationship didn't work feeling bad but I think she should move out but she not going to be happy about it

You need to start your own thread and then people might give you some advice - this one is over ten years old!

Bellbells10 · 03/08/2026 13:10

Hi I have my mother living with as she moved in with me when she got her pension and her sick benefits stopped as she has blood cancer and other health problems and I was pregnant and needed help but 2 years later its starting to get to much as we in 2 bedroom house and my son needs to go into his own room and we just seem to be arguing all the time Im just starting feel like it was when I lived at home as a teenager cant have people over which is why my last relationship didn't work feeling bad but I think she should move out but she not going to be happy about it

Igggi · 12/06/2014 09:50

You do not have to become her carer. You so not have to sacrifice your life and your dd's in this way. Give your own children the life your mother should have had herself.

Lovethebubbles · 12/06/2014 09:44

Just wanted to point out that if someone is found intentionally homeless by the Council's housing options/homeless department, that makes no difference to whether they can claim housing benefit or not. Housing benefit purely looks at a person's income and savings. Being intentionally homeless will only affect if they want the council to rehouse them... If they secure their own accommodation in the private sector it won't matter.
You deserve happiness OP... I hope you get things sorted x

mummymcphee · 11/06/2014 23:38

heehiles she has aged a lot in the last 2 years and her personality has become brittle and inflexible. It is a very sensitive subject as she has always prided herself on her IQ and intellectual abilty. When I asked her if anything was wrong when she was storming around the house when my nephew was visiting she behaved like a stroppy teenager and threw herself around.

My DD has just woken up!!! Night Night all and thanks for keeping company it has helped me to think things through.

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HeeHiles · 11/06/2014 23:24

if it could be the first signs of dementia (my grandmother & great grandmother had it). Mum is 62

This is what I was thinking when reading your original post - has she always been like this or has her behaviour got worse recently - if it's a complete personality change it may be something to consider - maybe they could get a council place if your mum is vulnerable?

mummymcphee · 11/06/2014 23:23

Iggi my great grandmother got it early late fifties/early sixties and my grandmother was 76. It has always been a nagging worry that I would be dealing with the scenario of lone parent to DD and carer for mum and dad.

My mum has had a hard life....abuse at an early age ( she told me about this in detail when I was 12) and she got bad PND and both me and my brother were placed in care for a while. She had ECT treatment. Then dad had a breakdown and lost his job.....etc etc . I can see why she is damaged.

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Igggi · 11/06/2014 23:15

It is possible that your relationship might actually improve if you weren't living together.

Childcare vouchers take one phone all to employer, then test usually done online. Really easy.

Thumbwitch · 11/06/2014 23:13

Well it could be, yes, but from what you've said, she's always been a bit like it - is that so? In which case, it's less likely to be dementia and more likely to be older-person inhibition/care loss! But yes, dementia is also a possibility so perhaps a) suggest it to both your parents and b) suggest that she goes to the GP for a check. That should be interesting!

mummymcphee · 11/06/2014 23:13

thanks 43 percent burn....you are right. Getting childcare vouchers via work is something that has been on my to do list for a long time and I wish I had sorted it. In my defence I have an over the top stressy nhs job looking after patients with complex health needs and on top of looking after DD and the house and the situation with mum and dad it got left. Blush

hettie I have always tried to look after people and am finding it hard that the situation with mum and dad is unfixable. I agree it is not my problem but I still love them and want them to be happy.

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Igggi · 11/06/2014 23:07

They are adults, try somehow to stop making their housing your responsibility. And please make a move now if there is a chance that you'll end up caring for her forever if she does develop dementia (did the other family members have it so early though?). I'm sure that sounds heartless but I don't see any evidence that your mum has treated you with any heart.

hettie · 11/06/2014 23:05

Well they should give notice to their tenant's, put the house on the market, sell it to buy something smaller/more affordable.... None of this is your problem

mummymcphee · 11/06/2014 23:04

thanks thumb....I have taken onboard everyone's point of view and it has helped the penny to drop that mum's behaviour was/is not acceptable in a loving family.

when I had a chat with my brother we discussed her increasing hostility, lack of insight and absent empathy and even wondered if it could be the first signs of dementia (my grandmother & great grandmother had it). Mum is 62.

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43percentburnt · 11/06/2014 23:02

Hi sorry to change the direction of the thread but you say you are not entitled to child tax credit. Do you claim childcare vouchers through work? You receive them from your gross salary thus reducing your childcare costs. This combined with your lower bills once they leave may help. Apologies if you already claim them. And apologies for changing the topic.

mummymcphee · 11/06/2014 22:53

it's not that massive just beyond their means now mum has retired (their mortgage that is). If they decide to move back they will need to give their tennan'ts two months notice. Mum has told me before that they wouldn't be entitled to housing benefit if they sell their house as they would have made themselves intentionally homeless'.

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Thumbwitch · 11/06/2014 22:52

Good crikey your mum has really done a number on you, hasn't she!! They won't be homeless, as in on the streets, they can move out to a B&B or even small hotel until they find somewhere to live/remove the tenants from their own house!!

Your brother absolutely should not take them - it's only further enabling their godawful abusive toxicity.

How dare she say that to you!! I'm livid on your behalf - after what she's said to you over the time she's been living with you she has so much cheek!

As for "i just want her to love me" - she doesn't and she isn't going to. I doubt she's capable of loving anyone other than herself, and from what she's said, she probably doesn't even love herself that much either. BUT! That is not your problem, and you can't fix her - you can only do what is right for you and that is to insist that they leave as you refuse to live in the atmosphere that she is creating in your home, and absolutely refuse to have your DD put up with it too!

Bogeyface · 11/06/2014 22:36

mummy they wouldnt be though would they? They can afford rent, just not the mortgage on the massive place they bought. They just dont want to spend anything by the sound of it.

mummymcphee · 11/06/2014 22:31

thanks bogey...I don't want them to be homeless though. Sad

Father's day is going to be a bit tense this year!!!! Not only is DD's dad not speaking to me but I have no doubt my own father will be giving me the angry silent treatment from now on. I feel so much like I am the cause of everyone's hatred towards me and it's me not them.

I hate my life (apart from my gorgeous DD) Thanks Adora I still have difficulty taking a birdseye view of my mum's behaviour towards me and seeing it for what it is. I just want her to love me............

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AdoraBell · 11/06/2014 21:54

She is manipulating like tóxico abusive people do.

Don't fall for it.

Bogeyface · 11/06/2014 21:53

Whatever you do, dont let your brother take them.

You know that it will end up with him being taken advantage of just as you have and feeling just as you do.

You must present a united front and tell your parents together that your free B&Bs have stopped doing business and they need to stand on their own 2 feet.

mummymcphee · 11/06/2014 21:47

well that was painful. I just suggested to mum that given that she was so unhappy living in my house that perhaps we could look at them relocating. I added that I was unhappy about her saying she didn't want or need my love and I couldn't live with someone who has said they would keep interaction with me to a minimum for the next year. She glared, then looked frightened and left without speaking. When I challenged her lack of response she just said " you have made it very clear from day one that I am an awful human being" and went to bed.

Ouch!!!! My brother has offered to take them if the situation unravels which it has :-(

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AdoraBell · 10/06/2014 19:15

So your dad shouts at you? In your own home. Does he shout at your DD while looking after her?

And because he "only" shouts when your Mum causes it it's not his fault, obvs, so he has no reason to change the way he treats you. In your own home.

You really need To get out of this tóxico situation. Be that strong person you already are and tell them to sling their hooks.

mummymcphee · 09/06/2014 22:28

Bogey they very much come as a package my dad has been totally dependant on my mum socially and financially for three decades.

I had a good chat with DB tonight and he very much assured me that none of this was our fault or our stuff to deal with and that mum was complex. She left us with our dad when I was ten to go and do a degree 800 miles away and we saw her two or three times a year. Now I have a DD I am horrified that she was able to do that but it meant financial survival when my dad was unemployable so there is a smattering of admiration for her ability to provide as she eventually got a good job.

I fly I definitely do not consider early sixties elderly so hope I didn't offend...my parents seem to feel and behave very much older than their years in a lot of ways. I expexted a younger outlook on a lot of things.

Old raver I did say to them last time the lazy label was thrown out there that I felt it was projection and that I was the one working. My dad only shouts at me when mum has gone running to him as they are very interdependant.

Iothe I am going to consider the book...maybe I should leave it on the coffee table Grin

Sue I did consider a houseshare with my friend but she seems focused on finding another relationship at the moment and I am just craving a calm, stable home.

Thanks for all the fabulous advice everyone. I feel less wobbly about tackling the situation. Thanks

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Suefla62 · 09/06/2014 15:14

You say you have a single Mum friend. Would it be possible for her to move in, when the parents are gone, you could help each other out with childcare and splitting the bills might help both of you out?

HecatePropylaea · 09/06/2014 13:39

Sounds like your mum hates being there.

I wonder how much more difficult your life would be without her in your home. ok, you'd have more practical stuff to do but you wouldn't have to live in what sounds like a miserable situation all round.

I know it's scary to take the plunge into total independence, but really, do you want to continue to live like this?

I would say look, it's not working out, you're not happy, I'm not happy, it's not good for my child to be raised in a home where there's an atmosphere and unhappiness, you need to leave.

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