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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

MIL dropping hints about moving in.

424 replies

HappyDays40 · 17/10/2022 04:22

I have a lovely but very elderly MIL who at 94 lives independently and has friends who come and visit her that live on the street. We do shopping appointments etc and visits each week she is about 20 miles away. Sometimes when she isn't feeling too good she stays for a few days but is always glad to get back home as we have a noisy 6 year old who she loves but it can understandably get too much.
She told me today she is having the house valued so she can "move in with family ".......I think she means us considering there is nobody else:)
She is unsteady on her feet, can't do stairs but her house is adapted, she is familiar with it. Wherever she moves to would need some adaptations. When she does stay its very hard, we have a small dog who gets under her feet so is a falls risk, we have to move our work ( both full time) to make sure we are home to help her too the loo, get her drinks etc. She is no problem just sits in her chair , watches telly and drinks tea. But it isn't possible to work from home all the time our jobs involve some time out of the house!
Her friends pop over and wouldn't be able to do that if she were here.
We go away, do festivals and are not home much at weekends especially in the summer, she won't have carers or respite care.
I don't want her to move in permanently as it cannot possibly work logistically. She is welcome to stop over but it stops our routines an restricts us to the house. Not sure how we would manage to work, care for her full time and continue any quality of life for our son. Any suggestions how to address this without hurting her feelings are welcome.

OP posts:
Choccolocko · 17/10/2022 13:14

Suemademedoit · 17/10/2022 13:04

Did your DH not see this coming?

What provision did he and his mother make for her old age? What conversations did they have?

TBH, if I live to see 94 the wrench away from my home would be awful. Going from my home to my DS/DIL’s house would be enough, even if I had a dog and child to contented with. But I’d consider them both a price worth paying and of course (hopefully!) I’d love my DGS.

The thought of being farmed into a care home when I don’t need nursing would fill me with horror.

I don’t think that making adaptations (non-permanent) in your home is that big a deal. You don’t have to curtail your weekends etc. She manages alone right now, she can manage for a few nights here and there. Same as during the work day. She can live alone in her house. Once your dining room is adapted to her, she can live alone there.

Comparing the upheaval to you of upsetting your home furniture and it being a bit of a squeeze for a few years but having her surrounded by loving family till the end, versus the upheaval of putting a 94yo lone woman in a care home to be visited when you can - well, there’s no comparison. I’m also a firm believer in inter-generational living. It’s good for young children to be around the elderly.

I just don’t think I could do it. Like babies and toddlers, older people need not much: food, water, shelter, love. Life going on around them. It’s not much to ask.

Caveat to all of the above is that she lives by your rules. Obviously you adapt to suit her physical restrictions, but what you say goes. You’re in charge. And, the big caveat to all of this is whether there’s a bathroom downstairs or whether your friend would agree to a stairlift being installed (to be removed before you leave your tenancy).

100% this. You have said it so much better than I could

Saz12 · 17/10/2022 13:22

So, she no longer wants to live in her own place. That might be the case regardless of wether she has visiting carers.

Sheltered housing near you?

Or an assisted living thing - my DF was in one for a year, everyone had own room but meals were cooked by staff and eaten communally in a shared dining room. There was also a large shared living room and garden. They didn’t provide care, but many residents had carers visiting a few times a day. The monthly charge covered everything (other than toiletries, personal items etc), was around ) £2,500 pcm so costly but affordable if she sells her house to fund it (eg if her house sold for £100k that would fund 5 years or so by the time you add on interest).

LuckyLamp · 17/10/2022 13:24

You have my full sympathy!! What a dreadful idea. You sound empathetic and kinder than I would be. I’m married to an only child. This is my nightmare scenario.

Do her the courtesy of living with her and become carer??! She’s so selfish.

Well done sticking to your guns.

BigBunkers · 17/10/2022 13:28

Ah I can understand her fear and anxiety but I think it’s important that you and your DH are now on the same page. When he sees her tomorrow he has to echo what you said, not bend because he feels guilty.

Also, it’s not a ‘courtesy’ looking after her, it’s a FT job!

Saz12 · 17/10/2022 13:29

... and whilst she may well manage the move to yours fine initially, she’s not going to improve. Often a move is a real setback in the elderly and it can take a long time to settle in. So you need to think if not how things are now, but how things will be in 2 years time...

A580Hojas · 17/10/2022 13:30

I find it really unusual that this subject hasn't come up before and now all of a sudden, a couple of hours after posting about her "hinting", she has asked you outright and told you you don't love her and has put the phone down all upset.

It's extraordinary that someone can get to 94 and not have a conversation with her son, who must be 50ish at least, over where to live when her health declines.

It should be him dealing with all of this, really.

Many elderly people resist the idea of carers. I should know. However, most would prefer in-home care than a residential home - for a while at least.

CatsandFish · 17/10/2022 13:37

A580Hojas · 17/10/2022 13:30

I find it really unusual that this subject hasn't come up before and now all of a sudden, a couple of hours after posting about her "hinting", she has asked you outright and told you you don't love her and has put the phone down all upset.

It's extraordinary that someone can get to 94 and not have a conversation with her son, who must be 50ish at least, over where to live when her health declines.

It should be him dealing with all of this, really.

Many elderly people resist the idea of carers. I should know. However, most would prefer in-home care than a residential home - for a while at least.

I have to agree. I find it extremely hard to believe this topic has never come up before. Pretty irresponsible of both her, and your DH for not being prepared. 10 years ago my mum and I had the talk as I was going to be her Power of Attorney, and that question about old age/alzheimers/living arrangements etc was on the forms we had to fill in.

OP who has POA of your MIL? Does she even have a POA? Because if so, this would have had to have been discussed.

I would show her websites of care homes and she can see that it is not the asylum she seems to think it is.

ChristmasCwtch · 17/10/2022 13:38

DH and I recently had a big argument about him wanting to start saving for his mother’s “future care needs”.

The woman retired at 60, despite not having much in the way of pension. Now 72, she’s spent the last 12 years travelling and buying tons of clothes. She’s never done a day’s childcare for us and DH was working from 16 years old, so there’s not even a moral compunction on my part to be anything more than an occasional visitor.

Pigs will fly before I work to pay for someone else’s care. Your situation is even more extreme OP! I can’t even imagine what would happen if she suggested moving in 😮

justasking111 · 17/10/2022 13:42

If your MIL is 94 and your son 6 , how old is are you and your husband? I'm not being nosy it does have a bearing on advice given.

Ixoral · 17/10/2022 13:45

Apologies if I've missed any mention of Attendance Allowance, this isn't means tested. We claim it for my 92yo mum who lives alone, this goes towards carers going in twice a day 5 days a week, family are able to cover weekends. She also has a lifeline pendant round her neck linked to a control centre so if she does need help she presses the button. We also have a keysafe outside. Mum has late onset Alzheimers, this started out as getting forgetful & confusion, once diagnosed we were able to claim the AA & also Council Tax exception this all helps fund her 'independence' in her own home.
We don't go through a care agency, started out with 1 carer who we knew going in & then increased to 2 more carers so it's always the same people so no 'strangers'.

Is your MIL showing any signs of Dementia? Any confusion/forgetfulness?
Perhaps a chat with Age Concern for further advice/help.

I wish you well.💐

diddl · 17/10/2022 13:46

She's 96 & unsteady on her feet.

That won't improve.

It really does sound as if she needs 24hr supervision.

If she's unsteady on her feet-how does she manage in the bath/shower, prepare food/drinks, carry them to the table?

If she won't have carers & can't live with you there aren't many options left!

My Dad was gradually using less & less of his house & tbh when he went into the care home, although he only had the one room it wasn't really that much less than he had been using at home.

Namechangehereandnow · 17/10/2022 13:49

saraclara · 17/10/2022 12:48

Very rarely, and it's not somewhere I think many would rush to less than a day after finding out about their mum's wishes.

I certainly wouldn't risk to any judgement of a male partner who didn't post here! Hopefully he has his own place, real life or online, to talk about this.

It’s not rare for men to use the site .. but obviously less men than women use it, (there’s a dads section too). I’m not really understanding your meaning tbh … so it’s ok for a woman to ask on here but you hope a man can find elsewhere as he’s not allowed here?

justasking111 · 17/10/2022 13:50

ChristmasCwtch · 17/10/2022 13:38

DH and I recently had a big argument about him wanting to start saving for his mother’s “future care needs”.

The woman retired at 60, despite not having much in the way of pension. Now 72, she’s spent the last 12 years travelling and buying tons of clothes. She’s never done a day’s childcare for us and DH was working from 16 years old, so there’s not even a moral compunction on my part to be anything more than an occasional visitor.

Pigs will fly before I work to pay for someone else’s care. Your situation is even more extreme OP! I can’t even imagine what would happen if she suggested moving in 😮

My mum divorced was like this pleading poverty she had half of dads pension, I gave her £40 per week. Dad also topped her monthly. We paid for holidays to Italy, new York. She had more money to fritter away than we did. It all came out when dad died that we'd both been paying her cash on top of her benefits in sheltered housing. So no after the hell she put us through she stayed in sheltered housing

notprettybeautiful · 17/10/2022 13:50

YANBU. She can't just expect to move in without having a serious discussion about it, and obviously having your family's agreement. Have your DH ask her outright where she will live, and if she had assumed she can just move in with you, let her down gently before she makes too many plans. You're under no obligation to allow her to move in with you, even though it may feel cruel to say no to a nice old lady. If it's a pain it will be impossible to get her out and not a good situation for you.

justasking111 · 17/10/2022 13:53

My late MIL wisely said that her friends who were taken off to live near children lost their whole social life and were so lonely. She said that it was a huge mistake to do this

Bramblejoos · 17/10/2022 13:54

Has she thought through how her days will be spent if at yours.

She probably imagines a life like when you visit her and give her full attention when in fact she will probably be more on her own at yours than she is now.

Hayliebells · 17/10/2022 13:54

I don't have much to add but just wanted to let you know you're not the only one dealing with this, it's hard. My dad asks to move in with me every time I call/visit, but it's just not possible. I have a 10 year old and a 6 year old, and a full on job! The era of family being able to care for elderly relatives is over for most I think. Women financially now need to work, when they didn't a generation ago. The retirement age for everyone is now at least 65, women do not retire at 60 anymore, so again the window of opportunity to care for relatives in their 80s/90s is diminished. We, as a society need to decide how we're going to square this circle, with an aging population. For the time being, rightly or wrongly, the answer is that those people who have built up wealth in their property over their lifetime, use that wealth to pay for care. To be honest, I'm of the view that it is just that property wealth that has led to families being unable to care for their relatives in their old age. We've let housing costs spiral, some would say as a nation we've encouraged it, so that now it's no longer possible for a family to be adequately housed on one income. As a consequence, there's noone available to care for elderly relatives when they're old. It's not possible to go back in time, we can't reverse the consequences of decades of flawed economic policy, so we are where we are, and all we can do is deal with it.

Bramblejoos · 17/10/2022 13:59

The craziest thing is that no one makes any plans for when they can't manage on their own. Madness.

MargotChateau · 17/10/2022 14:02

@Suemademedoit are you high? I had to look after my father (my parents are separated) in old age till his death, and that was when I was young, lived in his house and had no children. It was brutally exhausting and stole my youth and I WORSHIPPED him (my father was old enough to be my grandfather).

I also had to look after my mother off and on for years too.

It’s thankless work, washing, feeding, assisting in and out of bed, showers, the toilet. Cleaning up fecal and urine mess when they have accidents later on. You can’t take breaks from it, when they get frail someone always has to be home on call.

Intergenerational living may have worked (though the poor woman carings life was often a misery), when there wasn’t a cost of living crisis, when housing was affordable and women stayed at home, but the reality now is shit.

My aunt has looked after her mother a similar age, still has to work, is worn out and her life revolves around mothers care. Her husband has now been diagnosed with a terminal illness and she will have two people to care for, and the years she should have been enjoying her husband have been robbed from them both from their carer responsibilities.

Why should @HappyDays40 have to completely upend her life, probably lose the chance of home ownership herself if she isn’t able to work as much and the added costs of an extra vulnerable adult, the responsibility and costs of finding a new rental if she loses her current one.

If you think it’s so great maybe you should move op’s mil in and care for her since it’s hardly any bother 🙄

toomuchlaundry · 17/10/2022 14:03

@Bramblejoos the being on her own when the OP is working is something I don't think a number of posters on here have thought through. Taking her away from her friends and then leaving her in a room in their house with possibly a commode is not the life enhancing move some think it is.

LuckySnips · 17/10/2022 14:05

Like babies and toddlers, older people need not much: food, water, shelter, love.

Babies need constant attention, nappies changing, health check-ups, physically present parenting and/or childcare. I assume you've off-handedly categorised those under 'love' but childcare requires either money or giving up work. Same with caring for older people.

LuckySnips · 17/10/2022 14:07

Bramblejoos · 17/10/2022 13:59

The craziest thing is that no one makes any plans for when they can't manage on their own. Madness.

That's what I find quite incomprehensible (but clearly it's common!) - how do you get to age e.g. 85, and just think 'nah, I'll think about that in 9 years time, I'm sure it'll all work out with no cost or work on anyone's part.....'

CatsandFish · 17/10/2022 14:07

MargotChateau · 17/10/2022 14:02

@Suemademedoit are you high? I had to look after my father (my parents are separated) in old age till his death, and that was when I was young, lived in his house and had no children. It was brutally exhausting and stole my youth and I WORSHIPPED him (my father was old enough to be my grandfather).

I also had to look after my mother off and on for years too.

It’s thankless work, washing, feeding, assisting in and out of bed, showers, the toilet. Cleaning up fecal and urine mess when they have accidents later on. You can’t take breaks from it, when they get frail someone always has to be home on call.

Intergenerational living may have worked (though the poor woman carings life was often a misery), when there wasn’t a cost of living crisis, when housing was affordable and women stayed at home, but the reality now is shit.

My aunt has looked after her mother a similar age, still has to work, is worn out and her life revolves around mothers care. Her husband has now been diagnosed with a terminal illness and she will have two people to care for, and the years she should have been enjoying her husband have been robbed from them both from their carer responsibilities.

Why should @HappyDays40 have to completely upend her life, probably lose the chance of home ownership herself if she isn’t able to work as much and the added costs of an extra vulnerable adult, the responsibility and costs of finding a new rental if she loses her current one.

If you think it’s so great maybe you should move op’s mil in and care for her since it’s hardly any bother 🙄

Well said. The only people who benefit from 'intergenerational living' are the men. No one else benefits, certainly not the women who have to give up their entire lives to care for someone. It's extremely selfish of the person expecting this. Even worse is when they expect to continue the cycle like OP's MIL said she did that for her mother so now she expects to 'claim'. These care homes exist, precisely for this very reason. To give the elderly the care they need and deserve, and to stop families bearing the burden.

Izzy24 · 17/10/2022 14:08

reigatecastle · 17/10/2022 12:15

Neither us nor her have the finances for a live in carer. The local authority won't pay for that but they will pay for visiting carers. MIL had carers coming in four times a day for nearly 4 years and didn't have to pay. She went into a care home for the last few weeks of her life, that was it.

Would the LA pay for carers to come in if the person in need was living with family? In a similar situation at the moment to which there currently seems no solution.

CatsandFish · 17/10/2022 14:09

toomuchlaundry · 17/10/2022 14:03

@Bramblejoos the being on her own when the OP is working is something I don't think a number of posters on here have thought through. Taking her away from her friends and then leaving her in a room in their house with possibly a commode is not the life enhancing move some think it is.

Oh I think they expect the OP to give up work entirely to be MIL's carer 24/7. People on this site can truly have that level of internalised misogyny, sadly, as I've just seen on another thread so I have no doubt they don't think the OP working is a problem because they expect her to give up work.

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