Help, my mum is driving me mad! I feel like I can't breathe.
Parents have retired out to Spain and sold their UK property about 3 years ago (without discussing with me or DB) Now whenever they come back (which is around 3-4 times a year for 5-10 days) they have to stay with me, DH 3x DDs (as they have now fallen out with DB and SIL). I am really annoyed because they decided to move to Spain and now just expect to use my house as their UK base (even though we do not have a spare bedroom), I am forever taking in parcels, or doing this or that errand for them. They are forever leaving stuff here when they visit (like big coats, golf clubs, general junk) as if I have the room to store all their crap! I know that this all sounds petty but it think its all the small stuff that just keeps adding up and I feel really put upon.
When they come they stay in my office (I run a business from home, so I have to give my co-worker a weeks holiday so that I can turn the office into a bedroom) Last week my mum came over for 5 days, Everything was fine for the first 3 days, but by the 4th day we start to get on each others nerves, I can see she gets upset that my DDs don't pay her that much attention any more, they are 13 16 17, when she left they were smaller and would sit and play games with her, but now they all have busy social lives and she doesn't seem understand this. She also cries at the smallest thing so you alway have to be careful what you say to her, and this makes the girls not want to be around her as much. She also does this when she phones them, and I know it puts them off of talking to her on the phone. This has had a lot to do with the falling out with my DB and SIL, she gets very emotional because she doesn't see her other GC.
She also cannot miss her TV programmes so it doesn't matter what you are watching once her programmes come on the TV gets turned over. There are so many little things that sound petty but drive me to distraction. But I am mainly cross that both of them decided to sell up everything and move to Spain, when we were always such a close family and had a really good relationship and always spent time with each other, but now with them being so far away we are forced to live with each other for long periods of time and it is ruining our relationship.
Sorry if this is all jumbled together, but they are coming back at christmas for 10 days and I feel like I am suffocating at the thought of it. I have thought about posting on here so many times before but always feel disloyal so want to do it before I change my mind.