I'm My Mother's Caretaker And Angry At My Siblings

by Ca
(NYC )

I am a caretaker of my elderly mother and I am also a mother of a 41 year old special needs son. I am one of five siblings but for some reason not one of them help in the daily needs of my mother.

First I want to explain I love my mother very much but I get so tired. The life of a caretaker is very isolating and lonely. It is a 24 hour 7 days of the week job with no sick days and no vacation days. When I'm sick or tired I don't have a choice of whether to stay in bed or rest. The bottom line of my story is that every day I become more angry at my siblings.

When they visit which is whenever they like, only once a month sometimes. They run in, stay for an hour but always have something urgent to do. I feel that at least every other Saturday they could come stay a day and visit with her and I could have a day for me. I never get to go to salon to fix myself up.

To make matters worse they call and give my mother some excuse and she tells me your sister is tired or sick but she never acknowledges when I'm tired or sick. But every day goes by I hate my siblings more and feel when (God forbid), something happens to my mother I don't ever want to see them again.

That's my anger issue that I hold in, because if not they may never visit my mother who so looks forward to seeing them. I pray that I should feel happy again some day.

Oh, by the way, I'm a 57 year old and just retired from a job that I worked at for 33 years. Now their visits are farther apart because they think this should become my full time job since I’m retired. I did not mean to write a book, but I have no friends and no spouse to vent to. But I needed to tell my story to someone or anyone that listens.

Take Care Of Yourself First