About

I just need to vent. Uncensored. So unless I want to go back into therapy I better do something about it. Besides, it appears I might be having a midlife crisis. Which I don’t plan on being the focus of this blog…but it gives it context.
Who am I? Pushing 40, married, and acting as the primary caregiver for my mother-in-law (MIL) whom, I have decided, may be the most annoying person I have ever known. And please know, that title carries great significance, as I am also a recovering social worker. I used to work inpatient behavioral health, specializing in the severe and persistently mentally ill. I had a good 6 years of manic and/or psychotic patients knocking on my office door insisting they needed to talk to me NOW.
I am also the daughter of parents that died youngish, because they could not win the battle against their smoking addiction. It’s been 5 years since mom died. No doubt that my resentment of my MIL is amplified by my wish that it was MY mother I was taking care of, not HIS. And this is just the beginning. She’s only been here for 2 1/2 years. WTF did I agree to? What did I suggest? Yes, I suggested this. Because I am often compelled to do the right thing. So here I am, miserable, acting like a mother to a mother that I don’t particularly like, when I didn’t even want to be a mother to anyone.  And my MIL is ruining my life.