"A family member has asked about buying the place but would want a very good deal in terms of paying as little as possible. "

Talk about cheek! Have they told you they'll kindly take it off your hands for a fiver as well?????!!!!!!

Aha, the helicopter vultures ah gathering! Wanting to feast on your mum's estate before the poor soul is even dead.... OK, first off, get an estate agent (Do NOT mention the relative keen to buy!) to come and do an informal valuation of the house. They should do this for free. They should give you a...

So, is it more than one person chucking stuff at your mum? And, do they chuck stuff at other people than your mum? What was the 'provocation' supposed to have been? Sadly sounds more like a kindergarten.....but it's not acceptable whatever the similarities.... I guess the basic problem is that you h...

I'm glad to hear she's always been loving and appreciative, and still is (apart from the caustic tongue!). Criticism from a parent can become a habit - they hardly know they're doing it. If you point it out to them, they can be shocked! (Mine was.....) However, as the others are mentioning, the key ...

Sadly, she is only going to detrioriate - that is the nature, alas, of both ageing and other illnesses, and dementia etc etc. All very sad, but, sigh, inevitable. Maybe over Christmas you and your husband should put some time aside to really have a 'think ahead' to 2019 and think about what you want...

Lisa - Shakespeare has a line for it: When sorrows come they come not in single spies, but in battalions. And you are certainly battling battalions, that is for sure. As BB says, you have to think of yourself now as care MANAGER, not care PROVIDER, and above all, focus on your own care needs (Who Ca...

If you don't want too many flowers, ask people to make a donation to a charity of your choosing, one that your mum would have liked to have supported perhaps? Flowers are lovely - but so temporary and fleeting. You also have the option on interring the ashes at the crem itself, and possibly planting...

Paul, can you find a way to at least get through Christmas sufficiently peaceably (even if you have to bite your tongue!) so your children can have a good time? It's awful when Christmas is 'blighted' by parents arguing. Sadly, I remember it well... (like your situation, it wasn't my dad kicking off...

The problem is that the NHS and the SS etc etc all skimp totally on employing sufficient admin staff! I used to be the patient/carer rep at my local hospital's 'cancer team (I'm never quite sure what use we were - mostly it was box ticking for the overworked cancer manager as she had to be able to t...

PPS - I'm sure you are taking into account that all too often it is parents who teach a child to be anxious. The 'disorder' is in the parent, not the child..... (Oh, and of course, beware the old Munchausen's by Proxy danger!) ('I'm scared, so I want my child to be scared too, as that makes me feel ...