Hey all,
For a number of reasons, I have to keep in touch with the bitch.
For those of you who have to stay in touch for some reason or other, how do you mange? I have been getting terrible headaches, sabotaging my own diet, becoming depressive and suicidal when I know I have to see her. The situation is becoming untenable and I don't really know how to cope. I have to go see her again in the morning.
The situation is this: I usually go out to dinner with her on Tuesdays and then my son stays with her on Friday while I work. So that means I have to see her twice a week, more or less. I also sometimes take her with us on family outings and so forth. I see way too much of her. Oh, did I mention she lives 90 minutes from me? SO every time I see her, it is a 3-hour round trip.
I settled into this pattern b/c if she perceived that she was not getting enough of my attention, she started pulling stunts like imaginary prowlers and fake chest pains. If I try to pull back form this level of involvement, she starts her tricks again.
The trouble is, this is too much for me. I work 5 days a week, and homeschool my son. Tuesday afternoon could be a good day for us to get out and do some field trips or for me to get my house clean, but instead I have to go see her every week. I really could pick up another shift at work, or I could do something I want to do. I have very little time for friends, hobbies, and things I want and need to do. She has no regard for me, my time, or whatever else. It really is OK with her if I just drop from exhaustion, so long as I make that Tuesday trip to see her.
I really want out of this situation. Unfortunately I accepted a lot of money from her when we really needed it. She is paying my car note. I also suspect that her memory may be starting to slip, so I need to keep an eye on her. We will likely inherit a lot of money from her some day, and I really do not want it all to go to my "foster" brother, which she will probably do anyway.
How can I cope with this? I don't really feel as if I have the energy to insulate myself from her crap any more. I blew off going to see her last week b/c I had a killer headache, and I will not be seeing her next week b/c I am going to the Smoky Mountains. SO I have to go see her this week, in spite of the fact that I have 9 million-billion things to do and I have an American Legion meeting AND i have to work tomorrow.
Honestly, I would rather nail my foot to the floor than go see that woman. I ma dreading this. How to cope?