What is it that I'm legally supposed to do? Parents out of control! See, I'm only my mom's POA if my dad dies or becomes incapacitated. And I'm only my Dad's POA if something happens to my mom. But my mother has dementia. My father uses the paperwork on my mom who has dementia to bring me into every marital squabble they have, down to how often they have sex or whether or not she can leave and find her another man. Or whether or not he can put the house plants in the kitchen while he lays tile in the living room floor. It's exasperating! Between the two of them I feel like I am going NUTS! I feel like it's the same chaos that I was in when I was a kid. I don't want to play marriage counselor to them! I don't want to hear about their sex life or lack of it. Or whether my mother can leave again. Or anything.
I do want to do my duty as their daughter - I want to be ethical, but this drama, I feel like is just pointless.
My mother hates me, she hates, my brother she hates my kids, she doesn't want any of us around. She complains that my father spends too much time with his kids and family and not enough time buying her presents and having sex with her - its a replay of my childhood and to be honest, I don't think I can take it.
I feel shitty for feeling this way, but is this really what being their POA is supposed to be about?
They fuss and fight like cats and dogs. Every day it's something new.
She's hitting him with hair brushes, screaming at him for something that happened in their marriage when I was a kid and honestly I just dont give a rats ass anymore. They fight about church, but my mom refuses to go and my dad wont go with her. It's all the same fights. I don't even know why they remarried 10 years ago. It's like they love to breed chaos.
Every time I talk to them I tell them that at some point all that fussing and yelling is gonna have the neighbors calling the police to their house to find out what the commotion is. Dad's reply is that he'll shoot the cops for interfering in his life, and mom's reply is that she'll act out even more and dare someone to tell her what to do.
What do I do?
If you don't want to spend the next ten or more years MANAGING the monkeys, cut your visits to once a month for an hour. You may be surprised how they begin to manage without the monkey trainer on premise.
You are under no ethical or other obligation to be your parents POA. In fact, you don't mention one POA responsibility you DO. POA stands for Power of Attorney. Not referee in the loony bin. That's RLB. ;)
Every once in a while, when I was up to it, I'd answer more than once a day and spend a little circus time with them.
You are effecting every corner of your life with their lunacy. Your own family is only getting a part of you as you are either preoccupied with them or spending hours on the phone humorist them.
You probably don't even realize how much your life is being shaped by their antics. I think I'd have Adult Protective Services pop in for a friendly hello. Tell them to wear bullet-proof vests. ;)
I don't mean to sound flip. Oh, well, yes, I do actually. You've been sucked in to "ridiculous" -- time to take your lift back AND SET BOUNDARIES!
Reread your POA documents. But I think you probably did when you agreed to deputise, didn't you? And you know perfectly well that audience participation in your parents' fun-and-games is not among your responsibilities. I was about to suggest that perhaps your father is at the end of his rope and seeking "permission" to place your mother in memory care until I got to the end of your post where he says he'll shoot anyone who interferes. Ah.
Report the pair of them to APS because if your mother is already physically attacking your father, even if she doesn't pack much of a punch, it's already got out of hand. Your mother needs someone to care for her properly and your father, quite apart from the need for his own protection, clearly is not up to this specialist job. For a bit of peace and quiet, meanwhile, if I were you I'd go incommunicado and just call them to check up at whatever intervals you think necessary.
I took my mom out recently for Mother's Day - I had planned a nice meal with presents. As soon as she arrived she found an excuse to throw a huge tantrum and we had to drive her back almost right away. The kids were in tears. The next time I went to visit her the first thing she wanted to talk about was how upset the kids had been about her (she was clearly relishing the drama). Being a good daughter should not be about getting trampled.
If you are the Durable POA you are in charge of all financial decisions and making sure bills are paid and up to date, KEEP a record of EVERY dime spent! Keep receipts, make copies, keep bank statements. Everything you pay or do keep a very detailed record.
Good luck
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