Katharina Buczek
This 29-year-old woman and her husband, who’s 36, have two kids: a 4-year-old daughter and a 2-year-old son. They also live with her mother-in-law, who is 70 years old.
Up until three months ago, their 75-year-old father-in-law lived with them as well. However, due to medical issues, he was admitted to the hospital and ultimately transferred to a rehab/nursing home.
“My father-in-law isn’t doing well and is losing all capacities and needs constant care,” she explained.
She and her husband aren’t able to take care of him, either, given the fact that they both work full-time. The only way they’re able to handle their childcare is because they work opposite shifts, and their daughter is already in school.
On top of that, her mother-in-law basically works full time, too. Yet, her mother-in-law and sister-in-law recently began talking about bringing her father-in-law back home anyway.
She quickly tried to shut down that idea and told her mother-in-law that she wouldn’t be able to help out with his care. She even went so far as to give her mother-in-law an ultimatum.
“If my mother-in-law brings him home, I’m leaving because I have two small children to take care of,” she said.
Not to mention, before her father-in-law went into the nursing home, she wasn’t getting any assistance. She had to wear multiple hats, being a mom to her two kids while caring for her father-in-law.
Her mother-in-law, on the other hand, was hardly ever home and had the luxury of relying on her husband for help during the day.
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