My wife says she wants her mother to live with us when she is old. It is always followed by a "who else will take care of her", which I can certainly understand. 

But the mother/daughter relationship is twisted. A friend of my wife recently asked if we wanted to go to Mongolia with her and some of her friends. We didn't as we will be elsewhere at the time, but could have been fun, a group of young(ish) people going away for a week However, my mother in law, when she heard about this, talked to the mother of my wifes friend. And now the friends mother is going to Mongolia as well. Way to f*** up what could otherwise have been a fun trip. 

In Japan they used to throw their old people into volcanoes so they wouldn't be a burden. In the west we put them in retirement homes. I wouldn't mind my mother in law living with us provided we had a place where we could still have privacy. As it is now, if she is at our place we have no life, food is according to her, a closed bedroom door has no meaning etc. 

I understand about 'who else will ...etc.' - but I can't ! I have my own mother - who I love dearly and the thought of living with my own mother is bad enough .... the thought of having to live with someone else's just goes against all that is normal to me.

Fortunately... my better half has a sister & a brother , so hopefully they can help.

I mean why not

is your parents

u gatta take care of them

Do Chinese have as dysfunctional families as we do. I don't even like talking with my family. I sometimes put the phone down when my mother calls, says the same things every time I see her.