Who's Cranky??

How do things go for you when you're cranky?  For me, its as if every. little. thing. makes me crazy.  Drivers.  Weather.  Chores.  And yes, Mom. 

While I am trying to be .... patient and helping her get things done, I feel tired of being, in a word, her lackey.

Every day, its always something. Bring me earrings. Bring me nail kit. Bring me a book. Bring me a long sleeved shirt. No, jot that one, its too big, being the other one next time.  The problem is next time is the next day.

Take yesterday. I had just left rehab and stopped at her house to fill another "Bring me" list and she texts me 3x "did you bring me a book?" "The iPad stopped working." "How do I get the game shows back?" When I didn't answer her text, she was calling me and leaving voicemail!!!

I can't live her life, and she has grown too dependent on me.  She knows how to play the guilt game.  And yes, I allow it.  But why? This is a woman who was *very* different to me growing up, so much so that I moved away to Ohio. 

And as I look back, I keep thinking I was mich happier in Ohio.  But maybe I was just happier being away from her.

Sadly, that doesn't bode well for the next whatever years left to her, and drains me. By the time she is gone, I will be an old woman who might need care, too.

And yes, I am cranky about it!  

I read that being cranky is a temporary kind of emotion, but when it becomes all the time.... how do you handle being cranky??