"There is nothing worse in this world than when someone is telling you what to do, and phrases like “start fresh” is some kind of Americanism that has made its way into Irish life and all it does is pour fuel onto the fire."

Every parent will empathise with you, but you’re at a stage now where you must look at the big picture for her and, indeed, for yourself.

At the moment, your mother-in-law is semi-retired and is very fit and active, and by the sounds of it, she wants to stay like this and let nothing get in the way.

I’m like your husband, I work a lot to make sure the family is taken care of, but would I be out working if I didn’t have to? 

"I think it’s very tough when children have to mind their parents, especially from a young enough age. It’s nobody’s fault, nobody plans it like this, it just happens. When it does, somebody has to be there."

I don’t agree with giving money for chores. I’m of the ‘you don’t pay rent here or you’re doing something in return’ brigade, and I know many like me.

"I’m going to tell you something now and, if the same was told to me in 2002 when my sister died, I wouldn’t have believed it, and you might think the same way now. It does get easier, and you will get through this."

"I often speak to people who have lost a husband or wife who have been married for a long time and there is always a feeling that they are betraying their partners if they move left or right, and this is never the real case"

'I’m worried about how much time my husband spends on his phone, it seems like it’s glued to his hand 24/7. When our alarm goes off in the morning he’s already scrolling through social media'

I feel left behind while others are living it up