Dear Dáithí: I'm worried I'll end up as a carer for my mother-in-law

Got a problem? Our agony uncle, Dáithí Ó Sé, is here to help.

Daithí Ó Sé is the Irish Examiner's new agony-uncle. Picture: Domnick Walsh

I'll be married for three years to my lovely husband this Christmas. This is a second marriage for both of us. I love him very much and after we got engaged, I sold my house and moved into his. I used that money to pay off part of his mortgage. It made sense as he had the bigger house and it was closer to where I work and where we socialise. It's also close to his family. Our children from our past relationships are in college and live in other counties, they visit and stay with us when suits at weekends and it's all very amicable.

My problem is my new mother-in-law. She is a widow, lives near by, and has started to show signs of dementia. I work from home and am a little bit more flexible in my hours than my husband. My mother-in-law has started to come to our house in the late mornings and staying until after dinner. Sometimes she stays the night.