Sandwich Generation..my take

I am what is known as being in the Sandwich Generation. I have a husband, a dog and an 88 year old mother who lives with me. I still work. I get up everyday, drive 60 minutes to my job. This a job I got because at my previous job I made to much money, was to long in the tooth and not as savvy as I should have been for my young boss. So I took the severance package, took a six month vacation and found another job in another city. It was not what I had done but it was easy enough to acclimate to. The women I work with are all my daughters age, but they don't see me as a mother figure they treat me like one of them. In fact they told me recently I was the youngest 60 year old they knew. I took that as a compliment.
At home it is a different story, my mother sees me as her daughter, someone she can tell what to do, someone she can ask to do a whole lot, even though I have worked an 8 hour day and driven 2 hours to and from work. Now I have made living with me easy for her. I have hired a woman my age to take her out 2 days a week to do what ever she likes. Shop, hair salon, nail salon, lunch, post office you name it JK does this for her. But mother saves most things for me to do on the weekend. Her excuse is she forgot to ask JK to do it while she is here. Did I mention my husband is retired and home too ? This is another source she can use to run her errans.
Yes I said my husband is retired and I still work. But that is another blog.
I like to watch TV in the evenings to unwind. That all stopped when mother came to live with us. I get to glimps at TV while I watch with her. She is very hard of hearing , wears 2 hearing aids, but you would never guess she still has trouble hearing what the characters say. I spend most of the show explaining to her what was said by the characters.
I know some of you will say " be happy", she is there to watch TV with you", well that is well and good but if you have kids at home, think about it. I also like to read the paper, but that has gone by the wayside too. Did I mention I have a pet ? A Yorkie to be exact, she demands my time too.
Well I am greatful for my mother, she taught me to be strong, to take life as it comes and not to expect to much of people. Live you life your way. I have never looked back or blamed someone else for my misfortunes....I take the high road.