Mother is choosing grandmother over spouse, kids, grandchildren. What is going on here?

Wishing you a wonderful life with your family - unfortunately your mother has problems that cannot be fixed (at least not by a non-professional) so keeping your distance from her chaos is very wise.

Take good care of yourself, wishing you well through the birth 💐

Again, thank you all for taking your time to reply. It's been very helpful. I'll let this thread go now as its probably not good to dwell on this anymore at this point. Reflecting on some of the comments, yes, my mother has always been this way. Internet gambling has been an issue in years past, and unfortunately my parents lost my childhood home due to my mom playing blackjack with the mortgage. I remember as a child going home from school to a house with no electricity or water because the bills had not been paid. GMa is on Medicaid, which is why the policy was cashed, however mother didn't use that money to prepay any funeral expenses. No one knows where the money truly went, except my mom. Mom makes excuses for not returning to the workforce, too old, too small of a town, embarrassed to be a greeter at the Walmart, etc. although she's highly educated. Obviously there are decades worth of financial and trust issues here. My dad even had his wages garnished unexpectedly (to him, but my mother knew well in advance) by the IRS for failure to pay back taxes. Definitely the cycle stops with me; and thank you all for reminding me to focus on baby and not let my emotions get the better of me for the sake of my family. It's nice to have that reminder. So many of you have said such insightful things, without any prompting you got the full picture....thank-you all and have a blessed day.

Yikes, has your mom always been so selfish or is that new, 8 yrs, with g'ma situation. If mom is on computer lots, could she be internet gambling, bad behaviour causes people to push others away and makes them very accusatory to take the focus off them and their actions. Just a thought.

If you are to your hairline with your mom, you definitely do not want her around your family at this precious time. Your toddler and new baby can feel the stress and it will cause confusion and fear in their little lives. You as a mom know that when you are upset you can't comfort the baby no matter what you do, they feel your emotions. So you are a capable strong woman and can deal with your family far better with out added B'S from GMA. Tell her that you know she needs to be there for her mom and you are so happy that she can do that, as you will be fine as frog hair, in fact we've already made the arraignments and will send lots of pictures.

Dad sounds like she has bulldozed him there entire marriage, God bless him for tolerating her and keeping his wedding vows in a day an age when marriage is taken so lightly. For better or worse, nobody ever tells you it can get worse and worse and worse.

Congratulations on your soon to be new family member and on being the one to stop the cycle of selfish insanity.

Is Gma on Medicaid? If so her policy had to be cashed in for her care...but...Medicaid allows for prepaying funerals so Mom could have used the cash in value for that. The cash in value is not even close to the face value. I got 3K on a 13K policy.

Sorry, but I wouldn't depend on Mom for much. Maybe caring for Gma was sort of an excuse to get away from family life. Tell Dad a cremation cost are low. Here its 2300. I just read on this forum, that a funeral home is not needed that u can go thru the crematory directly. He tell ur Mom he is willing to do this but there will be no service. If she wants one at a later time, then she can work and pay for it. I think ur Dad is a gem to put up with this. Yes, parents are important but when you marry your responsibility shifts to ur husband and children. I feel the responsibility to a parent is to keep them safe, warm, fed and clothed and loved. The same thing they were to do for us. If that means they live inca NH or AL because we can't care for them then so be it. You will need some help with the baby so try to find an agency.

It sounds as though you will be far better off if Mom is not around when the baby comes. She sounds as though she would only disrupt the essential bonding time between you and the new baby. So definitely tell her not to come. You will be fine and Gma obviously needs her now. Which is probably very true if Gma is really dieing this time, obviously hospice thinks she is.
If you can spare a little towards the funeral I think Dad would be very appreciative of that. He must be feeling very alone and abused right now. By the way he has absolutely no obligation to pay for Gma's cremation.
I think you are absolutely correct in not being prepared to fund your parents retirement. Mom obviously need to get motivated after Gma dies and start contributing. Does she have some skills she can fall back on. Is her health good enough for her to work again?
It is difficult but not impossiblle to get back into the workforce when you are nearing retirement but it can be done. Idid it myself at age 58 and worked for another ten years. It probably wont be possible to earn top dollar at that age but everything helps especially if there are some benefits. I talked to a friend last night who had been forced out of retirement and was able to find employment albeit at a much reduced salary. Even reduced pay is helpful if you are able to continue working in your chosen field.
Your parents are both grown up people so let them make their own decisions and take the consequences. There is some help out there for low income families. Not always easy to get but if you persevere and don't be put off by officious people it can be done.
Your first priority is to your hubby and the kids. Don't shortchange them because your parents are not managing their own affairs well. Your children will grow up with all kinds of problems if they are raised by stressed out parents. Make this a joyful time for your own family it will reap huge benefits in the long run. You have a good head on your shoulders so use it.
Not telling you to never lend a had to your parents if they really need it but don't let them become dependent on you financially.

Thank you all. I truly appreciate the insights and various perspectives. I have indeed explained that I won't be supporting my parents financially as they age, because I truly do not want to live my moms life and I wouldn't dream of redirecting funds that could be used to support my husband and I as we age, so we don't continue this cycle if placing the burden on our children. I love the answers about staying neutral; great advice and thank you! And yes , my grandmother's death has indeed been "imminent" for the last 8 years. To the poster who said that, you literally made me laugh because that was the justifications for her quitting her job. And I've visited her on her death bed at least 3 times, last minute, and "emergency". I finally had to stop going every time I got "the call" because I was looking like a nut to my employer!!!

Firstly. Do what you need to for yourself and your OWN family. If that means hiring a temp nurse/helper??? for yourself then do that. Tell your Mum not to worry about coming to you then, as you know how busy she is.

Keep in contact and stay neutral. Give your dad lots of supporting love. Explain to ALL that you will be very limited financially from now on, what with all the cost of a new baby and being off work.

Am I a bit harsh?? May be but you MUST remember, you do not like the way your mum is devoted to her mum. You do not want to be the same? Do you?

Yes we care for our parents but not to the extent of (for the want of a better word) undercutting our own family.
When grandma dies sent flowers, or money instead towards the funeral. Try NOT TO GO there or you will get sucked in.

I send you love and hugs. Have a great birth and a beautiful baby. :)

You are getting a lot of answers that support a dutiful caregiver, but I tend to agree with Barb that your mother's priorities have been wrong for the last 8 years. While it was wonderful for her to devote time and attention to her mother it shouldn't have been done without balancing the needs of her husband, her children and herself.
As for grandmother dying, is it imminent? I bet you've heard that a lot in the last few years.

Your mother sounds enmeshed with her mother which is true of some women.

Each enmeshed person is not capable of having a normal, intimate (and I'm not talking about sex) relationship with their spouse because they are enmeshed with someone else. 

Realizing I'm hormonal and very pregnant and sleep deprived, the issue is not so much about helping me with the new baby (as I said, been there done that, and I make enough financially to support our household) but with her treatment of the rest of the family as a whole (my dad, her sibling, me), set off by her anger at my dad at being somewhat bitter regarding the mishandling of extremely limited finances. My grandmother has very little, my parents have even less. He stands by her no matter what, as he should. She doesn't appear willing even to allow him to be entitled to his feelings, even though he hasn't been included in any end of life financial decision making, nor was her sibling included (that was last weeks drama), where I listened to her vent about her unsupportive sibling, who likewise is unhappy that all these financial decisions were made without any discussion. Are we ALL wrong? Are we not ALL entitled to our feelings? I just feel like she's playing the victim.

It sounds like mom has made arrangements to help you. Did she really yell when she didn't want you to have the baby early? If she did she has made arrangements for something based on your scheduled delivery. I have said the same to my kids when the grands came along, but it was in jest. Babies arrive on their own schedules and sometimes does not make it easy for others.

I personally think that your mom has her priorities wrong, but that's me.

I guess she thinks that you will drop everything as she ages.

In your shoes, I would think a better use of your wages right now is help for a few weeks when the baby comes. When the dust from gram's death and the new baby has settled, consider some discussions with a therapist.

Is someone going to explain to mom that she's going to have to go back to work now to fund her own old age?

Thank you all for taking your time to respond. I truly do wish to be a loving and supportive daughter and granddaughter. That's why I came here rather than a pregnancy site seeking advice, as you all will probably be able to offer advice from her perspective. Nothing has really changed to push me over the edge, except that last night she wanted to start trashing my dad to me over the phone. She knows I too have been bitter about her choices for years. Last week was when she yelled at me to not have that baby early, because it would be too disruptive for her life. It's been building. I never asked her to come to help me, she offered. I haven't expected any help from her since I went away to college. I'm a grown woman, who has taken on all the responsibility that comes with adulthood and motherhood; I did these things with my son, just my husband and I, and I'm not afraid to do it again. I'm tired of the rug being pulled out from under me, and of her trashing everyone in the family for not putting grandma first, or for questioning her decisions about finances.

Caring for an aging parent is very difficult, draining, emotionally, physically and financially. We do not like to rely on our children for our or anybody else's needs. Mom is spending your grandma's last days with her which is obviously very important to her. I understand you wanting your mom there to help with the baby caregiving. It also sounds like mom has a full plate caring for her mom. Don't make additional demands on her, she does not have the energy. Look into bringing in help for you and the baby. Mom will be there when she is able. You may have to let mom take a break from caregiving for a bit until she is ready to change speeds to another very different type of caregiving.

Um.

Granted you're about to give birth and must be a little apprehensive about both the surgery and the postnatal period (are there people around to do the toddler-lifting, e.g.?).

But *allowing* for how I'd feel if I were that pregnant and that fed up, this has been going on for eight years, through all sorts of events - marriage, first baby, return to work, all sorts.

So what's new that you've reached the end of your tether? What's happened?

Oh my goodness, been there done that. For me it was generations of narcissistic behavior in my family and I don’t wish that upon anybody:( After reading the book “Will I Ever Be Good Enough” by Dr. Karyl McBride, I was able to acknowledge this in my own family and how I was raised. Now no more family secrets. Knowledge is a powerful thing. Hope you find resolution soon. (((hugs)))