Attitude adjustment

I'm acquainted with a young mother of two who calls me from time to time. For anyone who knows me well, talking on the phone for a lengthy time, or even routinely, makes me squirm. This person came by yesterday with her kids---just needed to get away from her own company, but she called again this afternoon and I can feel my anger even now. She wanted to update me about something regarding a health issue she's dealing with. The sad thing is that I don't really care, and I don't like admitting that about myself. She's prone to exaggeration, and to hear her talk about her health problems and the outlandish things that happen, causes me to get antsy.

I don't do well with needy company. And I get frustrated by people who are big talkers. Right now I want to scream, am feeling snippy with my own children, and want to know how to put more space between myself and this person.

Do you think I'm mean yet?

Have had to apologize to my kids for my sore attitude after I hang up the phone with this person. I'm not setting a very tolerant or loving example. But on the other hand, want the other person to take some responsibility for her own behavior. To not use me as a sounding board, but to be more self-sufficient. Yeah, I have age and number of kids to my advantage, but that doesn't put me in the mentoring category.

This is tough to deal with. I'm empathetic when the other person is truly in need, but when there's more of a dumping-on-someone-else attitude, I get cranky. Obviously, I'm not an enabler. And the only solution I see right now is to either avoid answering the phone when she calls, or be more grown-up in my handling of it.

Must work on this, and with the way this keeps coming up in my life, seems to be an ongoing problem that I need to vanquish. Just needed to say it.