Hmmm... work is work, and nothing to be done about that in terms of it interfering with your time together. "Family emergencies" is something else, meaning true emergency vs someone else's idea of an emergency. Sounds to me like his ex needs to find herself a good babysitter. I don't know what kind of "emergencies" a diabetic has or what it means to be "really unwell with it," but maybe his mum needs to look into some help for herself too. Does he have any siblings or other family members that can help with mom?