Forgive me. I'm new to Reddit. My mother has had episodes like this. It is the scariest thing I've been through in my life so far. She was asking weird questions, had crazy off-the-wall ideas, constantly starting small fires and burning random things in the backyard like a brand new pair of tennis shoes. It is speculation but a number of us in the family believe it was my mother who not only SUCCESSFULLY burned down our house she did it TWICE! Exactly 4 years apart. She was spiraling out of control. Anyways...we got it some what sorted out but when she moved out they found a burned piece of paper inside a hole in the wall. Dont know if she was trying tk stash something or if this was yet another arson attempt. She still claims total innonence to this day but my intuition tells me different. The first fire I was 20 minutes outside of town and got a voicemail from a neighbor. My family wasnt picking up. Longest car drive of my life. Second one was completely unexpected...came home to grab the last of my stuff before I moved and the road was filled with ambulances and fire trucks crowded around my house. I was puking in the street before I even made it around to the house. No one was harmed in either fires but now I a form of PTSD that I have to see a therapist for. First alert freak me out really bad now. Anyways my advice is definitely get the kids somewhere for awhile and do what you have to get her help. Do it now.