 Every Monday morning, at 8.15am, I open the door to my parents, hand them an overflowing bag of toys and kiss my little girl, Immy, now three, goodbye. As I wave her off into their care, I once again thank my lucky stars – and, of course, my parents – for their overwhelming support when it comes to both Immy and her big brother, Theo, five. But would I ever pay them for the pleasure of looking after their grandchildren? Not in a million years – and they certainly wouldn't ever accept any money for childcare they do for us. Grandparents should only look after their grandchildren while their parents work because they want to. They should be appreciated, thanked – but not paid. This very issue arose this week, when one new dad explained on Reddit the bad feeling that had arisen when his parents-in-law had asked for $400 (£312) per week of babysitting, and $100 (£78) per weekend, when he and his wife went back to work. Now, expecting anyone to look after your children five days a week is a lot of work – a full-time job, actually – and, even though the grandparents in question 'loved the idea', they are completely entitled to change their mind when that idea becomes a reality and they realised exactly what they had signed up to. However, is the answer to that to give their own daughter a bill? I certainly don't think so! It creates too awkward a situation and problems down the line. My parents have helped us out with childcare ever since Tom and I went back to work when Theo was a year old – even though we lived in London, 300 miles away from my hometown of Newcastle. My dad still worked then, but my mam readily agreed to come down on the train once a month and stay with us for a few days, looking after Theo while me and Tom worked. She wanted to, she assured us, as a way of guaranteeing she would regularly see her grandson. If they did ask for money, I would immediately change){kind=link}
NEWS… BUT NOT AS YOU KNOW IT
Every Monday morning, at 8.15am, I open the door to my parents, hand them an overflowing bag of toys and kiss my little girl, Immy, now three, goodbye.
As I wave her off into their care, I once again thank my lucky stars – and, of course, my parents – for their overwhelming support when it comes to both Immy and her big brother, Theo, five.
But would I ever pay them for the pleasure of looking after their grandchildren? Not in a million years – and they certainly wouldn’t ever accept any money for childcare they do for us.
Grandparents should only look after their grandchildren while their parents work because they want to. They should be appreciated, thanked – but not paid.