South Wales Echo

TIMEKEEPIN­G

GRANDPAREN­TS LOOKING AFTER THE KIDS THIS SUMMER? SUGGESTS SEVEN THINGS TO CONSIDER TO STOP FAMILY ROWS

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MOST parents don’t like the idea of sending their babies or young children to childcare – and that’s before even considerin­g the often-crippling costs. But that’s where grandparen­ts come in. Not only do they usually provide their services free of charge – when asked whether or not grandparen­ts should be paid for regular childcare, two thirds of grandparen­ts surveyed by Gransnet said no – they love their grandchild­ren, so where better to leave your kids than with someone who loves them?

The Gransnet (gransnet.com) survey found 51% of grandparen­ts regularly look after their grandchild­ren all year round, and a further 10% say they help out during school holidays, most often looking after two grandchild­ren for one or two days a week (56% of grandcarer­s), although a minority (7%) provide childcare five days a week.

But while a fifth of parents said help with childcare from grandparen­ts was the only way they could afford to go back to work, and more than a third (36%) said the best thing about the arrangemen­t is the money they save, it isn’t always plain sailing when grandparen­ts care for their grandkids.

“Grandparen­ts provide so much free childcare, often making themselves available at the drop of a hat if the child is unwell and a parent has an appointmen­t,” says Gransnet editor Lara Crisp “They sacrifice their own holiday time, and often give up work earlier than they would have otherwise, sometimes even putting themselves in a financiall­y insecure position.”

Some grandcarer­s (12%) say they’re exhausted by their caring role, or that childcare has had an adverse effect on their physical health.

As if that wasn’t bad enough, there’s also the potential rows the arrangemen­t can cause, because, while having grandcarer­s might be handy and free, it doesn’t necessaril­y mean they’ll look after the children the way parents want, or that they’ll agree with the parenting rules.

Even a day messing about on the river could be exhausting for a grandcarer

Here are seven things to think about to avoid tensions in a grandcarer­s’ arrangemen­t:

1

PARENTS’ timekeepin­g is one of the biggest gripes for grandcarer­s, with 24% saying it causes tension.

“You’d think grateful adult children would make sure their parents were not further put out, yet it seems that when it comes to common considerat­ion – like sticking to pick-up times – parents’ parents mess them around and are late for collecting their offspring on a regular basis.

“Grandparen­ts may also have their own busy social lives and at times this casual lack of considerat­ion suggests parents think their own time is more valuable.”

2

SCREEN TIME

THE second biggest gripe for timekeepin­g can be grandparen­ts is the a bit laissez-faire,” amount of screen says Lara. time children are

“Looking after allowed. small children can So parents and be exhausting at grandparen­ts need to the best of times, be clear on what’s and no matter how allowed – bearing in

A bit of screentime isn’t much grandparen­ts mind there’s a good

the end of the world may love this chance the kids will quality time with their treasured think they can have more grandchild­ren, they also value – screentime with grandma and and need – their own downtime grandad because they might be a and feel understand­ably irked if ‘soft touch’.

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