Not to do childcare

Teetime I agree we are all different and not everyone feels able or wants to look after grandchildren for long periods. Yes a five month old baby sleeps a lot of the time but is a big responsibility and restricts other activities. I told both my daughters if they became single parents I would never give up work to look after the baby. Illness of course is another matter and then of course I would help and did so.
I agree with Day6 we can do our bit just not as a regular commitment.
I admire those grandparents who spend most of their time looking after grandchildren its just not for me.

I wouldn't dream of doing it..
Babies aren't my scene at all.

Depends on how fit you are, and whether you like babies or children in general.

I'm personally quite happy to look after children of any age, dogs, cats, kittens, puppies etc. etc. but tastes differ.

If a person finds babies difficult or boring then they should politely decline to look after them. The child will probably be far happier with someone who likes that particular age group.

They don't want to pay though!
And this is not a relative.

I think it’s appalling to ask a recently retired friend to take on such a commitment. I was quite gob smacked to read about it.

After having five children of my own, and two grandchildren pretty much living with us for 10 years because of my daughters health issues, I felt I’d had enough of regular child minding so when I retired I made it clear that I wouldn’t do any regular childminding or school runs but I would help out in school holidays, inset days or emergencies and that’s the way it’s been. I was fortunate that no one sulked or took umbrage about my refusal but seemed to understand. However, I did still get asked by (not a close) relative if I’d look after her new baby 4 days a week as the child care costs were so expensive but I said no and explained that we had retirement plans and that we felt we’d earned the right to be able to fulfil them.

About the same time I also began to balk at the kind of babysitting which involved overnight stays at our house by babies or very young children so that the parents could have a lie in the following morning. I was very happy to babysit at the parent’s house though but it was surprising how the babysitting requests dropped off after that.

I have 13 grandchildren and great grandchildren with another one expected soon and we see lots of them but regular, long term commitments? No thank you. Too old and too little energy.

My experience with friends is that the best set ups for looking after grandchildren is when GPS do it part time with some flexibility. People I know have done 3 days leaving a 4 day long week to go away have friends or travel. They also take holidays and expect the parents to make other arrangements. They seem ok about it and seem very much appreciated. On the other hand couples I know who do full time have struggled and they feel less appreciated with the parents just thinking they are available and not really realising what the GPS have given up. It's very hard to stop something once it's started. Much easier to offer less at first. As one friend said ...she's so glad she was cautious and only offered 2 days BV as would have felt it was difficult to reduce time later if she found it harder than expected.

I think this is laughable to be honest.

I can’t quite believe the cheek.

My reply would be fuck off and you must think I was born yesterday. Oh snd you are no longer my friend you cheeky
Bitch.

Subtle then?

Direct! I don’t like cheeky buggers.

I agree it’s a cheek even though it’s her god-daughter.

Even if it was her granddaughter it’s still cheeky.

Like many of us we help with grandchild care but it’s not a given. It’s quite legitimate for people to say I have done my childcare days and don’t want to do that again