Hi, I’m a young grandparent aged 39 and my beautiful grandson is 2. I have 2 of my own children still living at home age 10 and 13. I have 2 adult children, one of whom is my grandsons mum. I work full time in a demanding role which includes a lot of travelling. I suffer from chronic health problems and I am unable to reduce my hours at work due to financial difficulty. When I finish work I prepare meals and clean the house, walk the dog and struggle to keep my head above water due to my fatigue. My daughter has mental health problems and can be very abusive. She has social services involved and I was brought into the plan to help her due to her mental health and agreed to have my grandson after work on a Friday until Saturday, for around 24 hours. I love spending time with him but am physically and mentally exhausted and only have a Sunday to catch up with my housework. I have no time for myself. My own children are old enough to leave for a couple of hours but now my spare time is spent looking after my grandson. My daughter can be very mentally abusive and regularly puts me in a bad place saying I do nothing to help her when I’m trying my best. My daughter does struggle with her toddler, she does not work but needs a break. I’m terrified that if I don’t have my grandson every week she will cut me off and I won’t see him at all. Sometimes I wonder if I’m being lazy but my body is struggling at the moment and I’m drained. Feeling overwhelmed. While raising my own 4 I have struggled to have a social life and don’t have a single friend as I’ve never had a mother or anyone to help. My mother in law would only have one of them at a time and I’m burnt out from 21 years of parenting. I do them so much I’m just struggling. How can I tell my daughter without making her angry?
