Nice one Geraldine

Very good, and isn't she gorgeous!

(I want that haircut)

Geraldine you rock that was brilliant and so very true, well done to you

Good article, puts our situation in a nutshell. I would love to have the energy to care for my grandchildren, but ad hoc care and regular school pick-ups are more than enough for me now.

So true.

Exactly, when. Well said, Geraldine.

Does the government really expect grandmothers to be taking on full time childcare? I thought early years education meant children are starting school at an earlier and earlier age.

And I wonder what age Geraldine thinks women should continue to work to. Her previous article, which was picked up on on here, seemed to be all in favour of women working until their late sixties, even early seventies.

What about women who (shock horror) don't want to work past sixty OR look after the grandkids full time.

And I would like some proof of the fact that continuing to work is "beneficial to women". Doesn't that depend on the individual? (yes, we are still individuals)

Yes, J - I agree.
I think there is a slippery slope going on here with regard to the Government's attitude to child care. It's somewhat similar to caring for the elderly. If there are those that are 'able' to step in to support the huge holes in adequate provision for the young and elderly, then that's terribly convenient isn't it.

Until quite 'recently' (historically speaking) the 'extended family' was often the norm with grandparents sharing child rearing and being cared for within the family unit when their turn came to need support. It is still the norm in many poorer communities across the world.
Makes you wonder what happens to the family as we get more 'civilised'.

The family gets more spread about the country (or even globe) is what happens with higher education and moving to where the work is. Members of families don't stay in the same place so the 'extended' family becomes 'expanded' as well. This has happened in the last three generations of my extended family.

geraldine good article, the government want their cake and eat it as usual.

Thank you Geraldine. And don't forget the Grans who look after Greatgrans as well as Grandchildren!

My family has expanded up and down the country - and the globe - for a good three generations. I live too far from my GC to share child care as did my parents and in-laws. My DSs' in-laws are in the same position. My DSs and their partners managed their situation successfully because they had to. Their children came to no harm from nursery care and are now enjoying school. Their parents' careers have not suffered either. Sorry to have to say this, but are some GPs making it too easy for their children by shouldering the burden of child care sometimes to the detriment of their own health and well-being?

Good morning Geraldine Excellent article.

I am in exactly the situation you talk about. On one hand I have to work to pay my own bills and mortgage. My husband and I have a small business and virtually our whole pension pot has been reinvested into our business in order to secure jobs and assist with cashflow, meaning that we will quite literally work until we drop! On the other hand my son and DIL have 3 young children (7,5,3). Neither of them earn what would be considered a decent wage and both work in small private companies which means they do not get many of the benefits enjoyed by the public sector either(extra holidays, flexi time etc). We manage by juggling our days off which means that paid for childcare is kept to an absolute minimum. The children stay with me overnight for 2 nights, 2 days one week and 1 night 2 days the next to fit in with shift patterns and I wonder what they would do if we were not able to do this? They would probably have no choice but to give up work and go onto benefits (like many of their counterparts already do) as they would use up one entire wage just paying childcare costs.

I must say that I adore looking after my grandchildren and I look at it as a privilege and not a chore at all.

I was bang in the middle of my own working life when I became a grandmother at 42, and so was my daughter when she became a gm at the same age. As we were both earning much more than our daughters (or in her case, her DIL) it would not have made any sense for us to stop work, so we just helped out financially.
Child minding is great if you enjoy it, but I would hate to think that grandparents were expected to start again with very young children or babies, if they didn't really want to do it. I agree that the government just sees it as a cheap option.

It's like the stupid vicar on thought for the day this morning. Said 70 is the new 35. NO IT'S FUCKING NOT!!!!!

Wait till you bloody there.

Not the way I feel today at 65!

Glad I didn't hear that on the radio - I might have thrown it through the window.

Come to think of it, I was 51 when my first GD arrived. Luckily her mum was serially unemployed, so I wasn't called upon for child care, though I did always buy the nappies and, later on, her shoes. I was still working, doing an OU course and being active in local politics, but I saw a lot of her at weekends and we have always been close.

jings Says it like it is...

I just hope this government, or its so called advisers, have got it right in encouraging all mothers into work as soon as their child is two. Seems a very one size fits all policy. How can it be right for such young children to be dragged from their beds in the early hours to go to some characterless hall and be cared for by workers who may or may not have the time and inclination to care for them properly?!

Growth of the economy does not have to be the be all and end all. Perhaps we should all of us manage with less. Live within our means, and be prepared to take on the care of our own children. And of our old people. Care in old people's has not improved despite inspections. Many old people would be better off in their own homes. Even with the risk of falls.

And no one is suggesting that grandparents should take on the childcare. Don't know where that myth came from.

More help for mothers to stay at home is what is needed. Until the child is at least twelve.

Jings I completely agree with you.
We were broke when we had our children, but we managed.