THAT huge question

In Ye Olde Days, when we were young, lol- was it not the reason why God parents were appointed- as they normally took the responsibility not only of religious up-bringing, but taking care of child in case?

BTW, here in Switzerland and France, it was the norm for baby girls to have 2 Godmothers and 1 Godfather, and for boys the other way round. Never was the case in the UK, was it?

Yes, it certainly was when I was young, granjura!

That was C of E. I think Catholics only had one of each.

Yes, catholics used to have just one of each, but there is much more flexibility now.

Considering my godparents, my godmother would certainly have been willing to take not just me, but my sisters on, but as a single woman holding down a senior nursing position and living in a hospital-based flat I am not sure she would have been able to. When I was about 2 years old my godfather disappeared from all our lives when his wife, my mother's best friend, died.

I asked my mother once what Godmothers were for and that was the answer she gave...'to look after you should anything happen to me'. Frightened me more than the thought of mum dying as both Godmothers were formidable characters, happily it never had to be put into practice.

Have/had the traditional 2 godmothers and 1 godfather and haven't seen or heard from any of them in 35 years! They appeared at our wedding and that was the first time any contact since small child.
I did send Christmas cards for a number of years but never had any response so gave up.
So wouldn't have been much use should something have happened to my parents.....

Just found this thread. I think Grandparents aren't always the best people to take over the care of little grandchildren.

Of course they would definitely step up if needed (GF) but if there are aunties and uncles or good friends, they would probably be more suitable because of the age factor.

When my first grandson was born nearly 7 years ago he had two sets of healthy grandparents, now two of them have gone .

It depends on the age of the grandparents really and also the grandchildren.

When my children were little we had an arrangement that if anything happened to me and DH -some good friends with small children would be their guardians. Thankfully we managed to raise our kids to adulthood without any tragedy happening.