Am I obligated to enjoy babysitting my grandson?
By bostonterrio
@bostonterrio (70)
United States
October 19, 2008 3:09am CST
My 22 month old grandson and his mom live with us. He is a very demanding child. He is very bright but has not a limited vocabulary. His idea of communicating is screaming at us and pointing to things. Living with him means I see him all the time. My daughter works part time and expects me to willingly and without complaint be available as her free babysitter. I keep encouraging her to apply for a child care voyage for both selfish and non selfish reasons. Selfishly I do not enjoy spending time with this beautiful yet willful grandson. Unselfishly I know being among children his age would encourage him to speak more and help develop better social skills. My daughter thinks I am kidding when I express my reluctance to babysit. I raised five children and thought my days of chasing toddlers was done. Before they moved in I gladly welcomed the opportunity to babysit. It was fun then because after a while he went home. I can not get her to understand why the situation stresses me out. Am I an awful uncaring grandmother? I don't want to be. I really love my grandson but he is a handful and then some.
1 response
@rowantree (1186)
• United States
19 Oct 08
Your daughter has placed you in a very stressful situation. Having your daughter and your grandson living with you is stressful enough, but her expecting you to babysit as well is placing even more of a strain on you. I can understand that your daughter feels the safest place for her son would be with you and it also saves her money. If she can afford it though, it would be very good for your grandson to get out with kids his own age a few days a week. At almost 2 years old, screaming and pointing at things to communicate is not good - what does his pediatrician have to say about that?
@bostonterrio (70)
• United States
21 Oct 08
The pediatrician isn't concerned about his speech development yet. He stressed that all children develop at different rates at while Gabe's vocabulary is limited he does speak. Boys tend to be somewhat slower at speech then girls also. I have another grandson who is almost five and he could speak clearly and in sentences by the time he was two. Personally I think he screeches to get attention from his mother. Even when she is home with him she doesn't provide him with a great deal of positive attention.
@rowantree (1186)
• United States
21 Oct 08
That's very sad that your daughter doesn't give her son enough attention. Thank goodness you are there for him! Hopefully you can both come to an agreement on the babysitting, you definitely need a break.
