I am raising an autistic grand daughter who is now 15, 16 in a few days. She has been with us most of her life. She has been a blessing in our home and I am sure we have made a big difference in her life. Her mother, our daughter, did a lot of stupid things and we really didn't have a choice in taking this child into our home. (The dad turned out to be a worthless no good who was always flopping in bed with women and now has several children all by different women) Finally, after all these years, her mother has married a good man (at least so far) and our Grand daughter now visits with her mother and 15 month old brother. DD has even stated how much problems she has caused us; I hope we are moving forward now. At this point in time, with the economic situation of the world, it is good when families can pull together to help each other and a nine week old baby just needs to be with her grandmother instead of being in a day care. She will be a blessing to you and her grandpa and after a few rough days the crying will get better then she can start working on melting grandpa's heart and wrapping him around her little pinkie. Even though we think of retirement as a time when we want to do "our thing", we really have reached an age when we have a lot to contribute to the world and our family, and the rewards will really be ours.
I was a child during WWII, we lived on a farm with my dad's family. To this day I miss my grandfather, Joe Joe I called him. There are sooooooooo many happy memories of him. It is better to help a couple of days a week, or more if necessary, with this little bundle than to have to take the whole family back into your home and this is what is happening to a lot of families right now. Your step daughter is really giving you a vote of confidence by asking you to take the baby a couple of days a week, and she and her husband are trying to be independent and provide for themselves and their family. As for having our granddaughter, we had a lot of rough years working thru the autism problems. She has made great strides now and life with her is much easier. She now shares my love of quilting, has her own sewing machine, and does a better job than me. My advice (if you could not figure that out) is to be glad that you and your husband have the opportunity to become a part of this child's life at such an early age. You all will have a special love for each other that will last thru all the years.