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-   -   Do you babysit your grandchildren? (https://www.quiltingboard.com/general-chit-chat-non-quilting-talk-f7/do-you-babysit-your-grandchildren-t88010.html)

Midwestmary 01-07-2011 05:37 AM

Nice to see all the grandmothers on here ;) Enjoyed reading about your grandchildren - they truly are a blessing. My four live six houses from us and are very much a part of our daily lives. My oldest GD age 10 is showing very promising signs of becoming a quilter...loves her Hello Kitty sewing machine we bought her for Christmas - that girl loves to look through my fabric .... very promising indeed!

reginalovesfabric 01-07-2011 05:55 AM

I just spent over $25,000 to remodel my home and add an addition in order for my daughter and g baby to come back and live with me. I CAN"S WAIT. The g baby is coming for a week visit the end of the month.

HisPatchwork 01-07-2011 05:58 AM

I have loved watching my DGDs while momma worked. I worked as a single mother for several years. It was hard to find good babysitters...and some were not as good as I thought. I missed them when they started going to school, now I get them when school is out. I also watched another little girl from the time she was 6-8wks old until she went to school. She was the first to call us Nana and Papa. She was about 13 before she found out we were not really related. She asked us to sit with the grandparents when she married last summer. I have been able to cultivate an interest in quilting with the three DGDs that I have watched. They are 14, 10, and 2 1/2. The 2 1/2 yo spent the night and just woke up. She came straight in to me and is cuddling in my arms now as i finish typing this with one hand! I am blessed!!

drdolly 01-07-2011 06:02 AM

I have three gds and get to keep just one of them on Fridays. She is also the one I got to help deliver. They are the most precious things. I was a full time worker and never got to stay home with our kids and missed so much. NOw my dh and I have a business of our own and I can spend as much time with the gds as I won't. They funny part is that my dh also spends so much time with them that sometimes we fight over them. ENJOY the time for they are little only once.

mrs theo 01-07-2011 06:40 AM

I love my grandkids, but I work full time. I watch them on the occasional weekend or evening and I've always felt badly that they had to use daycare. When I was raising my kids, I had to work full time, but had my mom or mil to watch my kids...I never had to use daycare.

mrs theo 01-07-2011 06:40 AM

Posted twice, I don't know how that happened :oops:

OmaForFour 01-07-2011 07:02 AM

Hang in there. It will get better as she gets older. Don't give up this precious time with her! I have 4 grandchildren that I was the "daycare" for. All four of them are bonded to me almost as tight as my skin. It was worth every single hard moment through diaper rashes, viruses etc etc. At one time I had all four under the age of 5. WONDERFUL MEMORIES! First tooth, first step, etc etc. DON'T MISS OUT ON IT! You will regret it later and you can always go back to quilting more than you are getting done now as she becomes a better sleeper etc.


Originally Posted by Gabrielle's Mimi
I have been retired from teaching for 7 years and have been loving my freedom. I quilt til 2 in the morning, read whenever, make trips to my LQS, teach quilting classes, do some volunteer work, etc. You get the picture. Well, a darling little girl came into my life...our first grandchild, and my heart just melted. I am now taking care of her full-time for the next 4 mos. as her mom just went back to work after 3 mos. We've decided on 4 mos. with an option to renew if everyone feels that it is working out. I offered to do this, and feel privileged to be able to, but I can see that I am not getting any quilting done (or much of anything else for that matter!). I want to be able to quilt more but she is not a good sleeper. How many of you watch your grandchildren? How do you manage your time? Are you glad that you are doing it or is it too much for you? I adore this baby and am so glad she is with me and not a babysitter but I guess (in typical revisionist history style) I forgot how much work infants are and that they don't sleep all the time!!!! Anyway, I wouldn't trade this time with her for anything else in the world.


SewMamaw 01-07-2011 07:06 AM

We kept our GD every weekend for 3 years and then her sister came along and we kept both of them from Thursday night through Sunday. Their mother worked in hospital (12 hour shifts) on the weekends. Now the girls are 13 and 10 and don't need us much but I'm so glad to had them then. Our other grandchildren (11 of them) live out of state and we've not been able to bond with them like we did the GD. Now that we're about to retire and travel, have had a hard time giving up the GD. Enjoy them while you can, they grow up way too fast.

Connie 01-07-2011 07:19 AM

I missed out on taking care of the first two grandchildren I was working full time. The third lives in South Carolina but when she was 6 months old she stayed with me for a month. She is 7 now and she tells me about things we did, I find it hard to believe but she does remember. The fouth was born (15 months ago) after I was laid off from work and I have made up for lost time with him. He is definately a grandma's boy, and I take full responsibility for his spoiling. He stays with me as much as possible, and NOTHING get done when he is here. I wouldn't have it any other way.

watterstide 01-07-2011 07:19 AM

i get nothing done when babysitting the grandsons. (5 months and 3 years old) i have limited myself and them, to 2 days a week. my DD is happy and so am i, with the arrangement.

i so look forward to thursdays and friday with them, i am able to plan things to do with them..!


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