where 35% of people over the age of 65 take care of their grandchildren several days a week
You are literally retired. What else are you doing with your time?
Worse, what fucking else in life matters to you even close to the level of spending time with your grandchildren, and helping your own children save money to provide a better life for them? If you even have an answer to that question, then you have failed as a person and your children should dump your ass in a retirement home.
Obviously exceptions to this will exist, but I doubt anyone complaining about the problem would fall into one of those justified positions to begin with.
It's interesting. I assumed my kids' grandmothers would be the most active of the grandparents. It ended up, far and away, being my father who does the most with my kids. I don't even ask him, he offers to take them to sports practices, watch them if we're tied up, works with them on homework, etc. This is a guy who I never would have described as being kid-centric.
My mother, on the other hand, makes a big deal out of being busy, "I'll have to see if I can get my errands done that day," etc.
Other grandparents live some distance away, but FIL is the one who always says "No problem" and MIL is the one who says "Well, we'll have to see if we can work it out, I've got quite a bit to get down around the house, and the cat blah blah blah." This from a woman who has been retired for 10 years and never worked more than part time her entire life.
It has struck me as unexpected and bizarre, but maybe it's part of a greater trend.
You are literally retired. What else are you doing with your time?
Worse, what fucking else in life matters to you even close to the level of spending time with your grandchildren, and helping your own children save money to provide a better life for them? If you even have an answer to that question, then you have failed as a person and your children should dump your ass in a retirement home.
Obviously exceptions to this will exist, but I doubt anyone complaining about the problem would fall into one of those justified positions to begin with.
I'm gonna copy and paste this comment into a letter for both sets of dead beat grandparents my kids have
It's interesting. I assumed my kids' grandmothers would be the most active of the grandparents. It ended up, far and away, being my father who does the most with my kids. I don't even ask him, he offers to take them to sports practices, watch them if we're tied up, works with them on homework, etc. This is a guy who I never would have described as being kid-centric.
My mother, on the other hand, makes a big deal out of being busy, "I'll have to see if I can get my errands done that day," etc.
Other grandparents live some distance away, but FIL is the one who always says "No problem" and MIL is the one who says "Well, we'll have to see if we can work it out, I've got quite a bit to get down around the house, and the cat blah blah blah." This from a woman who has been retired for 10 years and never worked more than part time her entire life.
It has struck me as unexpected and bizarre, but maybe it's part of a greater trend.
Men are problem solvers and generally have a psychological (if not biological) need to be useful.