Getting older has to have some perks and one of them, is getting your freedom back.  Not that I begrudge my children the time I’ve given them, but it’s nice to have more “me” time after all those years of coming at the bottom of the list.

So how is it, that those of us with grandchildren are suddenly being recruited by our kids as full time childcare services, when we should be having a lazy lie in and a round of golf on the green? 😉

I always thought the perk of being a grandparent was that you got to spoil the cuties rotten and then hand them back to their parents to sort out when they started crying for more 😉 a little payback on years gone by 😉  And although I’m not yet a granddaddy, these are the perks I’m looking forward to.

But now it seems, the tables have turned, and whereas we thought we were getting the chance to live our grey years re-discovering carefree life and independence, our now grown up children appear to have other ideas!
Insurance provider Rias confirm our children are turning to us to provide free childcare services for them, rather than having to pay for their children to be in full time nursery – a decision that saves them over £5billion a year!

As we “look forward” to the 2nd Christmas of the recession, grandparents who took part in this research confirmed they now take care of their grandchildren 14% of the time more, than they did last year.  Although this can save families up to £860 per year – approx a 10% saving on full time nursery costs each month, I’m guessing this isn’t the “best plan” for everyone 😉

We may be redundant from jobs, but not from our duties to our children and grandchildren!  I guess, over time, we’ve actually gone full circle.  I remember when everyone looked after the children at home whilst dad went to work; then came a time when both mum and dad went back to work and children were sent to nursery – full time, and now as we’ve hit the peak of the recession (or so we hope), and our children struggle to finance their families, they’re calling in the troops to provide free childcare – us.  I can imagine many a grandparent hoping the New Year brings financial recovery in 2010 for another reason now – to get their much loved grand children back in childcare – the type which is paid for!

Joking apart, if this rings true, share your thoughts here and let us know how it has benefited your children and grandchildren and whether you see a change in this for the future?