´óÏó´«Ã½

rounded corners top


Adebayor's started so well for Man City
5 live
Sat 05 September 15:00 Scotland v Macedonia
5 live sports extra
Fri 25 Sep, 10.55
Formula 1
1st Practice - Singapore
rounded corners bottom
« Previous | Main | Next »

Looking after the grandchildren full time..

Victoria Derbyshire | 14:10 UK time, Monday, 28 January 2008

I really hope you heard Alex (not his real name) from Bolton today. He and his partner have adopted his partner's grandchildren because her daughter is on drugs and can't look after the kids. What a kind, open, loving man he is... an inspiration to me and judging by some of your comments, an inspiration to you too.

If you missed it - have a listen back online here. It's about four and a half minutes.

How many people out there are looking after their granchildren full time? And why? I started thinking about what my own mum and stepdad would do if we couldn't look after our two boys. Between them they've brought up five kids - could they start all over again with two toddlers when they think they've already done the children-thing? It takes a strong person to take on the responsibility again later in life. I would have rung my mum and asked her but she's on a plane right now going on holiday - which is exactly what she should be doing at her age...

Comments

  1. At 11:30 AM on 29 Jan 2008, Eric Hoyle wrote:

    Just heared your caller talking about ADHT;
    never heared so much cods-wollop in all my life. In my day they got caned as often as necessary- it soon smartened them up.No wonder so many teachers are leaving the profession. The term is used nowadays as an excuse for poor parenting skills.
    Regards

  2. At 04:38 PM on 29 Jan 2008, John Martin wrote:

    I'm 52 years old, my children are grown up. My wife and myself have parental responsibility for our 4 year old grandson who we've looked after since he was 4 months old. We rarely see our daughter who's child he is - the last time was 2 years ago. Its often hard, especially when you have to explain to your contemporaries that you can't join them on evenings out because of child sitting issues! Yes, I sometimes wish the situaton different but at the end of the day by far and away the most important person is our grandson and his needs.

This post is closed to new comments.

´óÏó´«Ã½ iD

´óÏó´«Ã½ navigation

´óÏó´«Ã½ © 2014 The ´óÏó´«Ã½ is not responsible for the content of external sites. Read more.

This page is best viewed in an up-to-date web browser with style sheets (CSS) enabled. While you will be able to view the content of this page in your current browser, you will not be able to get the full visual experience. Please consider upgrading your browser software or enabling style sheets (CSS) if you are able to do so.