Sitting Your Parents Down & Informing Them They’re Full Time Babysitters Now

WHAT A JOYOUS time it is to welcome your first child into the world. While you’re still be riding that high, it may be worth reminding yourself that parenting isn’t all plain sailing and that there’s no time like the present to establish solid rules and structure.

Not with your child but with your parents of course. They need to be aware of how the world works – specifically that they will be at your beckon call.

But how exactly do you inform them? Well, like this:

Tell them employment laws have no power here. They will work for free, long hours and be on call 24/7.

Don’t get too comfy. Yes, you’ll only ask them to babysit once in the first six months and on the odd occasion, you’ll back out because you’re too tired to go out. But after this phase it’s all babysitting slave systems are go.

So, grandad is steadfastly refusing to step up, that doesn’t mean granny is off the hook. She’ll be doing the work of two people but isn’t it wonderful having grandkids all the same.

Laugh but not too loudly or dismissively when your parents claim they have their own life, and they are people with full lives independent or your self-centred outlook on life.

On a particularly stressful day feel free to sympathise with them but explain that Irish childcare is so expensive and workplaces so inflexible that your grandparents either except being guilt tripped or live with the knowledge that you’re willing to play a game of chicken which involves leaving your toddler at home alone to fend for itself.