Our grandchildren are dearly loved, but we simply havent the strength to look after them.
They say that children are a blessing. The same applies to grandchildren, of course. I agree entirely, but only when there arent too many of them and one can afford to care for them properly. My husband and I have a daughter. As it happened, when she was nineteen, she came to us and announced she was expecting a child. She ended up having twins. Then she married not long after. I had hoped things would fall into place from there.
Its easy enough to see how our lives were turned upside down. A young mother with twin babies in tow, her husband still practically a boy himself, earning little more than pocket change. The main burden fell on us. My husband and I had to take up extra work just to support not only our daughter and her husband, but now the twins as well. We worked ourselves to the bone, from dawn until dusk.
For a time, the young couple lived under our roof. Each morning, I rose to prepare for work, utterly exhausted because Id spent the night tending to the twins, hoping to spare my daughter and give her a bit of rest. Naturally, it began to take a toll on my health.
Three years slipped by in this fashion. But eventually, they began to stand on their own two feet; the twins were growing up. Then, just as I thought we might catch our breath, my daughter told me she was expecting again. I was honest with her and said perhaps it would be best to end the pregnancyraising two children wasnt easy as it was. But no, she insisted on bringing the baby into the world. So she did, and the same old cycle began anew. More mouths to feed; more money needed; more work for us. Even though our son-in-law was earning a bit more by then, how could he possibly provide for five people?
In time, my husband suffered a stroke, and I myself began having trouble with my heart. I realised our bodies simply could not bear the strain much longer. I told my daughter it was time for them to sort things out on their own. Thats when she floored meshe had another child on the way, her fourth.
I was left speechless. What were they thinking? It felt as though she and her husband expected her father and me to support them forever. But we havent the strength anymore. I truly dont know what to do. And as much as I dread people judging us for refusing to help our only daughter, weve already done all we possibly could.
