None of the grandmas can collect our little one from the nursery, so were left paying a fortune for childcare. Im absolutely fuming Ive just had another row with my mum, and I cant even be bothered to ring my husbands mother.
Lucky us, weve got two grandmas mine and Jamess though lucky is a stretch. They arent really grandmas; they both live a stones throw from the nursery, about a hundred metres away, and they stubbornly refuse to pick him up. I could do it myself, but I finish work at six, so I cant get him home on time. James cant always step in either; he does shift work at a factory. That means weve had to hire a babysitter, and that extra cost is really squeezing the family budget, even though we have grandmas on paper!
My mum, Helen, works until four oclock and passes the nursery every day on her way home. Right now, her own life is the priority shes just finalised a divorce from my stepdad and wants to enjoy her freedom, so she says she needs to unwind after work and do face masks to look younger. On weekends shes always out at the cinema, a gallery, or meeting friends. She only ever looks after her grandson on the occasional weekend, arguing that his constant running around ruins her meditation routine. She loves to give me parenting tips, but she flatout refuses to get her hands dirty.
Jamess mother, Margaret, is a whole different story. She never worked outside the house; shes a fulltime housewife with four kids, all spaced less than three years apart. James is her eldest. Youd think shed be the perfect fallback, but she says shes got enough to do with her own brood, endless housework, cooking, cleaning, washing, feeding the family and then tidying up after everyone. Her younger sons are 18 and 21, fully on their own, so she cant spare any time or energy for a grandchild.
One time Margaret actually took my son away from the nursery and was absolutely livid about it. She claimed she had no time to do anything else, and when James got home exhausted and hungry she told me I should have taken responsibility for the baby myself. In the end she warned us not to count on her help any longer.
The cost of looking after our boy is really hitting the family finances hard. Im fed up with the hypocrisy every Christmas the grandmas meet the grandson, gush about how much they love him, and argue over who bought which present. We dont need the gifts; we need real help.
So today I had to call Helen and practically beg her to pick the kid up from the nursery because we cant afford another babysitter. We cant rely on our parents for anything, financially or practically. Jamess mum wont chip in either; she says the men eat out and the whole grocery bill goes straight to food.
I honestly dont see how were going to get out of this mess. Everything we earn goes on food, clothes and household bills, and we still have to pay the nanny. How on earth are we supposed to get the grandmas to actually lend a hand?
