Tips for the Grandparent Babysitter

Eight years ago I opened Grandpa's School when my first grandchild was born. Grandpa's School is where my grandchildren go while their parents are at work. I am the grandpa and the school is my home.

As an early retiree, with energy and time I offered to babysit for my grandchildren. This has been and continues to be a very fulfilling and worthwhile endeavor for me and my grandchildren. My children also benefit from not having to pay for regular daycare, or a babysitter outside of the home.

In today's economy the babysitting grandparent is becoming more prevalent. Young parents are not earning the higher wages they were just a few years ago. They can no longer afford expensive day care centers or private in home babysitter/nanny services. A grandparent is more sensitive to the parent's financial situation and can be flexible to these needs.

Following are some tips for grandparents who are going to be babysitters or have been babysitting for years like I have been.

The legal stuff

I remember the days of being on a first name basis with my doctor and being able to call him up and say we are coming in. Those days are over. With the Federal HIPAA privacy laws you must have legal documentation in order to get medical care for a minor who is not your child.

I have a file for each of my grandchildren and in that file is copy of their birth certificate, and a copy of a "Power of Attorney" signed by their parents giving me the power to seek medical attention. I also have a copy of their current medical insurance information. The child's doctor's information and the parent's address, phone and work numbers. This is all printed out so I can simply hand it to the person at a registration desk and I can stay with the child. The Power of Attorney can be a simple worded document or you can download one at: http://forms.vanosteen.com/pdf/power-of-attorney-medical-services.pdf

A child friendly house

It had been a long time since a baby crawled around our house. Before my first grandchild started crawling I began to child proof, or so I thought, our house. I soon nicknamed him "Buttonboy" because if it had a button or resembled a button he was into and pushing it. Nothing from floor to three feet high was safe. Then he started walking and nothing was safe. My house was not child proof. Today it is.

There is an excellent article on child proofing your house by Kevin Flynn which can be found here.

Toys and such

Your grandchildren's favorite plaything will be you. Your house does not have to have the latest electronic gizmos, there is no need to replicate the toys your grandchild has at home. Quite a few of the toys I use are the same toys my children played with. The grandchildren love to play with the dinosaurs that daddy played with or the blocks mommy had. The rest of the stuff comes from Goodwill and are all simple toys. My three-year-old girls love to play dress up in Grandma's cast off clothes. My grandson loves to build with scrap lumber in my workroom.

Plan your days

This pertains more to having toddlers than babies but have a plan for the day. Your grandchildren are going to expect to do something with grandma or grandpa. This will be true even if you have them every day. The day will be easier on you and the kids if you have a plan.

I plan craft activities like painting, finger painting and other art projects. My three year olds love to bake and decorate cookies. There is reading time when I sit and read them books which they pick out. We play games like hide and seek and I allow them to make up games which we will then play. Many days we go out to a free activity in the city. These can be found at libraries or the free days at museums and zoos. Remember that the attention span of a toddler is short so activities need to be short as well. I will repeat the same activity during the day instead of making it too long.

Your Time

The joke in our family is that I still use a 2002 date book calendar since I make so few entries I hate to throw away a perfectly unused calendar. That is partly true, I don't have a lot of activities but sometimes I do have things to do, and need time during the week. Make sure your children have a back up for you as the babysitter. You cannot be expected to stop everything you are doing for this volunteer job. Don't forget about your own social life. A grumpy grandparent is not fun to be around.

My last tip is make certain you really want to babysit before you say yes. Consider that you are committing to a specific period of time every week. You are not as young as you were when you chased your children around. Babysitting is tiring and there are no break times during the day. Ask yourself if you are healthy enough to babysit? Finally consider family dynamics and potential problems.

If you have a parent/child who is demanding to a specific type of diet, discipline, or activity, which you do not approve of, can you enforce it? Do you already think your children take advantage of you? Do you have a financial problem which will worsen if you babysit? Be fair to yourself, your grandchildren and children. Be honest before you accept the responsibility of babysitting. This will be doing your children a much bigger service than if the babysitting arrangement does not work out.

I am finishing writing this as one of my little girls is finishing her nap. She already told me she wants to play marbles after she wakes up so I best get them out and be ready. These are my marbles which I played with as a little boy and my grandchildren love to play with them now. I treasure each moment that I spend with my grandchildren and hope that they too will treasure these times.