Friday, October 28, 2016

Why I Am A SAHGM

Y'all remember my new acronym, right? SAHGM = Stay At Home GrandMa? I've been reading about this 'trend' lately and there are so many reasons that grandparents are stepping in and helping provide daily care for their grandchildren like:
  • strengthening family bonds
  • reducing the financial burden of childcare
  • to be close to their grandchildren
  • to enable their children to pursue their own careers
  • to feel needed
USA Today says studies have been conducted that show benefits to the grandparents themselves such as improved cognitive abilities and getting more exercise for those grandparents providing 200-500 hours of care/year.

Well, great! When does that more exercise kick in? And the improvement in cognitive abilities? Oh, wait. The exercise takes the form of getting up off the floor after getting down there 50 times every day. And walking the baby around the house and taking walks in the neighborhood and getting up and down from a rocking chair and letting the dog in and out a gazillion times to chase squirrels. The improvement in cognitive ability comes in from remembering whether or not you closed the refrigerator door when you got the bottles out. Or where you left your phone. Or whether or not your phone got wrapped up in that last dirty diaper. BTW, where did you put that last dirty diaper?

Yes, yes. There's humor to be found in a grandparent taking care of grandchildren. And please, let's keep it at grandCHILD because if you throw another one into the mix, I'm OUT.(JK- bring them on!) 

So, what is the real reason I chose to stop teaching and become a SAHGM? When I was in grad school I worked in a daycare center until my graduate assistantship started. A friend and I had the class with the two-year-olds and we had a good thing going in there. Those were some smart little kiddos. But I saw, first-hand, what goes on in those places and that's the reason I stayed home and raised the lovelies. Seriously, I don't care how good we think a daycare is, unless you've work in one, you have no idea what really goes on in there. If there is one thing a parent should never have to worry about it's the level of care their children are receiving. 

Which comes to my point, finally. I decided to quit teaching to take care of Baby M so that my daughter would not have to worry about the care her daughter was getting. Birdie (Lovely3 and Baby M's mommy) LOVES her job. Her career. She LOVES it! She is an athletic trainer who works clinic in the mornings with orthopedic surgeons and hits the football field with a high school in the afternoons. When football season is over, she's still involved with athletes as the high school has just about every sport known to man. She was our athlete growing up so it was no surprise that she chose something like athletic training as a career. I wanted her to be able to continue loving and working that career without having to worry about Baby M's care.

Yes, Birdie still misses Baby M every day but she never has to worry about the level of care her daughter is getting.

You know, until Grandma's cognitive abilities blow out completely due to the exhaustion from all that exercise.

Bottom line- We do what we can do for family. And seriously, who would want to miss out on this:



Have y'all been caretakers for your grand loves?

10 comments:

  1. You, Baby M and Birdie are all so blessed that this is possible!!

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  2. I just so loved the video ... and yes, we do what we can do to help our families.

    Enjoy your weekend

    All the best Jan

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    1. Thank you! We acted so crazy when we realized she was going to keep laughing. LOL You enjoy your weekend too! :)

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  3. I couldn't agree with you more! I, too, babysat daily for 3 years for my now-six year old granddaughter so mom could continue working as a nurse. Admittedly, it was tiring - and sometimes even boring (newborn stages) - but my motivation was exactly the same as yours. I wanted my grandchild SAFE. Too many nanny-cam incidents to make me comfortable with anybody! And then there's the money. Paying someone would have negated my daughter's effort in the workplace. And finally, today, when mommy is a SAHM, that little girl and I have a bond that is entirely different from that of the others - even though we are all close.
    Love your blog! So much wisdom here!

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    1. The tired part is the part I'm still working on. But it's worth it to assure her safety. It really is a blessing to be able to do this, isn't it? I'm so glad you got to do it for your daughter/granddaughter too. I can tell that Baby M and I are developing that bond you mentioned. I love that! Thank you for your kind words! :)

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  4. Hear Hear, Pam. Couldn't agree with you more. I looked after Eleanor from the age of 7 months, when her mummy returned to work, and my youngest has been fortunate to stay at home with Eli and Ruby. I've seen little ones down at the village with childminders. It's not what I would want for my little ones. I do realize, of course, that some mums aren't fortunate enough to have grandparents living close by. Good post 😊

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    1. I didn't know that, Diane! That's wonderful! It's such a wonderful thing to do. I know there are some here who don't have grandparents close by. I'm grateful that we are close. :) Thank you!

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  5. You know, I agree with you on the benefits of being a grandmother. I definitely have to tell my kids that I'm getting old too fast because I don't have a grandchild to take care of or chase after!

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Thank you so much for taking the time to comment! It makes me feel connected to everyone even though we may live far apart! Have a wonderful day!

 
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