I have no issues about my age. Hubby and I PROUDLY call ourselves "Geezer Parents", and we are both having a great time raising our ten year old. Kiddo looks at me wide eyed when she plays some remix of a 60s or 70s song that's now being played with some hip hop overlay and asks "How do you KNOW this song?". She now has been educated in what a "cover version" of another artists song is and thinks it's sort of cool that mom (kinda) knows the song. . .
I believe having a very involved mom and dad - equally co-parenting and equally supporting her financially is an excellent model for a woman to aspire to. Giving a child plenty of parenting time need not mean abdicating parenting responsibility to another, nor abdicating financial capability and independence to another. I'm fully financially capable and independent - and fully involved in parenting my child JOINTLY with her dad. Why should a mom get all the FUN parts, leaving a dad to work all the time and miss out on so much? WE each do both.
Frankly, we rarely use sitters, instead we "trade off" with other Geezer parents we know. They are same as us - own parents deceased, living out of town, or too frail to count on as regular babysitters. So, we call each other and ask "Can I leave kiddo with you on X day in January so Hubby and I can have a night out?" and in turn they call us when they need to go somewhere.
While my mom regularly saw and spent time with her granddaughter, I never expected her to give up her own leisure activities so I could get free or cheap sitting services. I let her schedule time her with our daughter on HER schedule. After all, she EARNED her retirement, and deserved her "own" time to meet friends, catch a cheap daytime performance of a show, or go with friends to an art exhibit. But my daycare, sitters when we wanted to go out, etc., were OUR responsibility for OUR child. If mom wanted to OFFER to have kiddo so we could go out on a birthday or some special event, fine and dandy, but it was never treated as her DUTY to watch her for us.
I believe having a very involved mom and dad - equally co-parenting and equally supporting her financially is an excellent model for a woman to aspire to. Giving a child plenty of parenting time need not mean abdicating parenting responsibility to another, nor abdicating financial capability and independence to another. I'm fully financially capable and independent - and fully involved in parenting my child JOINTLY with her dad. Why should a mom get all the FUN parts, leaving a dad to work all the time and miss out on so much? WE each do both.
Frankly, we rarely use sitters, instead we "trade off" with other Geezer parents we know. They are same as us - own parents deceased, living out of town, or too frail to count on as regular babysitters. So, we call each other and ask "Can I leave kiddo with you on X day in January so Hubby and I can have a night out?" and in turn they call us when they need to go somewhere.
While my mom regularly saw and spent time with her granddaughter, I never expected her to give up her own leisure activities so I could get free or cheap sitting services. I let her schedule time her with our daughter on HER schedule. After all, she EARNED her retirement, and deserved her "own" time to meet friends, catch a cheap daytime performance of a show, or go with friends to an art exhibit. But my daycare, sitters when we wanted to go out, etc., were OUR responsibility for OUR child. If mom wanted to OFFER to have kiddo so we could go out on a birthday or some special event, fine and dandy, but it was never treated as her DUTY to watch her for us.
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