Grandmother wonders if she is obligated to babysit
Dear Amy: I am a 67-year-old divorced, single woman.
I live about 10 minutes from my daughter and babysit for my 18-month-old granddaughter two days a week.
My daughter pays me a little bit, and I use that money to buy lunch food and snacks.
My granddaughter's brother is almost nine. My daughter wants me to keep both children during summer vacation, but I know that my grandson will be very bored.
All he wants to do is play games on my Kindle.
There is not much I can do that will interest two children with such a large age span.
My problem is that I love my grandchildren very much, but I really don't enjoy baby-sitting -- I just don't have the energy or creativity to keep the children occupied.
There are so many other volunteer positions and activities I'd rather be doing than staying in and baby-sitting.
My daughter complains that they don't have the money for child care, and yet they have money for their own interests, drive two late-model SUVs, have a large aboveground swimming pool, etc.
My question is this: Am I a bad person for not wanting to babysit? My back and head hurt just thinking about the summer and beyond.
...continued
