Grandparents who are the primary caregivers to the grandchildren

Yeah my niece had a child a week before her 14th birthday and my sister is taking care of the child. The child is now 3 but she knows who her mommy is. My niece is now married and will be married for a year this October and expecting her 2nd child. I am just hoping that things go okay and that she will be able to care for it and raise it.

No offense to your sibling, but I think this is wrong. The grandparents have done their job, raised their children, now it is their turn to reap the benefits of being a grandparent, which includes spoiling a child (because as parents we don't like to spoil the children) and recieving all the positive aspects of children, while still being able to give them back to the parents. Your mother is being robbed of that gift. Parenting is such a different role, because you are trying to teach the children right from wrong, so you're not spoiling or buying gifts often. That's a grandparents job. Parents get frustrated in their role, because they're with the child 24/7, where as a grandparent has them for a percentage of the time, and gets to send them home. Your sibling chose to have this child, so the child is your sibling's responsiblity, not your mother's. That's how I feel about it.

I feel that too many children are having children and not taking responsibility for their actions. Their parents are left to assume the care of the child in a time when they should be enjoying their later years. They have already raised their own children and now have to assume emotional and financial care of the baby. More of these grandparents should be putting their foot down and demanding that these children pay the price for the adult acts they engage in.

I am raising my granddaughter who is four years old. Her Mother is my daughter and she is bipolar. My daughter one day just handed her over and doesn't seem to care one way or the other. She never wants to take her even for a short time to give us a break. My granddaughter is hearing impaired, speech delayed and I believe there are a entire mess of problems coming with her that are not her fault. She was not breathing when she was born and I think their may be some brain damage but she is to young to tell how severe yet. She had an ear operation with tubes and opening the canal more so she can hear now but she is way behind. Her speech therapist says that she functions more like an 18 month to two year old child instead of a four year old. It is hard on her to because she is quite tall at over 40" tall and 40lbs. Everyone thinks she is older than she is. She is starved for attention. My children are 28 and 25 now so this is stating over for us. I just thank God that my granddaughter is with us now and not in a home or being neglected. She is beautiful, loving and a new lease on life for us.

I have a friend who has been raising her 10 year old grandson since he was about a year old. Her daughter left him with her for awhile and she has never taken him back. Her daughter went on to have another child and even get married to a man who adopted her second child. She still has never taken him back to live with her and at this point he does not want to go live with her at all.

There are entirely different situations when a Grandparent wants to be a caregiver for a grandchild and when this responsibility is dumped on them. I might be ecstatic to have time with my future grandchildren, but wouldn't want to enable my children to be poor parents.