Grandma rant (lovingly)

[Boopuff]

I‘m a new-first time- grandma. I care for my darling GS several days a week. According to my DD it’s a good thing he’s still alive! (After all I raised 2 children to adulthood, taught pre-k forever…). My Dd came to pick up Gs“
DD”where is he?”
Me”upstairs napping”.
dd”omg mom! You don’t have a monitor! You don’t have eyes on him!!”

now, how the heck did anyone born pre-tech survive to adulthood I’ll never know… I guess we listened, checked, and believe it or not, babies cried! my co-grandma and I get a good chuckle from all of this. I just had to vent, laugh about it..New mommies relax…

 

[HombreDeLaMancha]

Congratulations on being a new grandmother!

 

[AgentMama]

If its important to her, hopefully she'll get you a monitor. We survived all kinds of things without safety measures when we were younger, but as new technology and information becomes available, we should use it.

Congratulations on your grandbaby!

 

[John VN]

New MOM has a point and could've provided a monitor but then DW and I bought our own even before we were asked to watch little ones.

Bicycle Helmets didn't exist when I was a kid and I survived and now "Florida law requires bicyclists under 16 years of age to wear helmets, and Guests must remain within the specific Resort area where the bike has been rented." >>> from * https://disneyworld.disney.go.com/recreation/bike-rentals/ *

DW and I had a bicycle store and our policy was to encourage helmet use. One of our young customers fell when riding and suffered a life altering brain injury that according to his Neurosurgeon was preventable with helmet use.

 

[Disneylover99]

It sounds like looking after your grandson is kind of a permanent/ong term thing. Your daughter should definitely buy you your own monitor.

Anyways, where did your daughter think the baby slept during the day? In your arms?

 

[jo-jo]

Is this a video monitor? Are you suppose to sit and watch all day like a security guard?

What will you need to do when baby starts walking/crawling? Better start ordering 3 or 4 thousand corner bumpers for every edge in your house.

But to be honest, we did place pillows on the end of the fireplace hearth when our kids were little.

I just remember a story about my DS. Who remembers Mr Yuck? It was a sticker you put on where cleaning stuff was (like under sink). Suppose to be "don't go there, see Mr. Yuck"? My DS ate the sticker.

I hope your DD buys and installs/puts together all the safety items, she feels you need.

But enjoy that baby, sing every song you can think off, take millions of pictures.

 

[Bianca and Bernard]

Congrats on joining the grandma club!

Things do change (I mean, with all 3 of mine, the required sleeping rules changed with each one...over that 15 year period, we had blanket, no blanket; belly sleep, side sleep, back sleep; swaddle, no swaddle; crib bumpers, no crib bumpers, etc), but it's always funny when our kids become parents for the first time. It's like they forget who brought them up!

 

[Pea-n-Me]

Thinking out loud…

{prays} Please, God, tell me I didn’t talk like that to Mom when she helped me out with my kids.
I probably did sometimes. {squirms a little}

Note to self: Save the baby monitor you bought for Mom a few years ago for future use with your {hopefully someday} grandchildren. And expect to get yelled at about something from time to time, but try not to take it too personally when you do. (Cause Mom sure yelled at you plenty when you cared for her at home years later, but you know she didn’t really mean it.)

Help me to remember there is a Circle of Life.

Amen.

 

[Kitty 34]

When my grandkids (4 and 3) spend the night my son still packs the monitors. I never use them, he knows that but he still brings them. He also packs their Night Noise machine.....I do use them because the bedroom they sleep in has no nightlight. He packs all their electronic devices so they can watch movies ,play games etc on. I don't use those because bottom line a cartoon on TV once in awhile or playing Candyland is enough for them at my house. (and honestly, I don't know how to run those things.)

My son is learning that the children survive very well at Grandma's just as he did when he was a child.

 

[fhtpdw20]

Welcome to the club. I am into the mobile/eating stages now at 10 months old. DGS amazes me. Wait until it is time to start introducing foods. In my case, that was a whole different ball game. I was thinking mashed potatoes and applesauce from the table with baby food jars supplementing. Nope, DDIL and DS feeds DGS the same things that they eat just cut up into tiny pieces. DGS will eat bell pepper slices, pasta, spanish rice, all meats including duck and salmon and all kinds of fruit/veggies. He has had peanut butter toast. He will use a spoon if you fill it up and lay it on table. Forget the baby food jars of yesteryear. He is happy and healthy and not a picky eater. This month he learned to crawl upstairs with grandma close ready to catch him. I usually have him one day a week for a couple of hours prior to my going to work. If I am going to watch him longer or in the evenings, I will go to their house to keep him in his routine. Their house is more baby-proofed than mine. They do use a monitor so they can see if he can self soothe back to sleep or if they need to go in and put him back down. It all goes by too fast but we are having a ball. Enjoy!

 

[foodiddiedoo]

As a mom of a 7 year old, i remember all of my friends being shocked I didn't want a video monitor when she was born. My friends who have video monitors spend all the time staring at their kid and the video images are creepy as heck (glowy eyes like a monster in the dark). I used a regular sound monitor and after my daughter was 2 we stopped completely. If she needed us she would shout and we'd come get her. I feel like I was less stressed than my friends with video monitors about my child, and my daughter is a way better sleeper than their kids (I didn't go in for every little thing like they did beause they saw it). So new grandma, just buy an audio monitor (can get some for around 25 dollars) and make your daughter happy!

 

[neverlandsky]

The Luvs First Kid, Second Kid commercials are so true. We didn’t have a baby monitor. The Luvs First Kid, Second Kid commercials was so us.

 

[wfjny]

I am about 8 weeks away from becoming a first time grand father. Father of three, uncle of many, former scouting leader, and current Senior Advisor for a co-ed Explorer post.

And, I work in IT, so somewhat tech savvy.

It is too bad i do not know anything. Apparently I need an app on my phone and a $300 sock on my yet unborn grandchild to monitor them. And when they get old enough, you can then buy the $360 bigger sock so they can be monitored up to five years.

Look, technology is great, but I distinctly remember telling my wife that when my son was born, we would NOT be purchasing a new baby monitor. We would simply move the monitor out of my 3 year old's bedroom.

My how times have changed.

 

[mom2rtk]

How times have changed. When our first was born, our big argument was after my MIL informed us they had taken the baby to visit friends. We hadn't left a car seat and they didn't own one.

 

[sam_gordon]

but as new technology and information becomes available, we should use it.

Really? Regardless of the need for it? So you advocate that $300 sock PP mentioned? I mean it's available, so you should use it?

I'd argue that in a small house (or when the parents are within a room or so of the baby) even a sound monitor isn't NEEDED. A video monitor (IMO of course) would RARELY be needed. I can't even think of a case where it would be, but I'll allow there's probably some rare condition where someone needs to look at their child 24/7.

Just because the tech is available shouldn't mean it's mandatory.

 

[mickman1962]

wait until the second kid comes, all those rules go out the window

 

[ronandannette]

Really? Regardless of the need for it? So you advocate that $300 sock PP mentioned? I mean it's available, so you should use it?

I'd argue that in a small house (or when the parents are within a room or so of the baby) even a sound monitor isn't NEEDED. A video monitor (IMO of course) would RARELY be needed. I can't even think of a case where it would be, but I'll allow there's probably some rare condition where someone needs to look at their child 24/7.

Just because the tech is available shouldn't mean it's mandatory.

And yes, just because they make it in your size doesn’t mean you should wear it. Sock monitor - wouldn’t a microchip have a better chance of not falling off?

Wow, there’s just so much pressure on people today to keep up. I’m actually relived in some ways to be old enough that I realize my tenuous grip on “progress” is slipping and have mostly given up.

Congratulations OP and we wish you many happy days with DGS during this precious and oh-so-short season.

 

[kdonnel]

Starting a few months after birth each of our kids went to Mema and Pepa's house every Friday night. My wife and I got a date night every week! We quickly decided that it was OK things were done different at Mema and Pepas as long as different was still safe. Having that couple time together between 5pm on Friday and lunch on Saturday was way too important to get bogged down in parenting details.

As the kids got older they understood there were certain things that were OK on Friday nights and Saturday mornings that would not be OK at home.

The "kids" continued to go to Mema and Pepa's house virtually every Friday until Mema and Pepa no longer had a house and instead lived with us. One "kid" was in college the last 2 years and made an effort to come home often for Fridays. The other "kid" was 16-17 those last two years and also went there happily. They have both ended up with a very close healthy relationship with their grandparents who helped shape who they are today.

 

[mom2rtk]

Sock monitor - wouldn’t a microchip have a better chance of not falling off?

Right? Just implant it at the hospital before leaving!

 

[ronandannette]

Right? Just implant it at the hospital before leaving!

I’m just picturing parents everywhere losing their minds because when the sock falls off the app alerts them that their child no longer has a pulse. Chaos ensues. (Ever try to keep socks on an active infant?)