Nanny vs. Granny

I just wrote a 3 page email to my mom. No, it wasn’t a tirade about some angsty part of our mother-daughter dynamic or a Hallmark-esque love letter. It was instructions - my parents are sleeping over this weekend, taking care of K, during Dear A’s hours off, while we attend a wedding out of town.

Yes, we had originally planned on taking K, and Dear A, with us. (Click here for a refresher.) Its turned out to be more of a grown up wedding and we couldn’t see the point of dragging K and Dear A with us, just to not see them all weekend.

Anyway, about a page and a half into my notes on how to turn on the Video On Demand for K's allotment of "Thomas the Tank Engine" and "Wonderpets," I realized how odd it was that my parents needed instructions for their own grandkid.

Thing is, since we have Dear A, we haven’t really had to rely on family babysitting. K sees the extended family regularly but for fun, not for babysitting. They've never really had to deal firsthand with toddler tantrums or diaper changes. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t see this as a drawback, more like just another perk of the NEWMom reality. My parents, for example, are recently retired world travelers. I’d rather K enjoy them as "those funny people who bring me t-shirts from all over the world and spoil me crazy," than as his regular caregivers. I think both sides benefit from this special relationship.

Plus, on the rare occasion when we do need them to take care of K, his grandparents are ready, willing and able… 3 page email in hand. ;-)