I earned £25,000 babysitting my grandchildren – people say I’m ‘selfish’ and ‘greedy’

As I pick up Elodie, my beloved five-month-old granddaughter, I give her a kiss on her cheek.

She is truly a sweetheart, just like all of my daughter Amanda’s children.

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As a grandmother of seven and mother of five, I am used to taking care of children.

From runny noses to dirty diapers, I’ve seen it all.

But since I quit my part-time job as a teacher in 2018, I don’t want to deal with it anymore.

My husband Brian passed away in December 2015 at age 67 from pancreatic cancer and in December 2018 I retired from teaching.

But in 2022, I became a teaching assistant to supplement my widow’s pension due to the cost of living crisis.

When Amanda, 39, asked if I wanted to babysit two days a week, my heart sank and I thought, “But what about MY life?”

Then I thought about it again and said I would do the childcare… for a fee.

I thought £15 for half a day per child and up to £50 for a full day was a very generous offer.

I love my life

But Amanda was stunned. She claimed that grandmothers across the country would jump at the chance to spend time with their grandchildren.

Still, I persisted and felt vindicated when I read in Fabulous Daily last week about Rebecca Tidy, a Cornish mother who charged money for playdates with her six-year-old daughter Mabel.

People said she was selfish, but money doesn’t grow on trees.

Amanda is on maternity leave and works as a teaching assistant. However, she does work as a cleaner.

I thought £15 for half a day per child or up to £50 for a full day was a very generous offer

Caroline Duddridge

She and her partner, Grafton, 40, who works as a complaints officer, hesitated for a long time before agreeing to my terms, but now I have their three children – Elodie, Esmee, ten, and Elvie, five – from 8.30am to 5pm, four days a week.

The scheme started when Esmee turned one in 2014 and since then my prices have increased in line with inflation. I have earned a total of £25k.

And although Amanda was annoyed at first, she later realised that ‘nanna day care’ is a lot cheaper than crèche, where you pay £75 per child per day.

I collect them from her house in Cardiff before we do various activities, this could be a walk in the park or soft play, parent and toddler groups or swimming.

In 2018, I also started caring for my 34-year-old daughter Elizabeth’s children, who are 14, 11, and 5. I count them the same.

Of course I love having them—they’re my grandchildren and I love them—but would chasing after lively little ones be my ideal way to spend a day? Of course not.

My time raising children is long gone. You don’t take your child to daycare expecting not to have to pay a bill, do you?

Besides, I’m not a gray grandma who sits home alone all day and does nothing.

I’m not bored, I love my life and don’t want the burden of taking care of children.

Caroline Duddridge

I’m in a relationship again and since Brian passed away, I’ve been going to the gym.

I do a 90 minute workout five times a week. Looking sexy is so important to me.

I am not bored, I love life and do not want to bear the burden of caring for children, which I have done for decades for my daughters aged 39, 34 and 31, and my sons aged 36 and 26.

Caring for children is a sacrifice and I initially thought it was rude of Amanda to ask me to do it, so I told her, “I’ll do it, but I won’t be fooled” and we negotiated the terms as if it were a real job.

She pays me via bank transfer and I have never had to chase up the payment.

But I know Amanda complained about me to her friends, saying they thought I was “greedy” and “selfish.”

And this isn’t the first time I’ve made my family pay for something.

I cook Christmas dinner every year at my home in Cardiff and charge £10 per person for adults and £5 per person for children to cover the cost of ingredients.

In 2023 I added an electricity surcharge, because with energy walks and I am a widow, you have to be careful. I know young parents and grandparents will think I am crazy, selfish and greedy, but I don’t care.

I have to for my futureWhat I do doesn’t mean I love my grandchildren any less, it just means I’m wise.