On Reddit, a grandmother ruffled feathers by asking an hourly pay to look after her young grandson, claiming she had her own life and income.

Finding affordable childcare can be quite difficult for parents of small children.

Indeed, many parents decide not to return to work after having a child because the cost of childcare would consume so much of their income that it would be not worthy.

However, for the fortunate, there are relatives on hand to help carry the burden and keep an eye on the kids – whether it’s grandparents, aunts, or uncles.

According to the NZ Herald, one anonymous grandma, whose daughter will shortly return to work after a year of maternity leave, has been asked to do just that for her baby grandson.

The grandma writes on Reddit that her 29-year-old daughter has asked her to care the kid two or three days a week while she works.

She writes: “She works five days a week, about 7-8 hours a day from 7.30am-3pm, and asked me if I would be willing to babysit her son either two or three days a week.”

The grandma says she’ll be pleased to spend quality time with her grandson, but she requested a $12 (£9.05) hourly rate to look after him.

The daughter agreed to pay her mother for caring for the baby, but recommended a lower fee of $10 (£7.50) per hour, according to her.

Writing about this exchange, the grandmother said: “She claims that she cannot afford it, even with her $22-an-hour job (£16.60).

“I’m not a daycare, I have my own life, I work for myself and I think she should understand that I’d be giving up my time when I work from home, and if I’m going to be giving up that time then I need money to replace that time I’m giving up from my job.”

She stated that caring for her grandson would require her to give up her own income, thus she needed to make sure the money she would earn from babysitting would be worthwhile.

Some people found it difficult to connect with the grandmother when she made her case for a higher hourly rate, implying that she lacked “empathy” for her daughter.

Some others pointed out that the widow was asking for a sizable portion of her daughter’s pay, roughly two-thirds before taxes.

Source: mirror.co.uk