by Naomi Kenny

Created on: March 14, 2009

No matter how carefully you plan your life, it can spin out of control in moments due to no actions of your own. In the last two years we found ourselves supporting a daughter and her two children, a 13 year old and a new baby. The financial impact of that and the economy caused us to reevaluate retirement. After only a few months our daughter and her children moved out, but we continue to support her as she builds a new business. It is hard to accept that we will be financially strapped so not able to travel as we had planned. We love the kids and enjoy having them visit.

Then our son's ex-girlfriend had a baby that she claimed as his. Yep, you guessed it! She was his. The mother is a confused, mentally ill, drug addict. The mother has two other children one that was taken from her by that child's paternal grandmother. The second child, same father is still with her, but watched by child protective services. Now this darling little girl that needs our protection. This situation added not only legal expenses, but the costs of having a baby back in our home. Our son is not able to get custody of his daughter and is living with another girlfriend. We have joint custody of the baby with the mother, but we have possession of her most of the time. With the mother's life style it is important that we have the baby with us.

So my husband and I have become parents of a baby girl in our 60's. He continues to work. I care for the baby and attempt to write when there is time. We plan our activities based on the baby's needs and presence. We rearranged our home to baby proof it as she became more mobile. Our goal is that her father will get his act together and be able to become her father. Her mother seems to be out of control at this point so I'm not sure she will be a full time mother to this baby again. But we hope the baby will have a safe happy life, even if we must give it to her as grandparents.

Parenting a child through all the amazing landmarks of infant to toddler has been wonderful and tiring for my husband and I. She needs to have time to play with other children now. Due to paying for childcare for one grandchild we can't afford to put her into daycare full time, so I'm hoping to place her there a day or two a week. We will both benefit from time apart.

We love this delightful little girl. She has changed our lives. She is better off with us. We will care for her as long as she needs us. We will take better care of ourselves so we can take care of her. We had planned our life to spend time traveling and indulging in learning about topics we wanted to explore. We will do some of those things but we will include our granddaughter as long as she is with us. Her hugs and baby kisses make life so bright and lively.

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