As Baby Boomers prepare for their final act, it is hard to ignore the recent musings on the role of grandparents. From the op-ed pages to the glossy lifestyle inserts readers have been privy to, an inexhaustible amount of “joy and wonder” at returning to the grind of looking after small, helpless human beings.

Well before our adult children settled down with their life partners, I made it very clear that while the prospect of being a grandmother would be something I might enjoy, I would not be available for child care.

The cuddles are nice, but caring for small children is mostly abject drudgery.Credit: Getty Images/iStockphoto

To be clear, I am talking about 8am to 6pm babysitting carried out mostly by women (grandmothers) well over 65 years of age sometimes several days a week while parents work their day jobs.

As parents, a good part of my life and that of my husband’s has been dedicated to raising our own three children and neither of us wish to take on that level of responsibility again.

Furthermore, I resent the fact that despite the equal involvement of said partner during those years and now as grandparents, the expectation is that I alone, by........

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