Who will take care of the baby when you have to return to work? We are already talking about two options that are within your reach: hire a babysitter or take it to the nursery. Other families have resorted at some time to the grandmothers when leaving our children in charge of someone while we work.
The advantage of this third alternative is that grandmothers inspire us with greater confidence, because our children know them and love them very much (they are our mothers!) And, in addition, we are not putting anyone unknown at home.
However, this decision has brought us several problems, since the ideas of my mother and mother-in-law are quite different from ours. This diversity of opinions among adults concerning girls has been confusing, many times, to our daughters. To give some examples, that if “the grandmother lets me watch television” at times that have not been scheduled or that “the grandmother combs my hair better than you”, in short, claims that have had to do with family values or parenting styles different. In case this is also happening to you, I suggest that you sit down and talk with your mother or mother-in-law and that you explain the rules to follow at home, making it clear that you would like very much that your opinion be respected and that in no case contradict you in front of the child, because it can generate confusion. Speaking, people understand each other, the saying goes, so you can also talk with your child to explain that sometimes grandma has different opinions from mom or dad.
Even so, if the problems are frequent and you feel that you cannot tolerate the differences, it is time to consider another alternative to prevent the situation from becoming elderly and that disrespect is installed among the members of your family.
As María Luisa Lerer says in her beautiful book "The Sweet Wait of the Couple": "Grandmothers and grandparents can enjoy a lot with the arrival of the grandson, and behave as they are: grandparents. That is not the same as parents. They are different roles, each with its delights and its worries, its responsibilities and freedoms”.
