‘Taking them out was a nightmare’: Gran struggles with exhausting grandkids

Many people wait years to become a grandparent and relish the chance to spend quality time with their grandkids, but there’s no denying that it can also be a tough task with many parents taking issue with how their adult children choose to raise their own offspring.

Now, writing to online forum Gransnet, one grandmother has sparked debate after revealing her grandchildren are utterly exhausting. She said her son, daughter-in-law and their two children – aged six and eight – spent two weeks on ‘holidays’ with them in France.

“I love all of them dearly,” she said, “However the children who are bright and happy and lovely individually were very disobedient, constantly demanding and disruptive.”

The gran added that meal times were ridiculous, adding: “Taking them out to eat was a nightmare”.

“I am usually very tolerant and probably bought my own children up in a relaxed way but I found this really very tiring and quite upsetting,” she explained.

She said she only sees them twice a year, adding: “I don’t feel I should correct them unless they are doing something dangerous or very naughty.”

“My son and his wife also have a loving but fractious relationship so often flare up with each other in front of the children which worries me. Altogether it is exhausting. Surely this can’t be right?” she asked.

It seems many grandparents have been through a similar experience with their own grandchildren, with many admitting it can be exhausting at times.

“We have just had young grandchildren over too and found it exhausting. I think the heat made everything more tiring as well. Hopefully the children will be calmer on their next visit, it doesn’t help when parents are disagreeing either,” one user replied.

Another added: “It all sounds pretty normal to me.” And a third wrote: “I also find my grandchildren exhausting, although I love them to pieces.”

Read more: It’s official! Being a grandparent is tougher than being a pollie: Study

And it turns looking after grandkids is a lot tougher than it looks, after a new study claimed that taking care of the grandkids is actually way tougher than being an Aussie politician.

According to the Mercury Tough Report, which quizzed 1,000 Australians about a range of professions, being a parent or grandparent is the fifth toughest job you can do, with 69 per cent of people agreeing it’s a difficult task. However just 38 per cent of those asked said they believe the likes of Malcolm Turnbull and Bill Shorten have got it tough.

What do you think? Are you a grandparent? Do you find it tough?