Written by Claire Burgess, Family Consultant. Childcare is usually at the top of any parent’s mind whether they just need someone to have the children for them to go to an appointment or if it is more permanent for them to go back to work. This is often where grandparents come in. They might offer to help or you might find yourself in the position where you ask them - either way there are a few things to consider when thinking about using grandparents (or indeed friends / other relatives) for childcare.

Reply from Claire Burgess, Family Consultant. This is a very common situation for many people who have family members providing childcare for them. When we have to raise any issues with those who care for our children it can be tricky, but when it is a family member this adds an additional layer of difficulty. It is understandable that you do not want to upset your parents ultimately you want to maintain a close and special relationship. However, if you don’t raise the issues that you have, this will lead to you becoming more frustrated and only end up causing a more awkward and difficult situation between you all. It is really important that you avoid getting to this stage!

Written by Claire Burgess, Family Consultant. In these strange and surreal times, we have been and still are facing things that we have never faced before in our lifetimes. Many families have experienced an extremely difficult time in relation to living and working space, finances and family circumstances etc and this is likely to continue as we start to go into some kind of ‘recovery phase’.

We just wanted to take a moment to look at all of the things we are hearing from families about their experiences through the Coronavirus outbreak and what these changes might mean for us and, more importantly, our children, as we come out of it and into our ‘new normal’ - will this experience change our children forever?