The somewhat unconventional grandma

I love little children, especially the very little ones." Lieselotte Weber* gets enthusiastic when she talks about her "job." The 69-year-old retiree from Hamburg is a surrogate grandmother out of passion. Her own children have long since left home and have children themselves. Unfortunately, both live too far away to see each other regularly. "Granny Liese," as she is affectionately called by her surrogate grandchildren, did not want to do without grandchildren, though. An advertisement in the newspaper made the single retiree aware of the surrogate grandmother offer from famPLUS.

Many of our surrogate grandparents come to us through advertisements, referrals from other surrogate grandparents, or directly through our famPLUS page," reports Verena Koch, Head of Childcare at famPLUS. To become a surrogate grandparent, interested individuals must demonstrate that they have experience in caring for children. "We also offer workshops for surrogate grandparents in many major German cities. Here, we address important questions about surrogate grandparenthood, starting with 'How do I contact the family?' to 'How much money can I ask for?' and even 'Family and parenting today,'" says Verena Koch. All surrogate grandparents are registered free of charge and without obligation in the famPLUS database and thus in the network.

Lieselotte Weber has been registered as a substitute grandma with famPLUS for two years. Since then, she has worked as a substitute grandma for a total of three different families. "Each family is different, but I've had an incredible amount of fun with each one," reports Lieselotte. For nine months, she has been visiting a family with two small children, aged three and two, once a week for three hours. Her substitute grandma day is usually Tuesday. However, it can be a different day if something comes up on a Tuesday. Even though she gets paid for the hours she spends with the children, she doesn't see herself as an employee with fixed working hours. "I've had requests from parents who wanted me to come every day and also take care of shopping, cooking, and laundry. But I can't manage that anymore. Also, I want to be able to organize my time freely. There can always be an occasion when I have another appointment on a Tuesday. It works perfectly with the current family. The mother calls me at the end of the week, and then we arrange a day that suits both of us," says the 69-year-old.

What surrogate grandparents do in families is very varied. The offer ranges from pure childcare to additional household support. From a few hours once a week to several hours daily. It depends very much on the individual person," says Koch. "Also, the relationship 'family/surrogate grandma' is often different from professional childcare. Many surrogate grandparents want to be part of the family. For them, it is more than just a job." This is also true for Lieselotte. She would like to have a closer connection with the parents of her surrogate grandchildren. But that is not desired. Lieselotte describes the relationship as very personal but rather matter-of-fact, professional. It's quite different with the children. For them, she is a true grandma. "I enjoy every minute with the two of them, and we always do only what they want to do. We go to the playground together, jump on the neighbor's trampoline until I get dizzy, watch thunderstorms, sing or read together, or whatever," reports the surrogate grandma. "Just things that a grandma does with her grandchildren.

If you are also interested in working as a surrogate grandma or grandpa, please feel free to contact famPLUS directly at 089/809902700 or via email at info@famplus.de. Further information can be found at www.famplus.de.

*Name changed by the editorial team.

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