How Grandma Care Works For Our Family

One of, if not, the best perk of living in our home state is being near family and friends. I love that our kids get to grow up and be around their grandparents and extended family. I feel grateful and blessed that the boys are able to have the quality time on a regular basis with the most important people in our lives.

Both my husband’s and my parents live less than 20 minutes away from our home. While this might not sound ideal to everyone, it works for our family. We’re both super close to our parents and feel lucky that they all play such an active role as grandparents in the boys’ lives. My in-laws come over on a weekly basis and spend lots of quality time with the boys, reading with them and doing lots of fun projects that I don’t have the time for during the work week.

On a daily basis, my mom is the primary caretaker of the boys. She’s watched our babies since I first became a mom five years ago. Even before I was pregnant, I knew that I would rely on my mom’s support. But, I had no idea just how much I would need her in my transition to motherhood. She is truly the glue that keeps our family of five on a seamless schedule of happy chaos. She takes care of the boys during the work week and often stays over whenever we need her on the weekends as well. I don’t think I can put into words just how much I appreciate all that she does for our family.

The main reason of how grandma care works for our family is my mom and her genuine love and want to care for our babies. This coupled with her respect of me and my husband as parents has been the solid foundation of how everything runs smoothly in our childcare situation. She supports our decisions and never questions our instincts. All she does is offer help whenever we need it, sometimes even before I know to ask for her helping hand.

To say that my mom plays an important role in our family’s day to day life would be a major understatement. As my mom gets older, medical and emergency care for her and my dad is one of my top concerns. When Bay Alarm Medical sent us their In-Home Cellular and GPS Bundle, I knew that this was the answer to all of my worries. With just a push of a button, Bay Alarm Medical’s trained 24/7 emergency operators are there to contact family, friends, neighbors and if necessary, local 911 emergency services.

While I work from home most days, there are days that I work at my office or days that she watches the kids at her house. With English being my parents’ second language, Bay Alarm Medical gives me peace of mind, knowing that they can reach medical professionals at the touch of a button.

The GPS unit is light weight and carries a charge for up to 72 hours for when she is out of the home. It’s the perfect device for her to take with her when she is out and about. My favorite part of Bay Alarm Medical Service is that it is rated number one in the nation and that they monitor in the US for maximum reliability. Located in Ogden, Utah and Rexburg, Idaho, the two state-of-the-art centers are full duplicates of each other. If one station were to ever go offline, the other station would provide immediate emergency coverage.

Depending on the day, my work days are different. Some days I’m at home, some days I’m at the office. Some days the kids are here with my mom and some days they’re at school and/or with my mom at her house. The flexibility with my work at home job, as well as the flexibility of having grandma care is how we make it all work in our home.

These days, childcare in any form takes so much time, research and money. And for working parents, it’s especially difficult to find full-time childcare. There are advantages and disadvantages to the many different options and each family has to figure out what works best for their family.

For our household of three little ones, grandma care is the option that works best with my job. It truly is a blessing that I don’t take for granted. Both our kids and I love the fact that my mom is their primary caretaker during the work week. While it is a non-traditional childcare option, we feel blessed to be near our parents, because it truly does take a village to raise our children. And thanks to Bay Alarm Medical Service, I have peace of mind knowing that my mom (and dad) are fully equipped to handle any situation even in the case of an emergency.