Granny gets a break....maybe
As a parent, my expectation is to put in my twenty years and then hit retirement. Preferably in the lush woods of Tahoe, sipping my Silk Nog and smidge of rum, hanging out being a cool granny. Maybe I'll learn to knit (not), cook (I hate cooking), garden (that would be ok), ski, mountain bike, travel, but most especially get to hang out with my sweetie and fortunately for me, my husband, Lance. This is my vision, my reward if you will. That is why I hold in such high regard the grandparents who care for their kids' kids. It often sweeps through my mind that I actually would prefer to go to work for OXFAM (http://www.oxfam.org/ ), the Peace Corps (http://www.peacecorps.gov/) or some other group that does good around the world. I think I would be really happy doing that....unfortunately, my husband prefers option A, and I guess we'll have to figure out something when we get to that point. But bringing up another set of kids....grandkids? This slams hard against my visual image of "Granny P you're the best!" "Oh, Granny P I'm so happy to see you!". I don't think that happens a lot when you become the disciplinarian and the person they go to for everyting. Regardless, I think the grannies that step up are heroes. I was once again listening to NPR this morning, and they were talking about this woman who at 65 was the parent to her grandkids aged 6 - 15. On 12,000 dollars a year. Welfare. Foodstamps. But she would be damned if those kids were going to foster care. Now DC has some local legislation which would give 700 - 800 dollars per kid per month to grandparents. WOW! How great would that be? That's like...what? An average of 36,000 dollars for the aforementioned gramma? Three times what she has now. Her response. "Oh that would be fine. Fine. I could maybe get a car run this kids were they need to be." Enter Dick Dastardly with an opinion. This is a travesty! Travesty! This will rip families apart! Grandparents will take grandkids just to get the cash. Hell! Most of these grandparents are unfit parents - why do you think they're caring for their kids' kids? Because they screwed up the first time and they'll do it again. They need training! Why pay off only the grandparents? What about the aunts and uncles? Terrible wasteful legislation.
Frankly, I wonder. I wonder when there will be legislation forcing people who have their heads crammed up their butts to refrain from speaking. What is this fool talking about? Do we cater legislation to the atypical in our society - the scammers who are always looking for something for nothing - or do we keep our eyes on the area where most of us live. I know scammers, my ex-husband is one of the biggest. He couldn't help but brag about the way he would use Office Depot's courtesy phone to make international calls. Fools! Didn't have a block, he would boast. Don't look for a courtesy phone anymore, they disconnected them because some a*hole was calling long distance. Every shade of the rainbow every ethnicity every conceivable group of people contains this kind of person. Instead of punishing us all, those who make the legislation happen need to build in task forces for all social programs, heck, all government programs - a citizen action committee that overlooks all tiers in an effort to curtail graft and pork. Whoa, I just created jobs. How simple was that?
The vast majority of grandparents caring for their grandkids are struggling with poverty anyway. These are predominantily people who are past prime employability. And these are people who are keeping families together, refusing to send their grandkids into a foster care system that cost the taxpayers hundreds of thousands of dollars a year and would cost the kids a lot more. These people are heroes. Unsung in a big way. Help them! This is what we are supposed to be doing! Has anyone read the New Testament, lately? I mean the real one? Not the one that justifies taking from the needy and giving to the not needy? I mean, surely, we can turn and say, "this is a GOOD direction." Because it is. And these wonderful people, ok, maybe they aren't all wonderful but they are all sacrificing people - sacrificing a time when they can be totally focused on themselves and instead, turning and giving to little dependent people. How awesome is that? I hope it passes. I hope it not only passes but it stirs the embers of compassion in this country and ignites a desire to do the right thing for all the dependents in this country, and then in this world. I know, I know, but I can dream.