When I told a friend that my nine-year-old son was staying with his grandparents for the whole week of the half-term, she said: ‘A whole week! My son would be lucky to get his grandparents for a weekend! Who are these people?’
‘His grandparents are working class,’ I said.
She looked puzzled. ‘What?’
I explained. ‘Working-class grandparents are the best you can have — these days middle-class grandparents are bloody useless.’
I’m not alone in thinking this about the middle-class grandparent (MCGP). Just ask any middle-class parent about their children’s grandparents and out pours the same litany of complaints: ‘They’re too busy’, ‘They’re too selfish’, ‘They’re not really interested in their grandchildren’ and so on.
But I’ve never heard a working-class person complain about their children’s grandparents. On the contrary, they’re proud of their parents’ grandparenting skills and are happy to boast that ‘They spoil ’em rotten!’ The working-class grandparent is minder, maid, mum, dad, butler, cook, cleaner, best playmate and Santa rolled into one.
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