‘I get mistaken for his mum!’ What It’s Like Being A Young Grandparent

Jo Middleton, aka Slummy Single Mummy, tells us the pros and cons of of young grandparenting.

What It's Like Being A Young Grandmother

by Jo Middleton |
Updated on

I became a grandmother at 41, which I have to say is mainly down to me rather than my daughter! I was 16 when I became pregnant with my daughter Bee, and had not long turned 17 when she was born.

Rather fortunately, she was born in the summer holidays between the first and second year of my A-levels and thanks to a supportive partner, family and teachers, I didn’t take any extra time off outside the school holidays. (I actually went on to get three As in my A-levels and a first class economics degree.) Bee was almost 24 when my grandson Joey was born in June 2019, which I know is still young by most people’s standards but it felt very grown up to me!

There are loads of benefits of being a young grandmother, not least that I normally get mistaken for Joey’s mum and that makes me feel very young and glamorous. I still have more energy than I might in another 20 years or so, and can happily get down on the floor to play with him and lug car seats and pushchairs about easily. It’s amazing too to think that I will hopefully be a part of his life for a long time to come. Not all grandparents get to see their grandchildren grow up and become adults – I may well even get to see Joey have his own children, or potentially even grandchildren at the rate we’re going…

No-one is going to get tired of being told how they look too young to be a Granny are they?

I guess one of the downsides is that I’m nowhere near retirement and I still have my younger daughter living at home, so I have to fit being a grandparent around working and still being an active parent myself. Apart from that I can’t think of any and negatives - no one is going to get tired of being told how they look too young to be a Granny are they?

I think I look quite young for 42 even without being a granny thrown into the mix, so I’m used to people looking shocked when I tell them I have 17 and 24-year-old daughters. I absolutely love casually dropping in that I also have a grandson. They look kind of shocked and then a bit embarrassed, like they’re not sure if they are meant to be shocked – it’s rather fun.

I think generally I’m really lucky in that most people’s opinions of me go a little over my head. I’m sure that when I was pregnant at 16, I must have attracted some judgement from others, but I honestly I don’t remember it at all. People are always going to have opinions about things, especially with women. We’re too fat, too thin, too young to have babies, too old to have babies – what matters is how you feel about yourself and the choices you make. I love being a young grandparent and what anyone else thinks about it doesn’t matter to me.

You can follow Jo Middleton on Instagram or on her blog, Slummy Single Mummy.

READ MORE::a['Granny Leave': Everything You Need To Know]{href='https://graziadaily.co.uk/life/real-life/working-grandparents-paid-leave-everything-need-know/' target='_blank' rel='noopener noreferrer'}

READ MORE: Sia Becomes A Grandmother At 44

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