A mum again AT 50

Tracy* was looking forward to a slower pace of life, but suddenly found herself back to full-time parenting

- FRANCES LEATE

With her arms folded firmly and her face red with anger, Tracy’s granddaughter, Alice*, 10, stamped her feet under the restaurant table.

‘I want to go home,’ she demanded, before slumping into a sulky heap in her chair.

It was nothing new for Tracy and her husband, Phil*, 65, but even so, it was deeply embarrassing. ‘We were surrounded by couples in their 50s and 60s like us, only none of them were dealing with a child having a massive tantrum over the menu,’ Tracy says.

‘I couldn’t help but feel a twinge of envy for them enjoying a peaceful Sunday lunch. “They’ll probably go home for a lovely nap after this too”, I sighed to Phil.’

‘No such luck for us,’ Phil chuckled ruefully.

As Alice calmed down, Tracy thought about the untidy house they’d be going back to. The toys strewn across the floor, the piles of laundry, and the bedtime routine later, when Phil and Tracy would take turns coaxing Alice into the bath and then bed.

‘The truth was, we were exhausted. And, unlike most grandparents, we didn’t have the option of handing Alice back to her parents at the end of the day because we were her full-time guardians,’ Tracy explains.

‘We loved Alice dearly, of course. Yet five years previously, we’d had little choice about taking her in. My daughter had struggled with mental-health issues since childhood, dabbled with drugs and dated terrible men.’

When Tracy had first found out about the pregnancy, she was filled with dread, knowing how her daughter would struggle to cope.