I always think my parents have been really helpful in terms of babysitting. They are my most frequent evening babysitters (i.e. I put dd to bed at theirs then out i go) and they have also got up for me in the morning and had her till the afternoon a few times. But i keep hearing about grandparents who seem to take on child care so much more! My mum doesn't work Wednesdays and dd and i normally go and stay that day & night every week to spend time with her. But unless we actually go out, my mum spends most of that time cooking or she'll take dd round the shops for half hour but that's it. (I appreciate the cooking, don't get me wrong, but it doesn't have to be anything special!!) Also, whenever I'm there I tend to be the one chasing around after dd and i feel like i should be able to relax a bit and let her grandparents take over! At the same time I feel guilty feeling like this, and absolutely loathe asking for help (i.e. babysitting - getting better at it though). I know they love spending time with dd but because they never actually offer I can't help feeling guilty.