Rise of the nana state

AS a child of two working parents, it was frequently left to my grandma to keep an eye on me.

- SUSAN LEE

She was the old-fashioned sort, with an impressive selection of pinnies, a bun kept in place with an army of pins, and a penchant for Turkish Delight.

I adored her. At five feet nothing she wielded a huge presence. She took me shopping and showed me how to bake a bunloaf, made my lunch every day and stood endlessly at the front gate as I played in the street.

If she ever resented having to put up with a granddaughter who stole her shoes to make 'jumps' for an imaginary horse, she never let on.

But this was the 1970s and the past, as they say, is a foreign country; they do things differently there.

Now, thanks to an ever-rising retirement age, grandparents are just as likely to be holding down full time jobs as their own children.