[beckveldman]

Hi Barb,

I thought someone was bound to pick up on our naming my parents as guardians.

Suffice to say, I am well acquainted with the needs of the elderly, as are my parents. My grandparents are all in their 80s and needing varying degrees of in-home care, in fact, my mother is an aged care social work professional! So this has been well discussed all around.

I agree, in the case of my husband's parents, already in their 70s, guardianship of our children would not be an option. However, my parents are currently in their 50s. For various reasons we are not comfortable or prefer not to name our siblings as the primary decision makers in the lives of our children.

The timescales involved with potential guardianship have been carefully discussed with all parties concerned, and we are all comfortable. We have also thoroughly discussed practicalities in the case that it would ever become necessary, for example, ample provision for nanny, schools/colleges etc. etc. We feel the key is in the handling. With child-care professionals to assist followed by school, the focus for the guardian is to provide guidance, a secure environment, and a similar set of values to the ones that we would have wished to impart..

Like you, I would counsel anyone to think carefully and/or discuss openly the issues before formally naming any guardiian for one's children.