Devoted gran Linda Robson says she loves her grandchildren, if anything, more than she loves her own kids – but there are aspects of her relationship with them that she finds difficult
Although, at 67, Linda Robson is very much an empty-nester, she still devoted to family life. During a Loose Women podcast on the subject of grandparents looking after their own children's children, Linda said she's always enjoyed the experience.
"But I love having my grandchildren more than anything else in the world," she said on the podcast. "I love them more than my children."
Linda added that she couldn't wait to see them after coming home from a work trip: "I really, really missed them. So as soon as we got back, that was the first people that I went to see. After the dog, obviously, because Dolly Parton needs me."
She added that, now her grandkids are getting older, it's harder to spend time with them: "Lila in particular, because she's 13 now, so she's got a phone, and now there's no sort of conversation with her anymore.
"I had them, they stayed overnight, and at one o'clock in the morning, her Snapchat was still going."
Linda said that things have changed a great deal as the girls have gotten older and developed their own friendship groups: "When they were younger, the pair of them, we could do lots of things together, go to the cinema and everything. Now Lila's got her own little group of friends, so she wants to be out with them all the time. So I've struggled with that really.
"But Betsy's happy to be with me 24 hours a day."
Linda has admitted that she's a bit a soft touch when it comes to looking after her granddaughters. While their mum Lauren is quite strict about allowing them to use their phones and laptops, Linda finds it hard to say 'no.'
Describing one afternoon, Linda recalled: "I said, 'Bets why don't we play a game? Let's play cars or something or let's watch a film together.'
"But she was fixated on getting the phone or the laptop. Eventually, I just handed her the laptop."
She added: "I have noticed that their behaviour has changed because of the phones and the laptops."
She said that electronic devices have had a major impact on family life: "Instead of spending time doing things together, the three of us, even if we go to a restaurant they'll want my phone, or they'll want something."
Earlier this year, Linda opened up on a difficult time in her life when she hadn't been able to see her grandchildren for a while: "Four years ago I had really bad mental health problems and depression and was on suicide watch for a while as well," she told Lorraine presenter Ranvir Singh.
"I started drinking anything and everything just to get through the day," she admitted. "I still feel a lot of guilt for what I put my children and my grandchildren through."
The most upsetting part of that difficult episode, she said, was that she "wasn't allowed to see her grandchildren for a while," which she found particularly hard.
