The Joys of Being a Grandparent - I think?

In our book we talk a lot about the grandparent role and the statistics are quite enlightening:

• in the UK 90% of people over 65 are grandparents
• 25% of children are regularly looked after by grandparents
  
• 60% of childcare other than by parents is done by grandparents saving £4 billion a year assuming minimum wage payments
• 44% spend 16 hours a month providing childcare
• 92% of them get no payment

But we do it because we love them don't we! And we don't feel exploited do we? Just how much time should parents expect grandparents to give? Should parents pay for some of this help? If they were members of slivers of time then they certainly would get paid. Jane Fearnley-Whittingstall's book, The Good Granny Companion, tackles a number of these issues in a simple, forthright and commonsensical way. Don't take your grandparent role for granted and don't let your children take you for granted. Any views out there?