There are many ways to bond with your grandchildren: baking cakes, buying presents, or knitting sweaters for them.
But Cold Feet star Fay Ripley, 58, has said she will ‘breastfeed’ her future grandchildren.
The actress suffers from the “heartbreaking” empty nest syndrome and says she is happy to be able to “fill the void” by taking on the role of grandparent and becoming her grandchildren’s “mistress.”
The mother of two, who has daughter Parker (21) and son Sonny (17) with her husband Daniel Lapaine (53), said: ‘This is the hardest time of my life, watching my children get older.
“But then you can fill that void with the role of grandparent. I’m happy to do that – but I’m going to breastfeed. I have to admit I really like babies. But yes, I’m taking on the role of wet nurse, I guess.”
Cold Feet star Fay Ripley, 58, has said she will ‘breastfeed’ her future grandchildren (pictured in 2020)
The actress, who suffers from the “heartbreaking” empty nest syndrome, has said she is happy to “fill that void” by taking on the role of grandparent and becoming her grandchildren’s “least nurse”
The actress has children with Australian actor Daniel, to whom she has been married for over 23 years.
Their son Sonny is still living at home studying for his A-levels, but Parker has left home to pursue a career as an actress, having signed with the same agency as Florence Pugh.
Fay admitted that she is a “helicopter parent”: someone who is overprotective and takes an excessive interest in her children’s lives.
Earlier this year, she said she was “disappointed” in her daughter’s ambition to pursue an acting career because “as a woman working in this industry, there’s quite a lot of pretending and it’s not as good as it looks on the poster.”
Fay added that she is aware that she is ‘claustrophobic’ towards her children, but she can’t help herself from helping them with the housework. She said: ‘I clearly don’t get it at all.’
“I feel like I’ve kept them alive so far and I’m proud of that. And now I’m like, ‘Hey, kids, I’ve got to keep you alive now.’”
She announced her plans to keep Sonny home as long as possible by making him “completely dependent” on her cooking so that “he would always come back for dinner.”
The Suspect star has already been catching “glimpses” of an empty house as her children get older, saying: “I think some people are quick to think, ‘OK, we’re grandparents now.’”
Fay, who shares daughter Parker (21) and son Sonny (17) with her husband Daniel Lapaine (pictured), said: ‘This is the hardest time in my life, watching my children get older’
She said, “But then you can fill that gap with the grandparent role. I’m happy to do that – but I’ll be breastfeeding. But yeah, I’ll be taking on the wet nurse role, I guess.” (Pictured with Parker)
Fay admitted to being a ‘helicopter parent’ – someone who takes an overprotective or excessive interest in their children’s lives (Fay pictured in June last year)
Fay said on the White wine question time podcast: ‘I think maybe I’m taking it a little too far. Like I’m still doing a turn-down service. Like literally a fold-down.
“I put a pointy thing on the toilet roll for when they have their next poo. That’s because I think, ‘Ah, that’ll be nice for them.’ And I fill a glass of water. What am I doing at 20 and 16?
“I think if they were here, they’d say it’s quite claustrophobic. So I don’t really understand it, obviously. But I really feel like it’s been a privilege so far. I don’t know what’s going to happen.
“I feel like I’ve kept them alive so far and I’m proud of that. And now I’m like, ‘Hey guys, I’ve got to keep them alive now!’
She said she was grateful for the time she was able to spend with them during lockdown, as it meant they didn’t have to ‘do drugs and abuse alcohol’.
“I think they would tell a different story,” she said. “But I could cook for them. . . . They were forced into a relationship with me that they, and they have, thrown in the trash a long time ago.”