Don’t forget the unsung heroes.

 There was a time, not long ago, when the most pressing issue for the average grandparent was which brand of lollies to buy as a sugary bribe to offer the grandkids when Mum and Dad weren’t looking. Or to agonise over the logistics of a trip to Luna Park versus a ferry ride to the zoo when choosing a weekend outing.

 Now it’s less about the fun stuff and more about the day-to-day tasks associated with taking care of toddlers and children such as cooking meals, supervising homework and changing nappies. With grandparents the largest providers of informal care in Australia; caring for grandkids has shifted from an occasional babysitting favour to, in more extreme cases, a full-time job in itself.

 The current court case, in which a Sydney woman is defending an action brought by her daughter and son-in-law after she fell down the stairs while holding her five-month-old granddaughter, leaving her severely disabled, is indicative of the changing role of grandparents.

 That the matter even made it to court is arguably a symbol of the increasing pressure that this particular group of the community find themselves under. You don’t have to look far to identify the reason behind this trend. For many young families feeling the strain of childcare costs and struggling with long working hours, grandparents are an invaluable resource.

 Uneasy about leaving a six-month-old in a crèche? Just ask Grandma. Caught up at work and can’t make it to preschool on time? It’s Grandpa to the rescue. Another two weeks of school holidays yet you’ve exhausted your own supply of annual leave? Time to call Nanna and Pop.

 From the couple who rely on Grandpa taking care of the little ones every Monday to the family who pays Grandma to act as a full-time nanny, almost every workplace in Sydney has at least one employee relying on the older generation. Forget about the kindness of strangers. If you want to survive the work-family juggling act without spending a not-so-small fortune on childcare fees, what you really need is the kindness of grandparents.

 But, as with all miracle solutions, there are a few hiccups. For a multitude of reasons, this particular option of “informal care” is not available to everyone. Many grandparents live interstate or overseas. Some are unable to help out due to old age or illness. Others are no longer alive. And then there are those who are estranged from their now grown-up offspring, or simply have no interest in being involved in their grandchildren’s lives.

 It’s easy to feel sorry for yourself when you’re denied the same assistance upon which many friends and colleagues so heavily rely. But while it’s not fair on parents who miss out on the grannies-as-caregivers lifelines, the real injustice is reserved for the grandparents themselves.

 Nothing puts a dampener on dreams of taking a well-deserved rest in retirement more effectively than a family member in need. Thoughts of travelling around Australia, much less the world, aren’t often compatible with pleas to help mind the grandkids one day a week.

 Some grandparents of course, wouldn’t have it any other way. But for others, having already raised a family of their own, the prospect of doing it all over again is more exhausting than exhilarating. And yet, when confronted by the sight of their children struggling to keep on top of escalating childcare costs and balance the competing demands of work and home, guilt prevents them from complaining.

 “How can I expect them to leave the kids with a stranger when I could help them out instead?” rationalises the well-intentioned but weary grandma. All the while, their support of working families only enables the government to continue in its failure to address the high-priced cost and limited availability of quality childcare. Everybody loses.

 None more so than the nation’s grandparents, unwittingly transformed from figures of fun to their grandchildren into an army of unsung and exploited heroes.