My husband & I are kind of going it alone as parents and thought about "adopting" our friends' mom as a "grandparent" (this friend lives 8 hours away and suggested the idea). Her mom has offered to babysit but we haven't broached the subject directly with her (she works the same hours as my husband, so it hasn't made logistical sense for us yet to *need* a sitter, given that we don't go out due to pandemic).

My question is--has anybody ever done this? How did you approach the person? I feel so awkward asking..

Background: my own mother lives a few blocks away but lives with my sister, who I am estranged with (she has a personality disorder and tried to beat me up while I was pregnant). I'd love for my mom to be more involved but between my sister, and golf (she's retired) we haven't seen much of her. Unfortunately, the grandparently relationship we'd *like* to have is just not the reality (ideally, I'd love my mom to watch my child for at least an hour or 2 each month so I could run errands, get some home improvement projects done, or just decompress).

Friends mom is eager to help.

How would you go about this situation??