I thought being a grandmother would be easier than being a mother. Now that I am one, it's harder in many ways.

The author said she was more carefree when she was mothering her own children.

As a grandmother, the stakes are higher.

Courtesy of Stephanie Davis.

I always heard that when you're a grandparent, you get the fun without all the responsibility.

For me, the responsibility feels doubled: You could hurt both your child and grandchild.

Being young and naive has its perks.

Now I'm older and wiser — and way more cautious.

As I carried my tiny granddaughter down the stairs, a thought flashed through my mind that I never would have had 30 years ago.

What if I drop her? I clutched her tight, shooed the horrifying thought out of my mind, and continued down the stairs into the kitchen to warm up the breast milk my daughter-in-law had left for us.

I breastfed my son, so I never thought about temperature, but as I boiled water to warm her bottle, I worried.

What if I burn her? That night, I jolted out of bed several times, convinced I had slept through her crying .

What if she needed me and I didn't hear her? During the day, I found new disasters to imagine.

I wondered what would happen if she slipped out of my hands in the tub, or if the dog got jealous and bit her.

I worried about something, anything, happening on my watch that could change her life forever.