Who hasn't thought, “I really need someone to help with the kids/laundry/dog-walking/cleaning?”

You could take a wife, but I've heard that can be a lot of trouble. You could hire a texting teenager with a possibly unscrupulous boyfriend.

Or you could rent a grandmother. Specifically, if you are in Los Angeles, you can use Rent-A-Grandma and one will arrive at your doorstep. She might even bake you cookies.

The origins of the company began in the television industry. In his past life, Rent-A-Grandma founder and CEO Todd Pliss worked as a studio teacher on television sets in L.A. He talked with parents and started to develop a vision.

“Some of these parents had three or four kids, and one of the kids would be working all day long, and they'd need to have someone watch the other kids,” he said. “I'd hear horror stories about people [they hired] who didn't show up or they'd leave the house messier than they found it. I saw that there was a need and who is more reliable and good at taking care of kids and making cookies than grandmothers?”

To be a Rent-A-Grandma, applicants must pass phone and in-person interviews, have good references, clear a background check, and have certain qualifications, such as the ability to speak English and have tons of domestic experience.

“Most of our grandmas are actual grandmas,” Pliss says. “Plus, our grandmas don't text or tweet.”

Rent-A-Grandma also benefits from an economy where employers aren't exactly pounding down the doors of women over the age 50, and the growing needs of families with multiple responsibilities and less time.

“Women in their 50s and 60s should not be put out to pasture,” Pliss says.

“We get swamped all day long with people who want to work, many times college-educated women or people who are retired. Or they're 50 and got laid off and they want to work. We've had calls from women in their 80s who want to work.”

While about 75% of the calls are related to childcare, there also are calls for eldercare, petsitting, cooking and housekeeping, he says.

Since Rent-A-Grandma launched in 2010, the response has been overwhelming. This has allowed Pliss to make Rent-A-Grandma into a franchise opportunity — they have had hundreds of requests from across the country.

“We want to be the McDonald's of domestic services,” Pliss says.

To learn more, visit http://rentagrandma.com/services/.  

 Elizabeth Newman is the senior editor at McKnight's Long-Term Care News.