8 Reasons to Feel A-OK About Leaving Your Kids With a Caregiver

When my son was a week old, the New York Times ran this beautiful photo essay called "The Other Mothers of Manhattan." It broke my heart. With an eventual return to work looming in the back of my mind, my takeaway was that these women were substitute parents, and I was about to hire someone to do the same.

Two years into the game (and full disclosure, I'm only working two days/week now), I view the child-caretaker relationship as something entirely different. My little boy adores his nanny. But their relationship is nothing like ours, or his with his dad, or any of his four grandparents. Kids have a lot of love to give, and it's OK to spread it around.