My child was at home full-time with a nanny up until her first day of school — a childcare decision that I always had immense mixed emotions about. After a solid year of second-guessing our setup, this Summer, I'd literally counted down the days until she would finally be in a school environment, where she could socialize with kids her own age and learn the things that her peers were already picking up on in day care. It didn't take long before I realized that she wasn't behind because she hadn't been in a school setting before. And quite on the contrary, I then began to worry whether she started school too soon, if I shouldn't have rushed her into a daily grind that she'll experience for the next 15 or so years of her life. Of course, I'm doing my best not to overthink it — I only wish I had learned that lesson far sooner.
