In Conclusion

 

Women rarely raise children by themselves. Historically they have family and neighbors to help out. But as families have moved further away from each other, and mothers have taken jobs out of the house to make financial contributions to the household coffers, hired help in the form of a nanny has become very normal.

Some families take to nannies like ducks to water. Others never get over the guilt of not doing it all themselves. In the end, the most important thing is having a happy, healthy family, and realizing that getting to that goal may take many paths – some of them circuitous.

When the youngest is in elementary school, nannies are no longer necessary for the most part, or for as many hours as when children are younger. So the lifespan of a family nanny lasts as long as there is a child not yet in first grade.

At that point, the nanny may finally become what she has never been – no longer an employee but a family friend, who helped in the raising of the children.