Nannies: something needed? Or should parents who choose to have children also rear them?

[Liberal Veteran]

141. I'm of two minds on this.

On one hand, I can see the point some have brought up that everyone has a right to make a choice about it and whether abandoning a fulfilling career is a good move or not.

On the hand, a part of me says, if both parent's income isn't needed (a true rarity these days for most families), then why would you not want to be the person that rears your own children?

I got the bad end of the deal with parents myself. My mother abandoned us (literally did not know where she was from age 10 to 16) and my father wasn't really "single dad" material in any respect of the word since he had a drinking problem that cost him a good job. I suppose they both did their best, but when it came down it, the important things I learned in life were from my grandmother who found herself unceremoniously raising her grandchildren more often than not.

So, that might be why I have some bias about having at least one full-time parent who, after all, made the decision to bring a life into the world.

Having hired help may be useful and lord knows enough parents need some time to themselves, but if I were building my own ideal family, I'd want one of us to be the primary parent, not hired help.

In the final analysis, I have nothing against nannies and what they do, but my thought is that one full-time parent committed to the job of parenting is better than two part-time parents who see parenting as a secondary to their own lives and careers.