Thanks for writing this—super helpful. Just one anecdote on the childcare front: my siblings and I had full-time nannies/au pairs from when we were babies until we could drive, because our parents worked full-time and often traveled. (My mom had an intensive screening process for said nannies/au pairs, and chose excellent ones.) I view this as having been a really good thing for my development—I became less shy, valued my time with my parents more, learned about other parts of the world/cultures/ways of life, was mentored by women in their 20s as a pre-teen/teenager, and developed close relationships with some amazing people. I think parents sometimes view hiring external childcare as a necessary evil, but for me (and, I think, my siblings) it was a really positive aspect of our childhoods.
Henrik Karlsson’s post Childhoods of Exceptional People did research indicating that there are intensely positive effects from young children spending lots of time talking and interacting with smart, interested adults; so much so that we could even reconsider the paradigm of kids mostly spending time with other kids their age.
Interesting! I’d like to see an analysis of things correlated with most/all of the children in one family turning out well, because I’d be more inclined to emulate the parenting style of parents where (1) all of their kids became happy, reasonably successful, well-adjusted adults than ones where (2) one kid became a superstar.
I have emailed her and will update this comment when she gets back! I think there was an ~8-page questionnaire that evolved over time (since there were probably about 12 nannies/au pairs, and lessons were learned along the way) and a Skype interview, though.
Combination of full-time nannies (who probably worked 40 hrs/week and didn’t live with us) before we were school-aged and live-in au pairs when we were school-aged (who probably worked 6:30-9am and 4-8pm on weekdays, and maybe one full day/weekend).
Thanks for writing this—super helpful. Just one anecdote on the childcare front: my siblings and I had full-time nannies/au pairs from when we were babies until we could drive, because our parents worked full-time and often traveled. (My mom had an intensive screening process for said nannies/au pairs, and chose excellent ones.) I view this as having been a really good thing for my development—I became less shy, valued my time with my parents more, learned about other parts of the world/cultures/ways of life, was mentored by women in their 20s as a pre-teen/teenager, and developed close relationships with some amazing people. I think parents sometimes view hiring external childcare as a necessary evil, but for me (and, I think, my siblings) it was a really positive aspect of our childhoods.
Henrik Karlsson’s post Childhoods of Exceptional People did research indicating that there are intensely positive effects from young children spending lots of time talking and interacting with smart, interested adults; so much so that we could even reconsider the paradigm of kids mostly spending time with other kids their age.
Interesting! I’d like to see an analysis of things correlated with most/all of the children in one family turning out well, because I’d be more inclined to emulate the parenting style of parents where (1) all of their kids became happy, reasonably successful, well-adjusted adults than ones where (2) one kid became a superstar.
Thanks for sharing—sounds like a fascinating childhood!
I’m curious to hear about your mom’s screening process if you’re willing to share.
I have emailed her and will update this comment when she gets back! I think there was an ~8-page questionnaire that evolved over time (since there were probably about 12 nannies/au pairs, and lessons were learned along the way) and a Skype interview, though.
As in 40hr/wk, continuous, or something else?
Combination of full-time nannies (who probably worked 40 hrs/week and didn’t live with us) before we were school-aged and live-in au pairs when we were school-aged (who probably worked 6:30-9am and 4-8pm on weekdays, and maybe one full day/weekend).