A stay-at-home mum has defended her choice to employ a full-time nanny – saying it gives her the “energy and patience” to be the best mum she can be. Jen Miller, 35 - who is a full-time mum to her two-year-old daughter, Liberty - opted to hire a nanny for support during the day.
Jen says her hire helped gives her time and space to focus on her self-care routine and gym workouts while her little girl is looked after. Jen - who is married to Grant, 39, the founder and CEO of a software business - from Austin, Texas, US said: "I like to be able to give my full presence to my daughter as a mom, to play with her and give her the attention she deserves.
"When the nanny isn't there, I do feel overwhelmed and other things have to be pushed to the wayside or in the evenings. In that case I find it difficult to give my full focus and attention to my daughter.
"I recognise it's an immense privilege to manage the family in the way we do. In my opinion, family and household management is already a full-time job.
"Everyone has their own way of managing their family, whether it's family support, a nanny, or childcare share. I look at other moms on social media, managing the household and family and I think how difficult it is for everyone.
"Most people don't show the full story - this is just me sharing my own situation." Jen wakes at 5.30am every day to get herself and her daughter ready, work out in the home gym, walk the dog and prepare breakfast.
When the nanny arrives at 9.30am, she aims to be in her office - to stay on top of projects for the day and run any errands that come up. Jen works while her daughter is playing, then takes a lunch break to try to spend time with her.
Evenings are for "mum duties", playtime and cleaning up, with her daughter in bed by 6.30pm - enabling Jen to relax and have dinner and indulge in some self-care before going to bed herself.
Jen said: "Every family is different. This is how we make ours work.
"Having a full-time nanny gives me the energy and patience to be the best mum I can be while still taking care of all of our family's needs." Jen added her TikTok videos have attracted support online.
"I have been so pleased and surprised to see people's support. I was worried there might be some people who wouldn't understand, but actually lots of people have shared their own childcare stories.
"Some people have said I'm not really a stay-at-home mother because I do work on projects, but I would describe myself as that for now. People send really nice comments!"
