By Catherine Finn
My workday as a professional nanny often began before the sun came up.
I would wake at 4:45 a.m., leave the house thirty minutes later, and arrive before the three children woke for the day. By 6:00 a.m., I was quietly disarming the alarm, putting away dishes from the night before, clearing the kitchen table and getting the house ready for another busy morning.
Their mother usually left for work shortly after I arrived. Sometimes their father had already gone.
Then the children began waking up.
Like many families, we had one particular morning challenge: television.
The parents allowed the children to watch a show before I arrived, but once our weekday routine began, the television needed to go off. It was a perfectly reasonable rule.
Explaining that to a three-year-old who is halfway through a favorite show, however, is another matter entirely.
There were arguments about which program to watch. There were protests when it was time to turn it off. Sometimes a child would be so disappointed that even coming to the breakfast table became a struggle.
I could have spent every morning battling over the television.
Instead, I found something the children wanted even more.
I started reading to them during breakfast.
The arrangement was simple: as long as they were eating, I would keep reading.
Sometimes we read a favorite book again and again. Other times I brought home a collection from the local library. Around holidays, I looked for books that connected with whatever the children were experiencing and celebrating.
Before long, reading wasn’t simply my solution to turning off the television. It became part of our morning rhythm.
And I discovered something else.
Children’s books provide wonderful opportunities to introduce subjects that might otherwise feel like instructions coming from an adult.
Need to talk about brushing teeth? There’s a book for that.
Learning to swim? Sharing toys? Starting school? Managing big feelings? Welcoming a new sibling?
Books allow children to explore an idea through characters and stories rather than simply being told what they should or shouldn’t do.
For a nanny, parent or caregiver, that’s an incredibly useful tool.
The experience also reinforced something I’ve learned repeatedly while caring for children: a successful transition doesn’t always require stricter enforcement. Sometimes it requires giving the child something meaningful to transition toward.
I wasn’t simply taking away television.
I was replacing one enjoyable experience with another – one that gave us conversation, connection and learning at the same time.
Years later, I still think about those mornings because they illustrate what professional childcare can look like at its best.
The ordinary moments matter.
Breakfast can become literacy time. A difficult transition can become a comforting ritual. A children’s book can begin a conversation that might otherwise be difficult to start.
Sometimes the most effective childcare strategies aren’t complicated at all.
They’re simply thoughtful ways of meeting children where they are – and helping them move gently toward where they need to go.
Catherine Finn
Professional Nanny • Childcare Educator • Writer
The Best Nanny Coaches 