By Catherine Finn
I became a professional nanny because I genuinely enjoy children—their energy, their curiosity, their humor, and the wonderfully honest way they experience the world. Over the years, I studied child development, taught in preschool settings, raised two children of my own, and worked to make caring for children more than a job. I wanted it to be a profession.
That experience taught me something I did not expect: perspective can change after we step into someone else’s reality.
What Is “The Main Thing”?
We often hear the phrase, “Keep the main thing the main thing.” It sounds simple until two people discover that they have completely different ideas about what the main thing actually is.
I once had a conversation with a parent about childcare. As we talked, I believed we had reached an understanding that the children and what was best for them were the central concern. She smiled and nodded, and I walked away thinking we were speaking the same language.
Later, I realized we were not.
From my perspective as a childcare professional, the main thing was the children’s development, emotional well-being, safety, and nurture. From her perspective as a working parent responsible for keeping a roof over her family’s head, the immediate priority was having a dependable person arrive so she could go to work.
Neither perspective erased the other. They simply came from different responsibilities.
That realization stayed with me. It reminded me that words such as “important,” “priority,” and even “best” can mean different things depending on where a person is standing.
A New Perspective on Children and Technology
I think about that lesson now as technology—and especially artificial intelligence—becomes a larger part of everyday life.
My concern is not that children should grow up without technology. Technology is already part of their world, and artificial intelligence will likely become increasingly familiar to them. The more interesting question is whether children can grow up with both technological competence and deeply human skills.
The first years of life are filled with development that cannot be reduced to a screen or an algorithm. Children learn through relationships, conversation, movement, play, frustration, comfort, observation, laughter, and the experience of being known by another person.
Perhaps the goal does not need to be AI or humanity.
Perhaps it can be AI and humanity.
Children can learn how to use powerful tools while also learning empathy, patience, imagination, communication, resilience, and the ability to connect with another human being.
Keeping Humanity in the Conversation
Every generation grows up alongside changes that shape the way people live. We are watching an extraordinary technological change happen in real time. That makes this an important moment for parents, educators, nannies, and everyone who helps raise children.
We do not have to fear technology in order to protect what is human.
We can teach children to use new tools while continuing to give them what children have always needed: attentive adults, meaningful conversation, imaginative play, boundaries, affection, time, and genuine human connection.
My perspective has changed through experience. I have learned that understanding another person often begins when I stop assuming that their “main thing” is the same as mine.
And as artificial intelligence becomes part of childhood, perhaps our responsibility is not to choose between technology and humanity, but to make sure humanity remains part of the main thing.
Catherine Finn | Professional Nanny • Childcare Writer
.
The Best Nanny Coaches 