I worked as a nanny for many years and then as a preschool teacher (2½ to 4 year olds) and now I'm a mum to a 5 month old and I can deffinately see advantages to both types of childcare.

To blow my own trumpet, I was a super-nanny. I did laundry, cleaning, groceries, gardening, picked up drycleaning, took the kids to the beach, to mum-and-me, baked with them, made yummy homemade food and made them interested in ingredients and methods, supported and encouraged them, gave them limits and of course lots of love. I had all my 'mums' love me to bits except for one who loved me and then hated me but that was her own self esteem issue because I could do all the things she could but I could have time off! (!) -but we're friends now! I know other women who have been very dedicated nannies (one in particular who I worked with in Ireland was a saint) and plenty who feel it's a great job because all you have to do is make sure the kid gets fed and napped and not hurt themselves and you can sit around the rest of the time reading magazines and drinking coffee. Being a good nanny is a hard job because it's not just a 9-5 job. You can't help but be personally involved and fall in love with the kids. One sweet boy I used to look after loved to go for family bike rides and once asked his mum if I could go on the family bike rides with them...that was so touching! I only left them because their youngest would have been starting school soon and I needed to have a job with more hours than they could give me and where I'd pay tax and be part of the system.

I was also once a shared nanny where 2 mums who are friends needed me 2-3 days each per week, so they'd get on the phone to each other and negotiate who would have me when and then one of them would call me and give me my weeks schedule...perfect! I ended up doing between 30-50 hours a week with those 2 and it was very flexible and convenient for everyone. They had a spare-sitter for the times when they both needed me or sometimes I'd look after all of their kids together but that was tough as there were 3 under 3.

Same goes with working in preschools. You have people who take the job and then try to change it into what they want rather than fitting into the mould that the school and its dirrectors dictate or that do the bare minimum and others who really do take their work home with them and will stay after they've clocked off to talk to parents about their child.