Former Countryfile presenter Julia Bradbury has a confession that most of us can empathise with to some degree. She revealed that her children, 4-year-old son Zephyr and twin girls Xanthe and Zena, prefer their nanny, Jenny, to her.

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The 45-year-old mum-of-3 spoke candidly about her childcare choices at the recent book launch for 22 Ideas That Saved The English Countryside, citing her busy work schedule - as a TV presenter - as the reason she introduced a live-in nanny to her household.

“It’s the most important job in the world looking after your children, so for me the only way is to have them as a part of your family.

“There’s no such thing as a 9 to 5 in my situation,” she said of her job, according to the Mail Online. “It’s just about all planning together and making sure you’ve got the gaps covered.”

Julia described nanny Jenny as a ‘big sister’ figure for her kids, and that she’s a natural at taking care of the little ones.

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“I think as the parent you’ve got to give your nanny as much autonomy as you possibly can.

"There are no jealousies - if one of them falls over and goes to her, I can’t go ‘owww!’ because if I’m not there, I need that to happen.”

Sure, we don’t all have nannies, but for a variety of different reasons, there might be someone else involved in a large chunk of the childcare – whether that’s a professional or dad, partner, auntie, uncle, sibling or grandparent.

And it’s always a tough moment when your child goes scuttling off to them for comfort during a crisis, instead of you.

(Unless it's 4.30 in the morning, of course ?)

But Julia’s approach to combating those feelings, and how she feels about working with young children, is pretty well-balanced.

Above all else, Julia said: "You have to be sensible about it. You can’t feel guilty.”

We definitely like Julia’s outlook on things.

Image: Instagram/Julia Bradbury

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