- First Lady Melania Trump has said she doesn't have a nanny to help raise her son, Barron. Donald Trump has said they do have a live-in nanny.
- Melania Trump says she wants to be a "full-time" and "hands-on" mom.
- Many rich and powerful people seem to avoid addressing the fact that they've hired help with childcare.
Melania Trump reportedly won't hire a nanny to help raise her 11-year-old son, Barron.
In 2015, the First Lady told People magazine, "I like to be hands-on. I think it's very important." Donald Trump agreed: "If you have too much help, you don't get to know your children."
That same year, Melania Trump shared her parenting philosophy with Parenting.com: "I am a full time mom; that is my first job. The most important job ever. I started my business when he started school."
At that point, her parenting duties included preparing breakfast and lunch for Barron (even though the Trumps reportedly have a personal chef), dropping him off and picking him up from school, and spending the afternoon with him.
—MELANIA TRUMP (@MELANIATRUMP) April 15, 2015
The New York Post, meanwhile, reported that the Trumps do, in fact, have a live-in nanny for Barron.
Regardless of whether the Trumps have a nanny, the larger trend here is that many rich and powerful people flaunt their parenting prowess, ignoring or downplaying the role that hired help might play.
Ivanka Trump, for example, received some criticism for barely acknowledging the fact that she has two nannies in her book "Women Who Work."
Interestingly, Vanity Fair reports that Ivanka Trump, along with her siblings Donald, Jr. and Eric, had two nannies to help take care of them before they were sent to boarding school. (They also spent a lot of time with their maternal grandparents, according to Vanity Fair.)
Many celebrities avoid publicizing the fact that they've hired help with childcare
It's unclear whether Barack and Michelle Obama hired help raising Malia and Sasha during their time in the White House; same goes for George and Laura Bush. But according to Newsweek, Bill and Hillary Clinton had a nanny when Chelsea was growing up.
A recent article in The New York Times, titled, "Where Are All the Nannies on Instagram?" suggests that nannies are the "forgotten faces" (as one family therapist put it) of celebrity lifestyles.
"I think many of us on social media, probably subconsciously, want to perpetuate this idea that we're doing it all on our own," Natalia Mehlman Petrzela, an associate professor of history at the New School and a mother of two, told The Times.
"Celebrities like to look hands-on and that kind of thing," Beth Torre, a spokeswoman for Celebrities Staffing Services, told Forbes, referring specifically to celebrities in Hollywood.
Melania Trump also told Parenting.com that parenting responsibilities fall primarily on her, and not on her husband. Noting that Barron and his father have a "beautiful relationship," she said:
"[Donald Trump] didn't change diapers and I am completely fine with that. It is not important to me. It's all about what works for you. It's very important to know the person you're with. And we know our roles. I didn't want him to change the diapers or put Barron to bed. I love every minute of it."
