I'm 58 and work as a nanny. I wish I could be as present with my own grandchildren.

• Sharon Binkey is a part-time nanny with a degree in early childhood education.
• Binkey, 58, says she'd love to babysit her six grandkids but is estranged from her daughters.

This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Sharon Binkey, 58, a part-time nanny and book author from Pittsburgh. It has been edited for length and clarity.

I often joke that we've "adopted" a family with three small children whom we met through some friends.

My husband, Gary, 60, and I live on a farm with horses, barn cats, and, until recently, chickens. The kids come up to visit with their parents because they love to see the animals.

Gary is a jack-of-all-trades and very outdoorsy. He'll build bonfires, and they're fascinated when they watch them burn.

I have a real rapport with children and became a nanny about a decade and a half ago. At the moment, I look after a 5-year-old boy and his 3-year-old sister for 20 hours a week. Both parents have one day off a week, and they incorporate help from grandparents to fill in the gaps.

I can't stop wishing that I could provide the same help to my daughters, who have six children between them. Unfortunately, we don't see or talk to each other anymore.

I'm a nanny for a couple I met in church

Children are — and have always been — my world. In my early 20s, I went back to college after having my first baby to do a degree in child psychology and early childhood development.

I worked with autistic kids for 11 years and watched my sister's five children, one of whom was blind and in a wheelchair. I'd spend every summer at their house in Boston. Around 2008 I became a nanny and have been providing on-and-off childcare ever since.

I honestly believe divine intervention was involved in getting me my current job. I was at church, and after mass was done, I leaned over to speak to a young couple with a baby in the pew in front.

"Oh, what a beautiful boy," I said. We started up a conversation and ended up talking about our jobs. The mom said she was about to finish her maternity leave and return to work as a physician assistant.

However, she was having trouble with childcare. It hadn't worked out with the woman they'd originally wanted to hire. By coincidence, I'd been nannying for another family who recently moved out of the area.

We got to know each other, and I got the job. It was the perfect opportunity for everyone involved. Five years on, I still look after their son and, for the last three years, their daughter at my home.

We'd be hands-on grandparents

Gary and I keep ourselves busy around the farm in our spare time. We bought ourselves a camper and do a lot of traveling. It's our special time together, but it also feels sad that there's just the two of us.

When we see kids on our trips, they're drawn to me and I to them. I enjoy their company and love their curiosity. Gary had health problems in the past and received a heart transplant, but it hasn't stopped him from being active and playing games with the little ones.

Our interactions with other people's children have made me realize that Gary and I would have a lot to offer as hands-on grandparents. We wouldn't impose, but we still want to be involved. I pray every day that our dream will come true and we can see our own family again.

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