Families: Super Mannies

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Among the most anxious skeptics are territorial dads. Actor Mandy Patinkin, who raves about the two male nannies he and his wife Kathryn Grody hired when sons Isaac, 19, and Gideon, 15, were younger, says he was initially jealous. "Then I quickly realized that I'm going to be a dad in my own way. And as the kids grow, it's amazing to see things they imitate in each of us. It's as if they had three parents."

Will more dads and moms overcome their uneasiness and try male nannies? Well, it's unlikely that the guys will outnumber their female colleagues anytime soon, but chances are that mannies are here to stay--in some cases, for longer than they had planned. Rob Aquino, who fell in love with Nina Schultz's twins, took a year off from college to care for them. Now he's thinking of staying with the boys another year.