I just broke down today because I missed my son's first steps on the nanny cam while I was in a meeting

I'm a senior marketing manager. I work remotely but I’m glued to my laptop from 8 AM to 6 PM. I keep the nanny cam feed open on a separate monitor...it’s the only way I feel connected to my 11-month-old, Liam. Today, I was in an urgent, high stakes meeting with an exec. My head was down, taking notes, fully engaged. After the meeting, I checked the recording for the last hour.

And there it was. Liam pulled himself up on the couch, looked around, giggled, and took three wobbly, glorious steps right into the nanny’s arms.

I missed it. I missed my child’s first steps because I was arguing about Q4 budget projections.

I feel like a failure. I work this hard for him but I’m missing his whole life in the process. I feel like I'm a half-ass employee and a half-ass mom. Every time I get a promotion, the price is always paid by the time I have with him. Has anyone else traded a milestone for a meeting? How do you forgive yourself?