Contrary to Speculation, John Lennon Left the Nanny Decision up to His Wife

John Lennon was a chart-topping musician and a father to Julian Lennon and Sean Taro Ono Lennon. He didn’t have a nanny for his first child, with Cynthia Lennon later elaborating on the reason why during her memoir John. Here’s what we learned from the Beatles member’s ex-wife.

John and Cynthia Lennon had their son — Julian — in 1963

John Lennon was writing and recording music for the Beatles while still attending school. At the same time, this musician began his relationship with college classmate Cynthia Lennon (then Cynthia Powell). 

The two were married shortly after Cynthia Lennon became pregnant. Julian Lennon, named after John Lennon’s mother, was born on April 8, 1963. 

John Lennon left the decision of hiring a nanny to his wife

In her memoir John, Cynthia Lennon detailed John Lennon’s relationship with her son. She answered questions about being a mother and cleared the air regarding the reason the Lennons’ didn’t hire a nanny.

“Too often I’ve seen it reported that John wouldn’t allow me to have a nanny for Julian, insisting that I bring him up with no help, as a reaction to his own mother-deprived childhood,” Cynthia Lennon wrote. 

John Lennon’s parents were separated by the time he was 5 years old. As a result, the musician was predominately raised by his Aunt Mimi, who, as noted by Cynthia Lennon, didn’t have the most nurturing disposition. 

With disposable income available to John and Cynthia Lennon as the Beatles became more successful, the couple could hire help for their son — but chose not to. 

“In fact, he left it to me and I chose not to have a nanny,” she clarified in the same memoir. “Julian was a source of delight: I loved being with him and watching him learn new things every day.”

Because he was often away from home, Lennon once wrote to his ex-wife, confessing it was a “slow process” for him to feel “like a real father.” He said he wasted time not playing with Julian. 

However, after divorcing Cynthia Lennon and moving to New York with Yoko Ono, seeing Julian became even more complicated. Julian Lennon grew up in his father’s footsteps, becoming a musician and inheriting a guitar from the former Beatles member.

How many children did John Lennon have?

John and Cynthia Lennon only had one child together — Julian. The two were officially divorced in 1968, with John Lennon marrying Yoko Ono in 1969.

Through his second marriage, though, John Lennon had another son. That was Sean Taro Ono Lennon, born on Oct. 9, 1975. Sean Ono Lennon actually shared the same birth date as his father and also grew up to be a songwriter and producer.

Yoko Ono already had a daughter from her previous marriage who intermittently spent time with the former Beatles member — Kyoko Chan Cox.