In the seven years that my sons were in childcare—a period that began when my oldest was three months old and ended when my youngest hit kindergarten—I shelled out upwards of $80,000.

It was worth every penny.

Handing over that last check, I felt as if there should be champagne, or at least balloons falling from the ceiling. Because child care will remain one of the best investments I ever made.

Moms who work from home and use child care often get judged: Can’t she work around the baby’s schedule? Isn’t she throwing her money away? Is it a teeny bit selfish?!

For me, child care was never an indulgence but an investment in my business, no different from a decent computer and reliable broadband.

And it also made me a more relaxed mother. For his first five months, my youngest son was home with me as I launched my freelance career. I had to work—that wasn’t an option. But did I have to work with my baby in a swing, ticking like a metronome behind me?

That $80,000 sounds steep, but I wonder: How much less money might I have earned if I hadn’t invested it? It’s worth pondering...over a glass of champagne.

Welcome to the jungle. How do you make working-motherhood work?

Denise Schipani blogs at Confessions of a Mean Mommy. Her new book, Mean Moms Rule: Why Doing the Hard Stuff Now Creates Good Kids Later (Sourcebooks, 2012) is available for pre-order now.