When a woman becomes a mother, it's like she's cut in half. From that moment on, you're constantly choosing between your child and your career. It's not like you can just walk away from what you do, and you also have this little being for whom you are now responsible. While your instinct is that you have to be there every minute of the day, you just can't. And that sets up a conflict—whether it's guilt, I don't know, but it's reality. For most of my career, I've had to travel. Right after my daughter, Annie, was born in 1988, I went to France to film Dangerous Liaisons. I weaned Annie just before we started shooting, when she was 7 weeks old. I'd heard that six weeks of breastfeeding was the crucial time, though I was thinking that I could breastfeed longer, but in retrospect it would have been impossible to do wearing those eighteenth-century corsets! My eyes are bright red throughout the film because I wasn't getting any sleep. But I was lucky in that I met this wonderful woman, Katie Law, who was there when I brought Annie home from the hospital and who stayed with us throughout my time in France. There was no way I could have done it without her.

For most of Annie's childhood, I was a single working mother, and one of the biggest obstacles I faced was child care. I've been extremely blessed to be able to afford live-in care, but I still struggled to find the perfect caregiver for my child. I found that person, Pat Heath, through an employment agency when Annie was 2, and she was with us until a year ago, when Annie graduated from high school. Many nannies stipulate that they'll work only a certain number of hours or give a list of what they will and won't do. Pat wasn't like that, and she became Annie's other mom. We had this dynamic where she was the disciplinarian and I was the softie, probably as a result of my guilt from traveling so much. Pat was always at home and provided Annie with the stability that every child should have.

When Annie was young, we'd all decamp, with the dogs and everything, and go wherever I was working. But after Annie started school, it wasn't fair to make her live the nomadic life I'd chosen. I began selecting roles based on how long I would have to be away from home and where it would fall during her school year. Sometimes she came with me and was tutored, but it was never ideal. I was thankful to have Pat, so if I had to be away I knew Annie would be home and safe with someone she trusted and loved dearly. Annie has always understood that our lives are different.

I think the complication of being the child of a single parent and the child of a high-profile parent is that you feel like you're competing with the demands of this unnamed public. I once dated an actor who was starring in a successful musical. I was doing theater at the time, and my curtain came down before his did. I would watch the end of his show and sense the audience lusting after him, which makes you feel really weird. I thought, This might be what the child of a celebrity feels like—almost invisible. I had discussions with Annie about why I had to work, but it doesn't make sense to a child. I don't think children are comforted by an explanation. What's important is your presence. "I love you" means nothing to a child if it's always heard over the phone.

I was doing Sunset Boulevard on Broadway when Annie was 6, and a car would come to take me to the theater at 5:00 p.m. One day I asked Annie, "Is the car in the driveway?" and she said, "No." I looked out and it was there. So I knew that the six nights a week away from home, being away for dinner, for stories, for bedtime, was taking its toll on her. Even though the show was at the peak of its popularity, I didn't renew my contract. Another time, when Annie was about 10, she said to me, "I want you. I want all of you." Even though I was home, I was producing, and that meant phone call after phone call, so that while I was there, I wasn't really there. I gave up producing, mainly for that reason. I've sacrificed a great deal in terms of career opportunities and, in some cases, relationships.

Being the breadwinner and mother took up all my time and energy, and I wasn't able to focus on anything else, much less a demanding personal relationship. I took two years off for Annie's junior and senior years of high school because I wanted to enjoy time together before she left for college. I also got married [to biotech entrepreneur David Shaw], so it was an important two years! But in this profession, taking two years off is problematic. People forget you very fast.

Thankfully I have a new series, Damages, on FX, which is shot in New York. Annie's within driving distance of our home in Connecticut, and I didn't want to be far from home for her first year of college. My character, Patty Hewes, is a successful litigation lawyer and runs her own law firm. She has a 17-year-old son, and she's dealing with fallout there because she was never around for him. All in all, I've been a good mom. Annie would probably say the same. I think that as a working mother, you can't have it all. There are only 24 hours in a day. It's not easy, but you also don't want to deny who you are and what your gifts are.

GUEST COLUMNIST: Glenn Close, 60, Golden Globe winner, Emmy winner, three-time Tony winner and five-time Academy Award nominee. She plays litigator Patty Hewes in a new TV series, Damages, on the FX network. Mom to 19-year-old Annie, Close lives with her husband, David Shaw, in Connecticut.