Introducing... MIMI!

Hi! I am Megan. (And I'm Caroline.  You know me from blogs such as this one.)  Caroline and I have spent long hours trying to figure out what words to use to most accurately explain “the situation.” We have failed miserably, multiple times, so bear with me... 

I am Aidan’s nanny. (She is that.)

I am also Aidan’s Mimi and Caroline’s best friend. (That too.)

Perhaps, I should start from the beginning. (Yes, please do!)

A few years ago, Caroline and I met at the local rock climbing gym. Through our mutual love of eating (and rock climbing), we became friends.  (She WOULD say eating first.  I swear, those days, I climbed a little more often and ate a little less often.)  Then one day, my friend Caroline brought home her little bug, Aidan, and I fell in love.  (I hope she means with me!) Over the past two years, Caroline, her husband, and Aidan have made a place for me in their family. I taught Aidan his first funny sound, which turned out to sound surprisingly like he was choking (Sorry, Caroline!!) (Not forgiven yet!). I helped identify his first major food allergy, soy, by feeding Caroline vegetarian “tacos” (Whoopsiedoodle, Caroline!) (Why on EARTH didn't we just use cow?). 

Can you believe this little chubber wubber fell off the growth charts?  Un-possible!  This was THE VERY NIGHT of the soypocalypse!

 I pondered over Aidan’s shocking change in temperament after becoming food-fed alongside Caroline and Tom. I sat through training and supported Caroline and Tom the first time they placed Aidan’s NG tube. I stayed the night in the hospital when our bug needed a few extra days after G-tube surgery. (I wouldn't have survived that hospital stay without her.  Seriously.)

In my own life, I was working as a Senior Product Development Scientist at the same company that hired me straight from college 9 years ago and aware that I needed to make a change because I was not happy. One day, as the story with Aidan and his disorder unfolded and Caroline and her worries about how to keep him safe in daycare when both parents needed to work full-time became clear, on a whim I said, “If it ever came down to it, I would be willing to quit my job and stay home with Aidan while I figure out what I’m doing next.” As soon as I said it, although I was 100% genuine in my offer, I was positive I sounded ridiculous…but here we all are.  (I knew right then I had to take her up on it before she changed her mind, or forgot that she'd offered, or she fell off a cliff or something.  This way would be so much easier than kidnapping.)

Caroline and I have a hard time finding the best words to explain our situation because we are sensitive to folks thinking I’m just the nanny or just a babysitter or that it’s a shame Aidan isn’t in daycare with a real teacher. I am keenly aware of his disorder, intimately aware of how to feed and care for him, and profoundly honored to be such a huge part of his life. He is a wonderful, loving, and intelligent boy whom I can’t imagine loving any more if he were my own son.

(In all seriousness, I feel profoundly lucky to have Megan in our lives.  The ability to go to work secure in the knowledge that my son is as safe and loved as he would be in my own arms is something that most mothers would kill for.  When Megan says she loves him like her own, those aren't just words.  She truly does, and he loves her right back with all of his sweet little heart.  We might be a strange family.  We might be a complicated one.  But we're a happy family, and very lucky to have one another!)

So as Caroline prepares for her new job I am happily decorating the daycare in our basement! (It looks awesome down there!)