In Loco Asparagus

The three most important people in my daughter's life are Mommy, Daddy, and the nanny.

During any given week, the kidlet spends more time with her nanny, who we'll call Leta, than she does with either parent. I used to find this a little troubling -- we went through a phase where the kidlet would run into Leta's arms immediately upon her arrival in the morning, showing no further interest in either mommy or daddy. Same thing when I got home in the evening: I'd get a rather perfunctory smooch hello, and then she'd return to whatever game she was playing with Leta. Leta would do a little cajoling to get the kidlet to give Mommy a little more affection -- which always made me feel worse than the initial lack of enthusiasm. But I'm pleased to announce that the all-Leta-all-the-time stage has passed, and Mommy is ascendant! (I figure I have maybe another year until Daddy overtakes me as my daughter's true love, so I'm trying to relish my fleeting role as Favorite Parent as fully as possible.)

Now that my natural place in the universe has been restored, I have returned to my usual level of satisfaction with how the nannying arrangement is working out. Leta is very sweet and gentle, adores the kidlet, and enjoys telling me all the stories about what they did that day. A friend actually asked me today whether I'd quit my job without telling her, because I'd relayed a number of playdate stories in such detail that she assumed I must have been there.

I of course have a few gripes here and there, but they're relatively minor in the grand scheme of things. Leta isn't particularly creative on either the dressing or the feeding of my daughter. She rotates the same several outfits over and over rather than digging down a little deeper in the drawer to put on the fifteen other outfits that lurk beneath the favored few. And I could stock a refrigerator full of interesting things to tempt the little one's palate, but unless I explain each particular item, Leta is extremely unlikely to come up with any innovative new lunch for her. She is kind of a wuss about walking in the rain, and so the kidlet tends to skip her little toddler gym and music classes on days when it's raining. But really, these quirks are far from catastrophic. At the end of the day, she loves my kid, is sweet and kind to her, and lets me share in the fun of their day. The quirks are just quirks -- and I'm sure that as a caregiver, I myself have quirks aplenty. So I'll happily remind Leta for the eighth time that there's asparagus in the fridge, so long as I know my daughter is getting the love she deserves.