by Marie Calvo-Monge
Guam - Amidst the clutter of court documents, infinite faxes, and steno pads filled with notes for dozens of stories on Mindy Aguon's desk, you'll find a drum set, a plastic golf club, a Sippy cup, a baseball and maybe a few snacks - all evidence of the presence of one of the youngest members of the KUAM family.
John Patrick Xander Aguon was born on September 26, 2008, and his mom says, "Thanks to KUAM I was able to be out for two and a half months to stay home with him and then I came back to work." During the first year of her son's life, Mindy remained dedicated to going home and nursing Xander, despite hectic schedules and breaking news.
And from time to time, her little energetic guy makes his appearances at the office. Mindy said, "It's hard to have Xander at work. I'm blessed to have my mother-in-law, who watches him during the day, but sometimes when she has appointments and things I bring him and I'm also blessed that KUAM is very family-friendly. And so Xander has just become another part of our KUAM family here. Fortunately, there's always people who are willing to watch him for a little bit so I can work, but working and watching him is a challenge."
From playing ball around the office, picking up the mail with Crazy Uncle Jason Salas, to getting snacks from his nina and others around the office, Xander's managed to make KUAM his second home, just like his mommy. While the non-stop action of being a mother and a journalist can be exhausting, Mindy says the help of her husband, J.P., plays a huge role in her success of being able to juggle it all.
"Co-parenting has a lot to do with me being able to juggle work outside of normal work hours and sometimes he comes with me," she continued. "It may not get done when I want it to get done, but at the end of the day everything gets done and he's a happy baby and work gets done. And that's all that really matters."
And after the news workday is over, its home to her lil' slugger. "Even though we work long hours," she said, "we try to manage and make time for him every single day, so I hope he realizes that even though we're not always with him, he knows later in life that it was all so that we could provide for him and give him the best of everything."
Raising Xander has made this mommy learn that there's no playbook for being a parent or a working mom. She's just proud to be what she calls "a perfectly imperfect parent" whose enormous love for her son keeps her going each day. "It can be stressful juggling a full-time job and a kid, and sometimes you feel like you're at your wits' end and you're probably always tired like I am.
"But I think God gives mothers this special talent to be able to juggle everything and just knowing everything will work out and a lot of prayer will help, too," she said, the ever-present smile across her face shared perfectly with her beloved son.
