In several posts in the past 2-3 weeks, I mentioned a concern that Kate was not as taken with having a sitter as she was during the first four months or so. Her reactions to the sitter during the past week have convinced me that something else must have been bothering her and not the sitter. During that rocky period, she didn’t express any of the same enthusiasm when the sitter arrived or respond with appreciation when she left. That seems to be over. The past few times the sitter has arrived she has treated her more like a friend.
Yesterday I was especially concerned about how she might react because she slept late. That presents a problem from me because I like to take her to get a sandwich before the sitter comes at noon, and I leave for my weekly Rotary meeting. I checked on her about 10:15. She was still in bed but was awake. I asked her if she would want to get up so that I could take her to lunch, or if she would prefer to remain in bed and let the sitter take her to lunch. She said she would rather go with me. I told her I would like that but that she would need to get up, and she did.
By the time she was ready to leave, I could see that she would never finish eating before the sitter came. I called the sitter and told her to meet us at Panera. I’ve done that on two other occasions. I feel a little uncomfortable about doing this because we are always together for lunch, and I feel like it is a little abrupt to get up and leave her with the sitter. Of course, this is my problem, not Kate’s. Yesterday, I was particularly sensitive about her response since she had expressed a preference for me to take her to lunch. I needn’t have worried. All three of us handled it very naturally. Kate didn’t seem to mind at all. I was relieved and left for Rotary. More importantly, she thanked the sitter as she left when I returned, the same as she did last week with another sitter. I think we are back to our routine. All is well.
