Kate got up at 6:15 this morning. She went to the bathroom. Then she asked what she should do. I told her it was still early and thought she might like to go back to bed. She accepted my suggestion and stayed there until 7:30 when she got up again. I went to the bedroom to see if she needed anything. She wanted to know if she had something to do. She wasn’t specific, but it seemed like she thought she might have an obligation to be someplace. I told her the only thing on her agenda was to have lunch with Cindy. She is the sitter that I have tried to position as a friend who takes her to lunch while I go to Rotary. Of course, she stays longer than it takes for lunch, but Kate doesn’t have a sense of time.
Then Kate asked what she could do “right now.” I told her I could take her to Panera for a muffin. She liked the idea. As we drove up to the restaurant, she said, “We’ve been here before.” We stayed less than an hour before she wanted to go home.
When we got home, we sat down on the sofa in the family room to look at one of her photo books. I chose the “Big Sister” Album. We started with the front cover. I said, “Do you know who they are?” She pointed to the girl and said, “Moi.” Then I asked about the boy. She said, “My brother.” I asked if she knew his name. She said, “What is it?”,
We looked at a photo of her mother and father with Kate nestled in between them. I pointed to her mother and asked if she knew who that was. She hesitated a moment and then said, “My mother.” I asked if she knew her name. She said, “Kate.” I said, “That’s your name. She laughed, and I said, “Your mother’s name is Elizabeth.” Then I pointed to her father and asked who he was. She didn’t know but guessed that he was an uncle.
We didn’t get but a couple of pages before she said she was tired and asked if we could look at the album later. I told her that would be fine, and she lay down on the sofa. She said, “I might not see you for three hours.” I wasn’t surprised. She had gotten up much earlier than usual. She needed the sleep.
