Yesterday I left Kate with the sitter fully confident that they were headed to lunch. I had waked her moments before Cindy arrived. When she walked in, I said, “Your Monday lunch date has arrived.” Kate greeted her warmly. I left feeling like I had set things up beautifully and that they would have good time at lunch while I was at Rotary. The big surprise came when I arrived home.
Kate and Cindy were seated in the family room. Kate was looking through a TCU magazine. I got the impression that she had just opened it. I asked about lunch, and Cindy said they never got to lunch. Kate told her she wanted to rest. She apparently did so until near the time I got home.
I walked Cindy to her car and told her I was disappointed that Kate had not had lunch and that she had napped so long. I started to encourage her to be more assertive with her next time. Then she said she tried several times to get her up, but Kate preferred to rest. I told her that she did the right thing. I didn’t want her to force her. She suggested that next time I might walk to the car with them and that she might be more responsive to me than to her. I’ll think about that. I do think this particular sitter is a bit timid. I am sure the person she replaced would have gotten her there.
After Cindy left, I figured that Kate would be ready to get out of the house. It didn’t happen. She said she wanted to rest. She proceeded to rest for another hour before we left for dinner. When we returned from our Monday night Mexican meal, she worked puzzles for about an hour. Then we adjourned to our bedroom where she spent another hour looking through the “Big Sister Album.” This was the first time that I have been aware of her spending so much time by herself with the album. I usually look along with her but decided to see how she would do without my help. I was glad to see that she could appreciate what she was seeing; however, she did call on me frequently to identify people and to read some of the text.
I was a bit concerned about her having trouble going to sleep, but we went to bed at the usual time. After all the rest she got yesterday, I expect that she will be ready to start the day a little earlier today. I hope so, but I also sense that her recent erratic habits with sleep and rest are another sign of the decline she is experiencing.
