It’s been a while since I’ve commented on Kate and her sitters. That’s a good sign. Everything has been going well. Yesterday was a good example. Kate was up much earlier, and we returned from Panera about 10:15. She was tired and made her way to the sofa as soon as we walked in.
The sitter, Cindy, arrived about 11:50. She is always early. I like that because it gives me a little more time to get to Rotary before 12:30. I met her at the door and walked with her to the family room. Then I walked over to Kate and said, “Guess who’s here? Cindy. And she’s taking you to lunch.” Kate immediately sat up and with a big smile told her she was glad to see her.”
When I got home, I walked into the kitchen and said, “I’m back.” I heard Kate say enthusiastically, “Good.” She was happy to see me, but it didn’t seem like she was greatly relieved. That kind of departure and return home is what I like to see. I want her to feel comfortable with her sitters. The more comfortable she is the better I feel about leaving her.
That has taken a long time. In fact, it has been two years and two months since I first engaged the sitters. It is only in the past 4-6 weeks that I have felt good about leaving. Sometimes she still asks, “What are we going to do?” (as she did yesterday) when I am ready to leave, but she doesn’t seem uneasy about my departure. On Mondays, I tell her that Cindy is taking her to lunch. That seems to take care of any concern she has. Sometimes she says, “I don’t have any money.” I tell her that Cindy can pay with a gift card I bought.
I started with two sitters, one on Monday and the other on Wednesday and Friday. Each visit is four hours from noon until 4:00 on Monday and 1:00 until 5:00 the other days. When I began, I fully expected to increase the number of days and/or the amount of time they are here. I haven’t because I don’t feel the need. Our insurance covers eight hours a day. That gives me plenty of room to increase Kate’s care at no cost, but I still enjoy being with her.
Having said that, I do find that my personal time is declining. That is true largely because I need to be more directly involved in entertaining her. That relates to her not using the iPad as much. Some of that is offset by her resting more, but I don’t want her to rest solely because she doesn’t know what to do. Given these changes, I may find myself open to adding more time in the next six months or so.
We have been lucky in that Mary, the Wednesday/Friday sitter, has been with us since almost the beginning. That continuity has made me feel better. I think it has been good for Kate as well. We have had several changes with our Monday sitter. Cindy, the current one, has been with us several months. I am comfortable with both of them and hope they will be around for the forseeable future.
