Who Needs Parents?
We've gotten used to the babysitter farewell. The babysitter arrives, we show her whatever basics we need to go through (diaper location, emergency numbers, bedtime routine, etc.) Fiona plays happily, until the time comes that we kneel down to tell her we're going out for the evening, that we love her, and that we'll see her in the morning. Like any toddler, she starts wailing, we slink out the door, and the babysitter tries to swing into action to distract Fiona from her temporarily absent parents.
Last night we had a new babysitter--Miriam, the current assistant at Fiona's day care. We (Fiona and her parents) were enjoying an early dinner and playing a vigorous game of "let go" when Miriam arrived. Fiona suddenly froze in her high chair with a confused/distressed look on her face. We'd told Fiona earlier that Miriam would be coming to play with her while Mommy and Daddy went to a show and it looked like Fiona was upset because a moment she'd feared had arrived.
Well, whatever fears she might have had quickly disappeared because as soon as we put her down on the ground she ran up to Miriam and grabbed her hand and started pulling her towards her toys. As we showed Miriam around and tried to give her basic instructions, Fiona kept shouting out Miriam's name and trying to pull her back to her toys.
But the really shocking moment for us came ten minutes later when we knelt down to say our goodbyes for the evening. "Bye bye Fiona," we said. "You're going to play with Miriam and we'll see you in the morning."
As I said, this is usually when the eyes well up, the look of betrayal crosses her face, and the full power of our daughter's lungs is put to a demonstration. But this time, Fiona just looked up at us with a smile and said "okay, bye."
We walked out the door with stunned expressions, very happy that Fiona feels secure enough to know her parents will return, and very happy that Fiona likes her day care providers so much that she'll happy play with them in lieu of her parents.
(Oh, and Aunt Kathy: obviously the bar has been raised for your next babysitting visit!)
Last night we had a new babysitter--Miriam, the current assistant at Fiona's day care. We (Fiona and her parents) were enjoying an early dinner and playing a vigorous game of "let go" when Miriam arrived. Fiona suddenly froze in her high chair with a confused/distressed look on her face. We'd told Fiona earlier that Miriam would be coming to play with her while Mommy and Daddy went to a show and it looked like Fiona was upset because a moment she'd feared had arrived.
Well, whatever fears she might have had quickly disappeared because as soon as we put her down on the ground she ran up to Miriam and grabbed her hand and started pulling her towards her toys. As we showed Miriam around and tried to give her basic instructions, Fiona kept shouting out Miriam's name and trying to pull her back to her toys.
But the really shocking moment for us came ten minutes later when we knelt down to say our goodbyes for the evening. "Bye bye Fiona," we said. "You're going to play with Miriam and we'll see you in the morning."
As I said, this is usually when the eyes well up, the look of betrayal crosses her face, and the full power of our daughter's lungs is put to a demonstration. But this time, Fiona just looked up at us with a smile and said "okay, bye."
We walked out the door with stunned expressions, very happy that Fiona feels secure enough to know her parents will return, and very happy that Fiona likes her day care providers so much that she'll happy play with them in lieu of her parents.
(Oh, and Aunt Kathy: obviously the bar has been raised for your next babysitting visit!)
posted by BWC at
10:06 AM
2 Comments:
I passed, right?
With flying colors, Kathy. Flying colors.
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