Apparently, Abigail is not the center of the universe after all. I’ve had some temporary medical restrictions put on my normal activities, and a few different people have come to take up the slack, and Abigail, while able to roll with it, is still disgruntled. First, Abi’s beloved and loving Auntie Marie came for several days (and did not even flinch at cleaning poop out of the potty!) She took Abigail to the museum and to the fair and generally made life fun. Even so, Abigail was getting snippy with her by the time she left and refusing to let Marie take her to the potty or help her get dressed.

Next, I hired my friend Kathy as a part-time nanny/mother’s helper for a few weeks. I thought Kathy’s kind, gentle demeanor and grandmotherly affection would be a great fit with Abigail– the two of them seem to be kindred spirits in kindness. But, alas, Abigail dislikes having to spend every morning with someone other than me, even someone very nice and up for a good time. Once they got back from an outing and I wasn’t home from my own errand-running yet. Meltdown. That night, she asked for a story in which Swiper was mad at his mommy. I started in on a story in which his mommy wouldn’t let him have all the candy. “No. Not that,” said Abigail. “Swiper’s mommy went to buy clothes and she wasn’t there when Swiper came.” Message received. A few days after that, she emerged from naptime with the announcement, “I don’t want nobody in my house. Just you and me and daddy.” Sigh.

We’ve still got four more days with Kathy, one day with her fave babysitter, and then three days with my mom. Abigail knows that the doctor says I can’t pick her up and I can’t run around a lot and so on, but she doesn’t see why that means bringing in other people. I usually absent myself so that she will allow them to care for her (if I’m around, she will demand me instead). So I think she feels a bit like she is being foisted off on others so I can go shopping and get haircuts. Why, she wonders, would I pick a haircut over her? Good thing it’s just temporary!