Dear Abby advises parents who feel as though their daughter has cast them out of her life after arriving early to babysit her children.
Our adult daughter has children we adore. She asked if we could help out by watching them for a few hours occasionally, and we jumped at that. We had done this regularly before the delivery of the newest addition (three months ago), and the kids would occasionally spend the night. With the new addition, she wanted us to come to her house to watch them, and that was OK as well — anything to ease her anxiety about leaving the baby.
On our first visit, she asked that we not come early, to allow her time to get ready. The second time, we showed up about 10 minutes early. I didn’t realize we were early. I habitually run slightly late. When she opened the door (hand never leaving the door), she said, “I thought I asked you not to come early.”
I handed her the food we had brought for the older children, along with some of her things, and started to head back out, because she announced she would just call their father to get off work early. I kissed her cheek, said “I love you,” and told the children I loved them.
