September 8, 2003 - Monday
Jeremy's baby-sitter, Mary, is on vacation this week so we made arrangements for Jeremy to go to one of Mary's friend's house, Larissa, for the mornings. Jeremy's been to Larissa's several times with Mary to play with her two little girls and ought to be comfortable there, but you just never know with a young toddler whether he'll settle right in or get inconsolably bent out of shape about the change. Mary likes to say how particular Jeremy is with his routine and it's probably true, regardless of whether Jeremy is really all that different from other toddlers. So, to try and prepare Jeremy as best we could, Mary brought Jeremy to Larissa's last Thursday and I picked him up there, then I dropped him off there Friday morning with Mary waiting there for him.

Larissa's house is not too far from Mary's and we go the same way most of the way after dropping off Harry at preschool. Friday morning, when we made the unexpected turn onto a new street, Jeremy said "Mia" (his current pronunciation of "Mary"). "Jeremy, today we're going to Larissa's house again to play with the girls," I said, not saying that Mary would be there in order to try and get a read on how Jeremy might react today. Jeremy gave his unmistakable sad face. Mary said he did the same thing a couple of times during the day when she tried to explain what would happen this week, that she would be on vacation and that he would go to Larissa's house. So, what would happen this morning when I dropped him off at Larissa's and Mary wasn't there to meet us? Would he settle in? Would he cry so inconsolably that I would have to go get him early?

This morning as we made the final turn onto Mary's road (she lives about two miles up this main road) Jeremy, as he often does, said "Mia." I'm going to guess that he remembered that we would not go there today and was probably just asking to make sure, but I really don't know. I turned around and said excitedly, "no, Jeremy, remember today we're going to Larissa's house. Mary is on vacation this week." Would this be the beginning of the breakdown? Jeremy just sat there, straight faced. His expression did not change as I turned off Mary's road toward Larissa's.

Perhaps he was, indeed, just asking. When we got there he went straight to the toy room (Larissa is a former nanny and has a vast collection of toys). He did not look concerned when I said goodbye and, I'm told, was an absolute delight all morning.


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