He cries when the babysitter leaves

I’ve always been hesitant to leave my son with anyone other than family. He’s just over a year old now, and I’m still a bit of a worrywart “new mom.” I stress over every little thing. I never trust that anyone can do as good of a job with my little guy as I can, and I question babysitter qualifications to no end. A few months ago, I dipped my toe into the childcare water by hiring an in-home helper once weekly for just four hours. She came highly recommended from a friend, so I started having her over to play with my son while I worked in the other room.

My son was as skeptical as I was at first, and we had a few incidents of him crying for mom since he knew I was just around the corner. That stopped pretty quickly, though, as I showed the babysitter his favorite activities and snacks. I was blown away by her skill and the ease with which she handled him. She doesn’t have any children of her own, but she works in the nursery at church with kids my son’s age. A former opera major, she sings to my son the whole time she’s here, whereas I’m completely tone deaf. He loves it. She’s eternally cheery, saying things like “woopsadaisy” when he falls down and instantly distracting him when he gets cranky. The woman is a Godsend.

I’m so relieved to have found the help I need and to have someone around that my son has warmed up to other than his small circle of family. There’s no more screaming for mommy when I need to get some work done. The last couple of times the babysitter’s left after watching him, however, we’ve had the opposite problem: he cries his little head off as soon as I enter the room and he realizes it’s time for his playmate to go home. She’s sweet about it and explains to him that she’ll be back soon, but to be honest…it kind of kills me. He’s always happy to see me and all, but I feel like I don’t measure up to this woman who dotes on him with no distractions. What am I, chopped liver? I try to do something really fun with him as soon as she leaves, taking him to the park or on an errand, but it doesn’t seem to make a difference.

Have any of your kids ever liked the babysitter too much?  What would you do if your children cried when it was time for the babysitter to leave?