This is Hurting My Feelings

On Tuesdays and Thursdays when I work, my mom and my MIL watch Alyssa. My mom watches her on Tuesdays and my MIL watches her on Thursdays.

When I drop Alyssa off on Tuesday, Alyssa squirms and wiggles and whines in my mom's arms when I am about to leave. Even though it is so tough to leave her when she is like that, it makes me feel so good because I know that she doesn't want me to go.

When I drop Alyssa off on Thursday, Alyssa squirms and wiggles and whines in my arms to see my MIL. She doesn't want anything to do with me and doesn't even look at me as I walk out the door. (No matter how many times I call her name). Usually I get a little disappointed that she isn't so sad to see me go, but then when I pick her up, she is so excited to see me and is ready to go home.

This past Thursday, the same routine happened in the morning. When I went to go and pick Alyssa up in the afternoon, she didn't act excited to see me. She didn't want me to hold her as she wiggled and whined and was leaning towards my MIL. I took her in the kitchen and tried talking one on one, but it doesn't work very well if the MIL keeps looking in on us, once again making Alyssa whiney and wanting her. My MIL kept saying she was tired, but I know she wasn't. She had woken up from a nap only one hour earlier. When we were putting on her coat, she threw a tantrum. After I was done, I said to Alyssa "Do you want grandma to walk you to the car". Grandma carried her and she was fine. NO peeps, whines or wiggles. When I took her to put her in the carseat, she cried -- REAL TEARS! She didn't want to go home with me. I felt like a bad mom, why didn't my daughter want to come home with me? I cried the whole way home, wondering.

My husband doesn't think that this should make me so upset, but I can't help it.

Lately Alyssa has also taken to being daddy's little girl. She gets upset when he leaves the room. I was OK with that because that is her DAD.

I am just wondering what my MIL does that is so different than what I do with her or what my mom does with her. There must be something that makes her feel that she doesn't want to leave. Alyssa isn't the cuddling type and she doesn't like to be held all of the time, so it can't be that. I just don't know.