I forget about time differences too for the first day or two, but I also have my phone silenced when I go to bed anyway, so I don’t see messages until I wake up the next day - if I need to text back, I usually wait too because I don’t know if they silence their phones or not unless it’s an emergency (which thankfully haven’t had to do that).
I like your approach! 
Haha, I love when cats do that. One of my colleagues has two cats, and I love when they randomly appear 
I like your approach too, and I’m sure most HOs very much appreciate it. I’m also very attached to my dog, but I know he also has a very sensitive temperament, but he loves people, especially if they let him sleep in bed with them and gives him lots of zuke treats. 
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Pet appearances should be a requirement of every video meeting.
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My favorite is when they plant themselves on my laptop keyboard while I’m working, because they’re just so unapologetic about it. 
I laugh like an idiot the whole time, and of course always take pics. Cats, eh?
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How adorable!
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Ah @wendy_chicago the more I read your posts and see your doggie, the more I want to sit for you 
we seem to be very much alike! No plans for the US at this time, but you never know.
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Aww thank you so much. And of course, you’re always welcome!
I feel like there’s a few of you here I would love to welcome into my home. What a wonderful community. 
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Did this and more, there was a bunch of messages and photos in the first 3.5 days. Thank you for your response.
There were lot of updates and messages in the first 3.5 days. No time difference, I would consider that. It’s not simply the times of the messages - that in itself is not an issue - it’s an expectation of immediate response late at night and very early morning. Thank you for your response.
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Again, thank you to everyone who responded. I am a very experienced sitter and strive to provide updates and reassurance to owners. There was no time difference. I was simply trying to manage what was becoming frequent messaging from an owner with an expectation that I would respond late at night and early morning and engage in back-forward conversational texts, which isn’t me. No resistance whatsoever to providing reassurance about their pet, more about managing boundaries and expectations whilst at the same time trying not to come across as negative. I’ve learned something and I’m very grateful for all your feedback and appreciate the time you have taken to respond. This is a helpful facility.
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FWIW, if there’s a time difference or I’m jet lagged and adjusting, I don’t stress — I reply when I’m able to. Likewise if I’m working (because I telecommute). When I sign up for sits, I’m not agreeing to be on-call at any hour that HOs please. I don’t even do that for my actual paying job, LOL.
It sounds like they’re very anxious-attached, @Jollie.
I used to be very anxious-attached to new relationships when I was young -all stemming from self-doubt/insecurities/lack of trust. It took years of therapy to let it go and give others the benefit of the doubt. Nowadays, it’s only with people who rub me the wrong way that I will not trust.
And @Maggie8K’s comment about not doing that for the job reminded me of when people at work send requests labeled with ASAP for things that can wait - it makes me not want to respond or complete their task right away - I’ll put it at the bottom of my to-do list, lol.
Did you end up telling them how you felt? If so, how did they respond? Hopefully, they were understanding.
I learn more and more as I do more sits. During the initial call or communication, I ask them how often they want updates. If they say as much as I can give them then I tell them it will be once a day in the evening. I will send all photos videos and written text all at once. But I make sure no matter how tired I may be. I’m on my 15sit now and every homeowner has so far respected the boundary and do not send other communication through the day. Even if I have questions, I wait until my evening update to ask them.
Breathe… it sounds like you’ve had plenty of sits that worked out great for you, you were bound to have 1 person that wanted more regular updates at some point.
Did you make her aware that you wouldn’t be giving her regular/daily updates prior to sitting? Did you say to her upfront that you wouldn’t be giving her daily updates? If not, then you need to consider her side of it, much as it’s stressing you out, it’s stressing her out too, neither of you are right or wrong. So personally I’d give her a daily update but set some boundaries so you can relax about it too.
Remember she’ll see the pet as her baby. It is probably the reason why she doesn’t use kennels as she needs more one-to-one communication!
Maybe you should say that you will message her every day between say 9am-10am (depending on her time-zone) with what happened the day prior unless there is a problem at all. That way it gets it out of your mind first thing if you don’t like doing it, and you can relax, enjoy your day, and switch off. But she’ll be happier with you giving her an update at the end of each day, so maybe explain your reasons why you chose that time of day, its just ‘not you’.
If you don’t use your phone in the way she wants, you don’t have to write a long chit-chat text, just 4-5 words on a pic of what the pet is up to in the pic, or something funny, that’s it. Mix it up every few days with the odd cute video.
We give more regular updates, but I understand it’s not your thing, but if she’s had others that gave her daily updates and then didn’t receive that on this occasion, then she’s naturally worrying that something is up (albeit for no reason at all).
I hope you work things out.