You chose them, and they accepted? Did you exchange cell/email, or are you trying to reach them solely via TH messages? You can help everyone here get up to speed if you link to your listing:
I would say 5 days is too long to just sit there. HOs are having trouble finding Christmas sitters, so if this one doesn’t work out, you’ll be walking uphill…
If you don’t have their cell/email, then I would send a note asking them to reply ASAP just so you know they’re still alive. And if they can provide a cell/email for faster communication, great.
If you have their cell/email, then send a note asking them to reply ASAP just so you know they’re still alive. I guess you can add that if you don’t hear from them by date X, you’ll look for another sitter.
If they’re truly responsible but just maybe w/o Internet for the week, then they should be fine with all that, because you can always invite them back to apply and accept them again.
I guess another possibility is if you didn’t word it as asking for a reply. Like maybe you sent a message like, “Here’s our guide! Talk to you later!” Then they may just bench that until the sit is closer. Over-communicate.