Casey and I are going to be leaving Kenny for the first time for more than 24 hours next weekend. We are actually going to be gone four full days, and Casey’s parents are coming up to take care of our little rascal while we are soaking up the sun in Mexico, attending a Founder’s Weekend for an organization we are a part of.
Kenny has done great the previous times we’ve left him. Twice with my parents and once with Casey’s (actually once with my sister, too, but we had just left before he woke up and were home by nap-time). They all claimed he barely noticed we were gone. But I somehow think that he’s going to catch on when we’re not there for four bedtimes in a row…
Do any of you have any advice to offer on “preparing” your toddler for a long absence? I haven’t told him yet that we are leaving… he knows that his grandparents are coming, and he has slyly asked, “Where you gonna be?” because he knows that usually when they come in town, Mommy and Daddy have a lot of date nights. But I was going to wait until just three days or so before we left to really tell him. I was thinking of drawing out a big calendar of the week for him, and drawing out what he would be doing all the days until Mommy and Daddy got home. I’ve done that before when Casey has traveled for several nights in a row, to show all that we’re going to do “before Daddy gets home.”
Any other ideas? Do’s and Don’t’s? Should I leave a mile-long list for the in-laws, or just relax and trust that all will be well? Should I call while we’re away, or would that be harder on him? Advice, please!!
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3 responses to “Preparing to Skip Town…”
My advice? Trust the in-laws. Leave some specifics that are important, but don’t worry too much. We usually try to get away one weekend a year – sometimes two. We’ll call once a day, but usually no more. That’s a good balance – keeps us in touch, but not hovering. My parents say that the first night is the hardest on the kids. After that, they’re fine.
One thing that you might do is give Kenny one envelope per day to open. Have in the envelope a note, a sticker, a fun thing to do, etc. That way he’ll have something to look forward to every day that is from you guys plus he’ll know that when he runs out of envelopes, you’re going to be back!
Have a great time! Soak up some sun and relax!!!
Milaka has a really neat idea about the envelopes! We’ve only left Joshua 1 night with grandparents, so I can’t be of any help. And when we DID leave for one night, I had to write up our routine. I didn’t want that messed up. I was nervous that if he got off, he might not want to get back ON routine and his sleep might be messed up. But that’s me.
I hope you both have a wonderful time! Be safe! 😀
Calendars are great to mark off the time at bedtime each night! Another idea is that you can put 4 Hershey kisses in a jar and he gets to take one out each day as his goodnight “kiss”. I would call to tell him that you love him, but keep the conversation short and don’t ask lots of questions.
I’ll pop in with the girls for some playtime too. 🙂