A few weeks ago I was able to participate in a fantastic photography workshop across the country for five days. As excited as I was for the girl time, all the information I would absorb, and the opportunities that lay ahead – I knew my littles would have a rough go at it. So I wanted to think of some creative ways to help the boys get through the few days with out me, though I knew they were in very capable hands at grandma’s!
My oldest is five. Being that he is the older of the two, and able to understand my absence, I thought he would most likely be the one to struggle. He’s been learning the days of the week in preschool so we had talked a lot about the day mama would leave and when I’d return – we endlessly sang the ‘days of the week song’ (“Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday…” to the tune of “Oh My Darlin”), we had talked it to death and I knew something visual was in order.
Countdown Gifts
Very last minute, (against all of my ubber-organized nature) I put together five gifts for each of the boys. I had the brown bags already, simply hand-cut numbers out of card-stock, and used some scrap-booking adhesive I had in our craft supply.
The goal was to practice counting and get a better idea that with each day that passed, the sooner until mom got home.
I packed the boys with the bunch of brown bags as they went off to grandma’s, with the instructions that they got a new bag each morning – even up until the morning of the day of my return (ie: bag marked as 0).
I wasn’t terribly excited to add to the boys’ junk toy supply, but also hated the thought that I’d spend a good chunk on their Goodbye Gifts. I raided the clearance aisles at Target and was pleased to come home without breaking the bank. Here is a basic list of what items they got to open, age appropriate of course:
- book(s)
- puzzle
- card game
- bath toy(s)
- sand toy(s)
I felt like these were all items they could enjoy with grandma, but also look forward to playing together with me when I arrived back home.
Check-off Chart
The other idea I had (literally about 2 hours before departure) was a Check-off Chart. I used the template for the Weekly Routine download and morphed it to fit what I needed: a basic little printable that would be a visual for my oldest. As mentioned above, we had talked this through immensely. I left late Saturday night so that didn’t count so much, but the following five days he would be able to keep track of the week: placing a check mark on each day, until he reached Thursday (the heart) when mama would finally be home.
The Result
According to grandma and the boys, these were a big hit. Not much time was put into them really (as I said this was quite last minute) but the idea still rang true, and the boys were thrilled to show me all of their goodies that Thursday evening. I’d love to hear how some of you have handled time apart from your little ones. Share your ideas below!
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