Guest Author - Yvonne Russell

You’re going to be away on business overnight or longer. You’ve told the kids. How can you smooth the way for peace of mind for all?

In a related article, When You Have To Leave Toddlers At Home, we looked at some tips for talking to your child about your upcoming trip. Let’s look at some practical ways and fun activities to help this along. We’re looking specifically at helping them understand where you’ll be.

Different Approaches
A long trip will call for a slightly different approach than an overnight one. Explaining to kids who are used to you being away, will be different than for a first timer. Age is of course, also a factor. Modify these suggestions to your situation and children. Remember, these ideas are starting points only.

1. Use the Internet. Depending on the children's age, look at the region or country on sites such as the CIA World Fact Book site. http://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/geos/us.html It has printable domestic and international maps. There are printable flags too.

2. For overseas trips especially, looking at a globe or small atlas are other possibilities. The 3D nature of the globe, gives you a chance to explain some geography too. Show them your area or country, and where you'll be heading. It's a good opportunity to explain in simple terms, the concept of day in one place, and night in another.

3. Talk about how the area is different to yours. Weather? Scenery? Size? City? Rural? Gather some photos or brochures of the area and look at these together. Do you have a photo of the hotel where you will be staying - maybe even the room?

4. Make a collage with the kids of the photos or brochure pictures. Add your photo, theirs and other family members. Personalising this with special touches or decorations can be a fun family project. Hang it up, so they can look at it and talk about it while you’re away. It’s a memory of a fun time shared and also gives them a sense of where you are.

5. Explain that you would like to take a special something from each child with you. This is to put in your hotel room at night so you can touch it and think of them. It may be a small (remember the packing) toy or picture. You could go for a walk and find something special together. This could be e.g. a shell or smooth pebble. Give each child something special to keep in their room. There is no need to buy something especially. The key thing is the sense of connection.

6. Your local librarian and bookseller are wonderful resource people. Ask them to recommend a children’s book. This could be about the area you are going to, or on a related theme. Maybe a story set at the beach, would be a good choice if you're going to a seaside area.

7. Make this book a special part of the regular bedtime reading ritual. If carers can read it while you're away, this will provide a sense of continuity. If it's a particular hit, you could read it onto tape too, for them to listen to while you're away.

8. It's ideal if all key carers are in the loop, rather than hurried instructions at the last minute. It also means they can see the kids' reactions about your trip. If carers have first hand experience of how the kids handle the concept of you being away, both positive and negative, they can better support the kids. It gives you peace of mind too.

Your Own Approach
Use these ideas as a catalyst for your own activities or ways of approaching the topic. For some children, you won’t want to make too much of it. Others will thrive on the interaction and sense of adventure. They will still miss their Mother of course, but they'll find it easier to have a sense of where you'll be.

RELATED ARTICLE LINK IS AT THE TOP RIGHT OF THIS PAGE*