how to go on holidays without your kids!

Late last year, my sister and I began talking about going on a holiday. For a week. Without our gangs…. The thought alone seemed something so far away… Ive never had more than one night away from my kids, Ive not been on a holiday like we were planning in over ten years. But thoughts turned to plans, plans were booked, flights confirmed, and all of a sudden I was about to go on a holiday!!!!!

Oh heck… how will my kids cope? How will I make it easier for them so that this doesn’t rock their world too much? I knew that daddy would be fine, but I wanted to do something to help the kids to not just survive but actually enjoy that time apart.

So I wracked my brains trying to come up with ways to make this adventure fun for all of us J

I started by talking to them about it. We talked about where I was going, what I would be doing and the things that they would be doing whilst I was away. We worked out how things would work and the things they would be doing. It made it easier that we talked a fair bit about it!

Before I left though, I made a daily pack for them to find in the house. For each day I was away, I wrote them a short letter and left them a small surprise to find. These surprises included a high bounce ball each, a sticker pack, a notebook and pens, just some small things I knew theyd love. I also made them a movie kit for the Friday night that included a new movie, popcorn, and chocolate ( and beer for daddy). I knew that the daily things would be some way to have contact everyday with me.

We also set up skype so that each day we had a short chat about their day… I really enjoyed this moment in my holiday days, just knowing they were ok was enough for me to still enjoy my holiday without worrying about them.

The last thing I had done to help out with the school runs was to set up all the morning tea packs so all they had to do was to grab the bag with their name and the day on it and pack it themselves!

They loved this idea and helped me pick lots of snacks and Amahli loved being allowed to sort out into bags the different snacks for each kid. It meant that they were almost looking forward to each days snacks ;)

I found that whilst I missed them, I knew they had things to keep them going. If you get the chance to go away, grab that opportunity with both hands! I definitely will be doing it again, but I will also definitely be setting these simple ideas in place to make the break less painful J