husband going on 2 week trip

[doubletrouble9]

Hi
just concerned as hubby is going away and will miss our two beautiful twins who adore him. they are 2 and a half - do you think its a good idea to talk to him on webcam? how do you think they will cope? Is it going to be ok?
What do i say if they ask when daddy will be home - 14 days is a looong time!

Both my DP and I travel for work (although not on such along trip as yet) and we always keep in touch with whoever is at home with DD via FaceTime. She loves it and we can join in with meals and story time, as well as saying good morning.

Of course it will be ok. Just talk about him while he is away but honestly at that age they probably won't be bothered. By all means webcam but don't make it into a big deal.

We are in a slightly different situation by the father of my children is often absent from their lives for periods of time and I just talk about him as if he is outfor the day.

They will be less bothered than you think. I travel a lot for work, and if in the US, I rarely get to speak to ds(6) during a trip, and never on webcam. We just make it terribly matter of fact that mummy will see him on x - no leaving notes or anything.

Whenever I go away I make a story for DS using photos/google images to show him when I'm going, who will look after him, what they might do and when I will be back (tends to end with me getting of a train and us having a big hug!). All using concepts he can understand, such as 'after lunch', rather than dates and times. I also didn't give it to him until the night before to avoid confusing him. He's 3 now and I began doing this when he was 2, so should be good for your twins. It always helped him to have something to refer to, and he'd ask for it for bedtime story whilst I was away. I'm never away for more than 2 nights though, so your situation is a bit more tricky. I'd also suggest marking off days on the calendar each day. This worked for DS when counting down to his 3rd birthday, so he was a little older than your twins but worth trying to see if they can understand it.

I would absolutely advocate trying to talk to DH on skype/facetime. DH has been away a few times and we've found that DS copes much better when we have done this as opposed to just talking on the phone. I think the fact that DS could actually see him/see where he was staying was very helpful.

It may help to be prepared for your twins to be cross/distant with DH on his return. DS has gone through stages of being annoyed with DH when he has been working long shifts. DH just makes sure he spends a lot of time with him afterwards and it wears off quite quickly. We also took him to visit DH's work one weekend and that really helped but less practical for your situation! You might also need to plan lots of nice things to do while you are on your own/family to come over or visit to help you out. Good luck!

many thanks for all your comments nd suggestions, esp carve xxx will give the story thing a try.