This time next week, Little A will be parentless for 12 days. I will be off to some trade fairs on the other side of the world, in the dead of winter, and since our wedding anniversary falls on those dates and we never had a real honeymoon, Big A is coming along.
Little A has never been "on his own" for more than 3 nights. Our previous childless trips were weekend jaunts around Asia, and while I went to London for ten days in 2013, Big A stayed home to keep Little A company.
My parents want him to move in with them while we are gone, but the distance from their house to Little A's school is considerable (add another hour to the travel time either way) and we know he will be more comfortable at home in his own bed at night.
The small consolation is that we will be leaving him during term time, so the eight weekdays we are gone will be school days (and school nights). On the weekends, he can hang out with his grandparents or just chill at home with the Au Pair.
So in the week before our departure, I am a flurry of activity (even more so than usual). Checklists, contact details, informing all of the teachers at school of our upcoming absence so they can handle Little A if he misbehaves, arranging alternate transport to and from school, step-by-step instructions for what to do if his wobbly tooth falls out while we are away. Then there will be the last day grocery run, paying all the month-end bills in advance, and making sure there are ways for Little A to reach us when he needs, or wants, to say hello. And of course the work stuff. Sigh.
I hope I get all the bases covered. In the meantime I'm trying not to waste a single minute with my not-so-little boy.
Little A has never been "on his own" for more than 3 nights. Our previous childless trips were weekend jaunts around Asia, and while I went to London for ten days in 2013, Big A stayed home to keep Little A company.
My parents want him to move in with them while we are gone, but the distance from their house to Little A's school is considerable (add another hour to the travel time either way) and we know he will be more comfortable at home in his own bed at night.
The small consolation is that we will be leaving him during term time, so the eight weekdays we are gone will be school days (and school nights). On the weekends, he can hang out with his grandparents or just chill at home with the Au Pair.
So in the week before our departure, I am a flurry of activity (even more so than usual). Checklists, contact details, informing all of the teachers at school of our upcoming absence so they can handle Little A if he misbehaves, arranging alternate transport to and from school, step-by-step instructions for what to do if his wobbly tooth falls out while we are away. Then there will be the last day grocery run, paying all the month-end bills in advance, and making sure there are ways for Little A to reach us when he needs, or wants, to say hello. And of course the work stuff. Sigh.
I hope I get all the bases covered. In the meantime I'm trying not to waste a single minute with my not-so-little boy.
