What preparations do you do to leave small children at home?

[mother2_3]

Besides leaving enough food and water out in bowls where they can reach them...Just Kidding! Seriously, my husband and I are leaving 3 small (under 6) children at our home with Grandma and 2 young adult aunts for a 4 day cruise in less than 2 weeks. I don't think we have ever left the kids for this long. Where do I begin? I know I need to leave basic medical info and medical insurance card within handy reach and I thought about some kind of medical waiver so they can get the kids treated in emergencies. What else? We live very close to each other and see each other at least every week so they are pretty familiar with routines and personalities. Any thoughts are appreciated. Thanks

[bubbles1209]

DH and I are going on a cruise next week-end....yessss!! Anyway, we have a 14 year old DD here at home. She will be staying with a close friend of hers (they both go to the same school, ride the same bus home to begin with), so transportation to & from school isn't an issue for us. I know you stated you have little ones, & that is a big difference from a 14 year old, but the principal is still the same which is making sure they have every possible thing they could need while you're gone. I already have a medical consent form that has been filled out that allows her friend's parents to seek medical attention & treatment in my absence, until we can get back and it has been notarized. I also have given them a copy of our entire itenerary, which includes round-trip flight information, hotel information, and the number to the ship in case of an emergency. I have contacted the school and listed her friends parents as able to pick her up from school should she get sick. (Here, if you are not listed you can't pick up the child). I am going to leave with the parents a pre-paid master card so if they need to call the ship, they can, or if my daughter needs something, they can purchase it for her. She just had a check-up at the doctor's office last week and is fine, and has no apppointments scheduled for the week we will be gone, so she's good to go there. I have also left all info with my step-mom, who will be calling to check on DD while we are gone as well. The folks DD will be staying with have her grandma's #, and vice-versa. I think we have covered all of the bases, and even though we're gonna be gone, we'll be contacting DD daily through e-mail to stay in touch and see how she is. I'm not sure how old your little ones are, but these are things that we have done for our DD before we go. Hope this has helped some.:)

[bankerbabe]

We go on a child-free trip about every other year. My kids are now 11 and 6, so they are old enough to speak up about routines, etc. But, when they were younger I would make sure to leave a list of all of their routines, school times, etc. just in case.

 

Now I type up a list of all of the important phone numbers: doctors, dentists, school, any others they might need. I make sure to leave an insurance card, sometimes I attach it to the sheet of phone numbers just to be safe. I leave a written authorization for whoever is watching the kids to obtain medical care in my absence. I make sure to leave information on how to contact me at each stage of our trip, in case of emergency.

 

There have never been any problems that required a trip to the doctor, and no one has ever needed to contact us. But I feel better knowing that they can contact me.

 

Good luck and have fun on your trip!

[pg.]

I always try to arange at least one play date for my kids so caretakers get a break. Your kids are very young so this may not be something you do much of yet anyways.

Also, alert kindegarten and preschool teachers so they can be aware child may be " out of sorts" also that different people will be picking up child from schools.

I also have left little notes and dollar store presents to be given to child halfway through the trip so they have a little something to cheer them up.

 

Also leave a note detailing foods they hate so grandma doesn't force them to eat the brocoli etc. LOL

 

They will be fine, have a nice trip, it is fun to get away without them .

[alwzrgt]

In addition to what has been mentioned - insurance cards, travel itinary, etc.

Get a map and highlighter - maybe some pins or stickers

 

Have grandma highlite your route with the kids, and each day point out where you are, place the pin or sticker on that port. If she can use the net, have her show the kids your boat (most have sites that have a bridge cam), and look at city/port sites - so the kids can see where you are.

 

Leave notes for the kids to open each day - or one each day, in them let them know how many more notes to open before you get back - mail them a postcard asap - see if you beat it back (you most likely will)

 

for the scrapbook If you are going to different countries - make color copies of the flag, save money from each port and buy postcards everywhere

 

Be sure to grab postcards from the ship - they are usually nice.

 

Have a great trip

(left mine 2 summers ago for 16 days = but they were 6, 9, 10)

[bankerbabe]

Oh, and while you are gone, just remember that Grandma is probably spoiling the kids rotten, feeding them ice cream every day, and showing them a very good time. So, don't feel guilty while you are out having a good time - they are too. (Just in case you have any lingering guilt.)

 

We have always believed that it is very important to nurture our relationship, and that means some time without the kids. A strong marriage will make for a strong family. On the other hand, it's also important for the kids to nurture their relationship with the grandparents - something that can best be done when the parents are not around.

 

I'll get off my soap box now :D

[mother2_3]

Thanks to all for the advice. They are excited and looking forward to time with Grandma and Aunts. Oh, the spoiling that awaits them!

[Quilting_Cruiser]

Oh, I'm so jealous!! DH and I have been married almost 14 years and have had only one vacation (other than our honeymoon) without kids! When we married, DH had three kids (and custody) that were 7, 8, and 10 years old. So, vacations were always theme parks.

 

Now, the older kids are all out of the house and in their early 20s. We have an 11-year-old DD, and we always take her with us. We went to a tradeshow for DH's business several years ago--for all of three days and left DD with her paternal grandparents (mine parents are no longer living), and she was miserable! She loves her grandparents, but their style is very different from DH's and mine.

 

It's fine though--DD is a great kid and a lot of fun on vacation. I'm heading to China in April on business trip and staying a couple of extra days, and I'd love it so much if DH and DD could come along. See, you just can't please me!! ;)

[BlessedBeingMom]

We are going away for 6 nights and leaving our 3 children with grandma, who lives near us. Our children's ages are almost 7 years old, 5 years old and almost 3 years old.

 

This is what we are planning to leave with grandma:

 

Copy of our itinerary including hotel we are staying at the night before

 

Copy of our medical insurance card (no need for prescription card as grandma uses the same pharmacy we do, as I'm the pharmacist there ;) )

 

Emergency phone number for ship

 

Notarized form authorizing grandma and grandpa to seek medical care for our children and make medical decisions for them on our behalf while we are away. I am also going to list on the form some basic info such as that they have no medical allergies and are not taking any routine medications except for a multivitamin (and maybe their date of birth in case grandma forgets, since she has over a dozen grandchildren)

 

List of names and phone numbers for their doctor, dentist and eye doctor

 

Lesson plans (they are homeschooled and grandma's going to be doing their lessons with them)

 

Information regarding our Sunday school, church, children's program on Wednesday and the kids' homeschool co-op classes (dates, times, how to get there, etc.)

 

We are also leaving our van with Grandma since they are all in booster or car seats still, as well as a house key (and our alarm code) so she can check on our cats and get anything she might need for the kids if we forget anything. She also has a key to our fireproof safe, just in case. (We'll keep copies of important documents there such as copies of our credit cards, passports, etc.)

 

We are also leaving our son's potty seat as just this week he's begun to use it sometimes, and grandma wants to continue to train him. :D

 

We are so thankful for DH's wonderful parents that take such an interest in and care so much for our children! :)

 

We haven't been away from our children much at all. We were away for about 3 nights in September for a homeschooling conference and then they do spent a night now & then at grandma's, but we've never been away for so many days in a row and where it will be so hard to check in on them. So naturally we are a bit nervous about it, but I know they are in great hands.