You may have read on a previous post that Mr. Piñata and I went on a 7-night, 9-day trip to Italy and that Little Piñata stayed home with my parents. This involved a whole lot more preparation than I would have imagined! I think I started about a month before our trip and I’m sure glad I did. I think part of the reason that everything went so smoothly with him was that we had done a whole lot to prepare. Although I’m sure we missed some or could have cut out some, this is what worked really well for us.

1. About a month ahead of time I went ahead and started writing out a HUGE list of instructions for my parents.

Even though they have kept him overnight quite a few times and watch him one day a week, I still wanted to be sure they wouldn’t have questions. He also stayed for the first 2 nights with a good friend of ours, so we knew she would need all kinds of details that my parents would already know. Here’s everything we included in this “document.”

– His Schedule
Thankfully his schedule is a whole lot simpler than it used to be since he’s been down to one nap. This allowed the schedule portion to be fairly straightforward. I included things like naptime and bedtime rituals and his usual times of meals, snacks and sleeping.

– Emergency Information
This is pretty imperative even if you are leaving your little one for a short period of time. We made sure his pediatrician information was on there and included a copy of our insurance card. We also wrote and signed a form stating who could make medical decisions for him in our absence. I’m so grateful they didn’t have to use any of this though!

ADVERTISEMENT

– Suggestions and Tips
I wrote out how we usually discipline him if he misbehaves, but also said that we would be open to whatever they felt comfortable with. We just wanted to make sure they knew what he was used to. We also wrote out what to do if he has an allergic reaction (to eggs or bug bites), remedies we use if he gets a cold, and what we have found works if he wakes up in the middle of the night, etc. It was amazing how I kept remembering things to add to this portion of the “document” as we got closer to the date. I’m so glad I got started on it so early so there was lots of time to make additions.

2. We made a crazy amount of lists.

I mentioned this in my previous post, but I had A LOT of lists. The main list was the packing list of everything I needed to pack for Little P. But, I divided it out into what would go in his suitcase and what would be a big item that wouldn’t fit (like booster seat, travel crib, stroller, etc). Making categorized lists like this helped me to feel less overwhelmed.
I also had a list of everything I needed to do ahead of time, such as pack his clothes or go shopping for some of his staple food items ahead of time.

3. We talked to Little Piñata about it.

I have no idea if this actually prepared him well or not, but since he did well I might as well take credit for it, right? A week or so before we left we started talking about how mommy and daddy were going on a trip to Italy and would be gone for a while. We told him he would stay with his friend and then with grandma and grandpa, and that we promised we would come back for him. We did this enough that we could ask him, “where are mommy and daddy going?” and he would answer, “Italy!” He could even tell us who he was going to stay with and in what order.

4. I provided and packed some staple food for while we were gone.

I figured that our friends and family were already so generous as to offer to watch him all day and night for so long, I certainly didn’t want to add additional grocery shopping or cooking to their stress! In “the document” I listed out food he will pretty much always eat and included a lot of that when we dropped him off. I had a reusable grocery bag full of things like almond butter, bread, jelly, fruit cups, bananas, oatmeal, etc. I also packed a cooler of milk, cheese sticks, tomatoes, avocado, and even some leftover pasta I knew he would devour.

5. When packing I organized everything into ziploc bags.

Since our friends were keeping him for 2 days, I didn’t want them to have to search through the whole bag every time they needed something, especially something small like a sunscreen stick. I was inspired by Mrs. Tic Tac Toe’s post and had categorized ziploc bags. One was for swimming clothes (trunks, swim diapers, rash guard t-shirt, etc.), another for pajamas, one for toiletries, etc. That way everything wasn’t just a disorganized mess in his duffel bag and those watching him could find things much easier. I even labeled each ziploc bag, even though I’m sure they could have figured out what was in there without that.

6. We had just about everything ready 2 days ahead of time.

Mr. Piñata and I actually read this tip when we were looking for ways to prepare for jet lag and it was such a lifesaver! I’m usually so bad at getting everything packed up and ready to go at the last minute that we tend to have stressful start to vacation. But, we’ll be doing it this way from now on! We had everything ready to go and packed up (except for last minute items like food for the cooler, sound machine, lovey, etc.) 2 days before we left so that we could be well rested and less stressed as we got ready to leave. Of course I had a list of everything that needed to be packed the day we left (see #2), but other than that everything was at the back door ready to be loaded up. This definitely prevented the usual “day we leave for vacation fight,” plus we had gone to bed at a reasonable hour the last 2 nights and were well rested going into our trip.

There you have it! Those are my quick tips. What have you done to prepare for leaving your kiddos for an extended amount of time?