How to Help Dad Look after a Preteen While Mom Is Away

Mom Stages - Preteens

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As an editor, I rarely, if ever, traveled for work. Once or twice I Metro-ed to Alexandria or D.C. for a class or a conference. As a WAHM editor, I drove between my home and the office more times than I care to consider over a 6-year period. Later as a SAHM, I drove to playdates, the library, and preschool, but never farther away than an hour from my house. So you can imagine the turmoil in my home as I adjusted (still adjusting) to the travel that comes with my new job of blogger.

In the last 6 months I have taken a train to New York City twice, driven to North Carolina for the TypeAMom Conference, flown to Minneapolis and Houston, and made more trips in to DC than I have had in the last 5 years. The amount and frequency of travel has been an adjustment for my family.

I'll tell you something...I love traveling. Now, don't get me wrong I miss my family very much when I am away but the time spent away from them allows me to recharge my batteries.

My husband has been a rock throughout this travel season. He has willingly shouldered childcare on top of his out-of-the-house job. I could not make it work without his help and support.

Preparing Dad and the Preteen for Mom Going Out of Town

1. Lists! I write lists of everything. Kid, Preteen, and Teen activities. Homework schedule. Special days/events at school. Likes and dislikes. Chores. Housework. Birthday parties.
   
2. Day-by-day breakdown of what needs to get done. Use the Mom's Family Calendar to plot out each day's events. I wrote my husband a list of each day's events on the calendar..
   
3. Food. We shop at Costco, which means we have a stash of frozen meals for easy dinner prep. I stocked the pantry with cereal, snacks, too.
   
4. School lunch. I packed a lunch for my kids for each of the days I was away on my last trip. In each sandwich ZipLoc bag, I packed a yogurt, a cheesestick, and a juice bag. In a bowl on the kitchen counter I placed fruit, goldfish crackers, raisins, napkins, and spoons. All my husband needed to do was place the small ZipLoc bag as well as the other items in the kids' lunchbags each morning.
5. Laundry. I washed every article of clothing we owned so that I would have clothes for my trip and the kids would have clothes. Dad does not do well with preteens who want to change clothes 5 times before the school bus arrives.

I know that my family will survive while I am on a trip, but I wanted to make sure that I prepared for anything that might happen. You know the old adage: Better to be safe than sorry.

When not doing humongous quantities of laundry, Jill can be found blogging about doing laundry over at Musings from Me.

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