The Traveling Parent
If you're new here, you may want to subscribe to our RSS feed. Thanks for visiting!
As a former military wife, I learned to deal with the fact that my husband was away from home quite frequently. After he retired, I somewhat expected him to get a local job and for him to be home more often. He was hired by a contractor and travels frequently out of state with his civilian job.
Our son is still young, but I wanted to make sure that he knew that his father was still “here” with us even if he wasn’t at home. At my son’s age, talking on the telephone really isn’t practical. Of course, when “Dee Dee” calls home, I make sure to hold the phone up to our son so he can hear his father’s voice. You should see his smile!
I decided to use some of the things that we learned during our family readiness sessions to help our son through the times when his dad is away with work.
- Have your spouse or partner tape a bedtime story which you can play for your child at night time.
- Keep a picture of the traveling parent in a central location or give your baby a wallet to play with that has laminated pictures tucked in the billfold.
- Count down the days until the grand homecoming.
- Talk about your spouse or partner during the day as you care for your child. For example, while dressing your child, you may mention that his father’s favorite color is blue. This way, you offer your child a way to connect to the parent who is not present.
- Celebrate homecoming day! When your partner returns home, make it a special occasion for everyone. Remember to include your child in the festivities.
Do you have a partner that travels frequently? Please share any tips or ideas that you use to help your child deal with the situation.
Shane Keener says...
I love the ideas above. One of things we have done for our little boy is to put together photobooks of the people who love him. There is a great one from Sassy. You can slide in 4×6 inch photos. This helps him to see people that he doesn’t see often, but you want to make sure that he recognizes. We have one for my wife’s side of the family and one for my side, but they both have pictures of us. He loves to look at them when he is on his changing table getting ready in the morning or before he goes to bed at night.
Shane Keeners last blog post..Five Things That I Love About My Life