Going to Grandma's - Book for Preparing Kids for Kid-free Vacation

I was going to say that I don't think you really need to "prepare" them, sometimes too much preparation has the effect of scaring them and making them think it's going to be a bigger deal than it is.

However, read them the Berenstain Bears book mentioned below. My kids always loved those books and I think it would be the perfect preparation.

this doesn't require a book, and too much 'preparation' will backfire.
tell them a couple of days in advance 'you're going to stay with grandma for a week! it's going to be a lot of fun.'
don't blather on and on about it. don't oversell it. don't emphasize 'you'll be okay! mommy's coming back! nothing to be scared of!'
let them help pack and pick their clothes and toys. drop them off with a big hug and a kiss, and say 'have fun! i'll see you in X days!'
then go enjoy your vacation.
kids are exactly as calm as their parents are about these things. and too many parents are angst-ridden messes.
khairete
S.

No book necessary. Just tell them the are going to Grandmas. They will do special things etc I assume they are close to her and not a once a year grandma. Do not talk too much about it because you might just cause them to be fearful. Remember less is more.

The Berenstain Bears: A Week at Grandma's.

It's a cute book- you should be able to find it on Amazon or at Barnes and Noble.

Enjoy your kid-free vacation!!

Just talk about the fun at grandma's. Don't over do it or make it a big hairy deal. Just say your going to have fun at grandma's what would you like to pack and be done with it. And don't under any circumstances make it an option for them to say no I don't want to go. Never give a choice when there isn't one. So saying don't you want to go to grandma's gives them the option of saying no.

"We're getting a new brother!"
lol- just kidding. I don't know of any books, but making a big deal of buy a 'special book' that they can't read and must save for Grandma to read at bedtime may work.

You don't need a book. If you make a huge deal out of it then your children will do that as well.

Talk about how fun it will be to Grandma and the adventure!

They will be fine and you go enjoy your break!

Ditto to the 'don't make a big deal about it' suggestion, and the Berenstain Bears book, if that's something which you think works well with your kids. I'd actually NOT encourage daily Skype or phone calls because those might keep them from adjusting to being without you. I'd be more inclined to suggest talking once in the middle of the vacation and leave it at that. They can call and leave a voicemail message for you if needed. However, you know your kids best and what they would need.

Have fun remembering why you got together in the first place!

I don't have a book suggestion, but what I suggest is to prepare your kids by teaching your 5 year old how Skype works (or facetime, or whatever you will use to keep in touch). My kids love knowing that they will get to 'see' us every day when we are away. And doing some practice sessions shows them how it works. And if your kids like screen time like mine do, they'll think this is great.

Spending time with grandma and grandpa is the best way to get them used to this. They're too young to really get it until they do it. SO let them spend the night a lot between now and then.

I would just talk it up as to how much fun it's going to be. We have gone a few kid free vacations (and they are amazing!!! good for you!!!) and it is hard because the kids don't totally understand. But what we do is just say how much fun they are going to have on Staycation with Grandma and make it sound exciting.

Not that you asked for it, but if you're interested, here's some other things we did to make it more exciting!

We bought some gift cards for our care givers to use to places like Chuck E. Cheese's, Build a Bear, Barnes and Noble, Sonic, etc. Not a ton of money but just so they could do a little something. We also left little envelopes for our kids to open each day. Inside was some sort of picture of the family or mom and dad for them to put inside a little photo album I made and a small present for each kid. It was little stuff, like $1 bin stuff or stuff I found on clearance. Sometimes I would put one of the gift cards in there so they could use it for lunch or a treat or something.

This was basically just a fun thing to A. make it super awesome and fun when mom and dad were out of town and B. give them a sort of calendar as to how many more days before we came home. We only do this if we are leaving them for a week or more…not just overnight or for a weekend.

We did call them every day but mostly they didn't care that we were calling! LOL!