Do I tell them about vacation or not?

DH and I are going to Las Vegas August 3-6th..... YEAH!!! I'm so excited. My in-laws are staying at my house with the older two and my SIL is taking the babies for the weekend. We'll be leaving Friday morning at 5:30am before the kids wake up. Should I tell them Thursday night that mommy and daddy are going. They know what vacation is. I'm tempted to not say anything and make it easier on us, but I feel a little guilty about it.

What do you guys think?

Crystal

 

I would tell them you are going away for a few days and you will see them soon and you love them etc. etc..... sorta leave it open as to whether you'll "see" them in the a.m. (you won't, but they might go to sleep better). Tell them you'll call them!

I think THEY are going to be JUST FINE!! DH and I went for a weekend when the kids were 13 mos. and we had so much fun (and we don't gamble) that it was almost hard to remember to call home!! HAVE FUN!

 

I'm a believer in preparation. I would make sure to tell them ahead of time what the plan is..no surprises. I think they'll all do fine!

 

I would also tell them ahead of time. We do that to prepare them and so the impact isn't as big. I'm sure they will be fine. One thing we do that the girls love is get a couple of balloons and let them release them outside so that that can be "seen" from the person in the airplane. It's really cute.

 

We just got back from a 5 day cruise to Bermuda and my mom watched my son (3 1/2) and the girls (14 months). My son knew we were leaving but didn't know where - we told him work. he was fine with it. My mom told him we were on a big boat and he thought that was so cool. They were all spoiled rotten and didnt't seem to care we were gone.

 

I'd be afraid that telling them before may be upsetting.

We didn't tell ours when we went away. I think that they will be excited to be with your parents and your SIL.

We went to Cleveland for the weekend to see my SIL perform. She was the opening act for Faith Hill/Tim McGraw.

We left Friday morning before they were awake. My sister and my niece stayed at our house.

When K&M woke up, they were all excited to see Auntie & CoCo that they didn't even asked about us. It wasn't until an hour later that they were asking where we were. My sister told them we went to see Auntie Lori sing.

A few days later, we hired a babysitter and went to see Lori perform with the tour in Boston. Once again, we told K&M that we were going to see Auntie Lori sing.

When we got back, the first thing Katherine said to me was: "Momma, No more go see Auntie Lori." It was heart breaking and funny at the same time.

 

QUOTE(Gabe+2more @ Jul 17 2007, 10:25 AM) [snapback]334216[/snapback]
I'm a believer in preparation. I would make sure to tell them ahead of time what the plan is..no surprises. I think they'll all do fine!

I agree....they need to know the truth and maybe it will be easier for the inlaws taking care of them too!!!

 

Just to clarify -- you are talking about whether to tell the older ones, right? Because I don't think the younger ones are going to understand.

I would tell them. It might be more upsetting at the time, but I think in the long run it's important for them to learn that you won't spring important things on them with no warning.

My parents were just here for a week. The girls actually saw them leave and said bye-bye, but they were still very confused when they got up the next morning and Baba and Papa were gone. They wandered all over the house looking for them and I kept saying "Bye-bye Baba, bye-bye Papa." It seemed to take a couple of days for the girls to get it through their heads. So, I think even much younger kids (mine were 19 months at the time) can have expectations from one day to the next, and the world is confusing enough. You might as well do whatever you can to prepare them.

Have a great time! (And I'll try to take my own advice when I go away for the weekend in a couple of months.)

 

Thanks for all your input. And yes, I meant the older ones The babies could care less. I will probably mention it to them sometime on Thursday. I just don't want them to wake up with Grandma and Papa and think that we abandoned them!!!!

Crystal

 

QUOTE(noahandjacobsmom @ Jul 17 2007, 02:57 PM) [snapback]334747[/snapback]
I agree....they need to know the truth and maybe it will be easier for the inlaws taking care of them too!!!


I agree that it's a good idea to tell them in advance. I would just downplay the fact that you're going away and really build up how much fun they're going to have with the grandparents.

 

I've gone to girls trips every year for a weekend. I always tell them. They loved to hear about the boat the year I did the cruise and whined a couple time that they wanted to come but I explained it was a mommy trip and they were fine.

I probably wouldn't use the word "vacation", but I would tell them you are going.

 

I would just let them know that mommy and daddy have to go away for a couple of days, but grandma and grandpa were going to come and play with them while you are gone. I would also avoid the "vacation" word since they can assume from that you are going somewhere fun without them. I would let them know the day before you go with plenty of time to get used to the idea.

 

I tell K&K fairly far in advance, not just the night before. They are creatures of habit and to not know things are different would destroy them. I tell them when a day is going to be different for example I have been preparing them for the last week that tomorrow is not going to be a normal Wed because the person who usually watches them is on vacation and the majority of the people we have over on Wed night are also on vacation (ironically at our summer house in Maine). Anyway, if it was me I would be telling them/preparing them long before Thurs. For me it would probably be the week before saying things on the Friday before like next Friday Grammy and Grampy will be taking care of you etc etc.