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Work-Life BalanceWorking Moms

6 Tips For Parents Working Away From Home

When you have to work away from your kids, it can be incredibly difficult, especially when it comes to saying goodbye. No matter how long your trip is whether you are jetting off for the weekend or need to spend a few months down south, you’ll find that it is hard to get on that plane. To help you with working away from home, we have put together some top tips. This includes everything from telling your kids in advance to making sure that you are leaving them something to remember you by while you are gone. Keep reading if you are traveling for a business trip coming up and you’d like to ease your kids into it as much as you can.

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Tell Kids In Advance

The most important thing that you can do is to tell your kids in advance you’re working away from home. Don’t leave it to the last minute as they won’t have a chance to let it sink in that you aren’t going to be around for a certain period of time. Of course, you also don’t need to warn them too far in advance as you are only giving them something to worry about for longer.

We suggest telling them a few weeks before you need to go, depending on the length of the trip of course and how far in advance you find out yourself. Don’t drag out the process of telling them as you will only make it sound more serious than it needs to be. Make sure to let them know that you will be back and give them time to adjust to the news before you jet off. Try to remain positive and this will make everything much easier in the long run.


 

Make Traveling Quicker

No parent wants to be away from their kids but sometimes it is hard to avoid. Of course, there are ways that you can improve the situation such as by cutting the trip shorter or choosing a shorter method of transport so that you can stick around sooner. While it might cost you a lot less to travel by car to your business trip, taking a plane might mean that you can get home much sooner, and this is something which you should consider.

If you are traveling from an airport like Bristol, for example, you can make use of the Bristol airport Parking and drive yourself there and back. This means that when you step off that plane, the Meet And Greet Bristol Airport Parking service will get you home as soon as possible. Make sure to find out more details at Bristol Parking and other UK airports to see how you could cut your travel time to spend more time with your family.

 

Leave A Reminder

Our next tip for those who are going to be working away from home is to leave a reminder for your kids. This means leaving behind an old sweatshirt that smells like you or something that you kids can use that will remind them that you love them. This is a really sweet way of showing your kids that you care about them and that you are not abandoning them.

Although they could easily go into your wardrobe and pick out an item for themselves, going to the effort of leaving it for them can be much more special. Try to come up with something that they will like, and this will soften the blow when you need to leave for your business trip.

 

Keep Your Child’s Routine

If your kids are young enough to have a routine that they stick to every day then this needs to be something that happens even when you are away. If you are leaving them with your partner and they are staying at home, then this shouldn’t be an issue but if you are leaving them with someone else then you might need to leave some instructions.

This isn’t as complicated as you might think, all you need to do is write out their schedule and when they have their dinner, bath time and do other activities. You could even add in a call with you to this schedule which will be a nice surprise for your kids when they have a look at what they are doing that day. Make sure to be clear about their routine and where they need to be. It is important that you are not disturbing their daily routine while you are away as this is only going to cause more problems than it needs to.

 

Check In Often

If you want to make this trip as simple as possible for your kids, then you need to be ready to check in often. While you might be busy working, you need to show that you are coming back and that you haven’t abandoned them. Luckily, you can now use things like Skype to get in touch and they can see your face at the same time as hearing your voice.

If you can, schedule in some time when you can catch up with them. You could even stay in contact with whoever they are staying with if you want to see if they are okay but don’t want to bombard them with calls and video chats while you are gone. Just make sure not to forget about home when you are away, and this should be much easier in the end.


 

Detach Yourself

Our final tip for those who are planning a business trip away from their kids is to try to detach yourself. This might be something that you struggle with if you have never been away before, but it is really important if you want to be able to focus while you are on your business trip.

Detaching yourself doesn’t necessarily mean that you cannot stay in contact but try to give them space to breathe and give yourself some space to get work done. While your colleagues will understand that you need to check up on your kids, they won’t appreciate that you keep leaving meetings to have Skype calls with them. Try to detach yourself as much as you can, and you’ll thank yourself when working away from home.

 

 

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Final Verdict

If you have a business trip coming up that you cannot bring your kids on, then you should make sure to take on board the advice that we have given you in this article. Think about how you can create a schedule that your kids will follow to make sure that their routine is not disturbed. You should also choose the quickest method of transport to ensure that you don’t need to leave earlier than you are required to. Remember to drive your car to the airport and use the meet and greet services if your partner doesn’t need it while you’re gone.

Make sure to try out the tips that we have discussed, and you should have a successful trip working away from home. Hopefully, next time it won’t be as difficult, and your kids won’t be as upset that you are leaving them for an extended period of time.

 

 

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TWL Working Mom

Jennifer is the Owner of TWL and Co-Owner of a Influencer Facebook Group Influential Mamas.  Along with blogging + freelance writing and selling Zyia Activewear, she is a mom, army wife and full-time teacher. Jennifer lives in Washington State and is a born + raised New Yorker. In her spare time, she loves traveling, yoga, the beach, writing, listening to books and drinking coffee.

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