by Gina Jacobson, a wife, a mom, a leo.  She works for a  non-profit organisation, is a procrastinator, loves sci-fi, sushi, good books and scrabble.  Her blog is made up of A Bit of This a Bit of That.

On Tuesday I leave my husband and my baby for 10 whole days, I wont even be in the same country.

I have never left Aaron for more than a night at a time and then he is just up the road at my mom and I can get to him in 5 minutes if I need to.  Paul has been overseas or to Cape Town or Durban a few times but its not the same.  This time its me that wont be here.

I am dreading being away from my family for so long but as Paul pointed out, I will at least be able to get a full nights sleep while I’m away…

We haven’t really told Aaron that I will be going away, Im not too sure how much of the concept he will understand and I don’t want to upset him unnecessarily.  I will be going to work as usual on Tuesday morning and then coming home at lunch time to collect my bags and a travel companion and then off we go to the airport.

We have decided against Aaron coming with, he has been a few times and I think the airport is a little overwhelming for him, with all the people and the noise.  So I will be saying goodbye to him at home.

I will be able to talk to them both on Skype as I am taking my laptop with me and as both my laptop and Paul’s are equipped with cameras we will be able to see each other which will definitely help.

I am going to get a small stuffed animal for Aaron to give him when I say goodbye, something just from mama especially for Aaron.

Have you been away from your family for long stretches?  How do you handle goodbyes?  Do you tell your little ones before hand?  How do you prepare them?  How do you cope with being away from them for so long?