Job-Mom: Travel

My husband's job requires that he travel for work on a regular basis. I always have advance notice of at least a week for any business trip, which gives me plenty of time to plan how I will handle my work situation when he's away. And based on my experiences, I've offered some of my tips how I, as a working mom, manage the juggle of work/life balance when my spouse must travel for work.

But managing the juggle of work/life balance when a spouse has a business trip becomes a tiny bit more complicated when your kids are having trouble adjusting to mom or dad being away. A one-night trip is a breeze, but sometimes longer trips -- or trips that become regular -- can send little ones into a tailspin. And when I say "little ones," I'm referring to kids older than two years old but younger than ten.

The saying, "Time flies when you're having fun" has never been more true then when you're on your own watching the kids. And if you make it fun for them -- and for you -- it can make a huge difference in helping everyone adjust to a parent's travels.

I have two simple tricks up my sleeve when it comes to making sure my husband's business trips don't turn my two sons into tiny train wrecks. Keep in mind these ideas work well when a spouse is gone one to three nights. Anything longer and you'll need to call in for back up!

-Routine, routine, routine. My boys love routine. They need to know what's coming. But on the days my husband is away, it goes out the window and another plan goes into action. It's called, the "Daddy's Away!" and for my sons, it means French toast for breakfast, cream of cauliflower soup and homemade croutons for dinner, chocolate chip cookies for dessert, an extra long bath and extra stories at bedtime. Every. Single. Time. And at dinner time, I let my oldest son read a special book at the dinner table -- a definite "no-no" any other day. One night I accidentally told my son he couldn't read at the table and he said, "But Mom, you always let me read a book when Daddy's traveling." Touché.

Sometimes the bath is short, sometimes they are too tired for extra stories, but they both know that the days that Daddy's away are special for the three of us. Routine.

-Keep the kids busy. When you get home from work, make sure you keep the kids active. Let them help you with dinner. Have them pick out post-dinner books and toys you'll be playing with. Better yet, post dinner, take them to the park. Even a short 15 minute burst of park time can make the evening go faster for them (and you).

I swear by these two tips and I've had plenty of time and opportunity to test out other ideas during my husband's travels. And I'm sure if he were writing this post, his approach to my business travel and his playing single dad would be summed up in one phrase: "Go with the flow!" Perhaps because I only travel a few times a year, compared to his wacky schedule.

Okay, so you've read my tips on helping kids adjust when a spouse has to travel for work. What about yours?