It’s hard when one spouse goes on a work trip. It’s hard for the spouse traveling (read: homesickness), and it’s arguably more challenging for the spouse who stays home (read: 24-hour rock star solo-parent time). I travel for work reasons pretty regularly, and yet – somehow – I am still pretty terrible at prepping for trips.
Are you even a tiny bit like me? If so, here are two ideas to make work trips a little easier on the entire family – zero preparation required:
- Send delivery food to the house, mid-trip
It’s very common to text or speak over the phone with your spouse only to learn they ate goldfish crackers for dinner. At this point, get on GrubHub and order their favorite delivery food. Pay with a credit card, if possible, to ensure maximum lack of effort for spouse. You’d make life easier for them and calm a growling tummy.
- Send selfie videos
Because your kids – and your spouse – will miss you. A five-second video of you standing on the airport’s moving walkway while making silly faces will delight them infinitely more than a photo or phone call will. It might also make them feel a little closer to you while you’re far away. It was either E.E. Cummings or James Franco who said, “The selfie quickly and easily shows, not tells, how you’re feeling, where you are, what you’re doing.”**
ProTip: to avoid your romantic food delivery gesture from going to waste, text your spouse a head’s up about the imminent food delivery.
I failed to do this on one trip, and – while my husband loved the gesture – he was somewhat alarmed by the unannounced Thai food at his door and almost declined the delivery—a narrowly missed tragedy.
**It was James Franco, you guys.
Okay, now your ideas! I am in constant need of new ones. So comment below, and also find me on Instagram @btwn_the_lines.
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POSTED IN: TRAVEL · TAGGED: FIGURING IT OUT, PARENTING, PARENTING ADVICE, WORKING MOM