Sunny Spot: First long visit to Grandma's alone

Sunny Spot: First long visit to Grandma's alone

First long visit to Grandma's alone

My two granddaughers (age 3 and 5) have just spent 5 days at my house without their parents. We were all concerned about them missing their parents, especially the younger girl. The only time that seemed to be really difficult was the few minutes after their parents' nightly call. The secret was keeping them very busy with new things to do. I decided to play up this "first" visit as a series of firsts... their first real hike (a long walk), their first drive along the California coast, their first swim in the ocean. We took pictures to record every one of these firsts. On the last day before flying them home, we printed the pictures, glued them on construction paper and used their words to describe the pictures, creating an album from a binder with transparent sleeves. The documentation served to remind them of their experiences and to instill a sense of continuity for the next visit. Planning the album with the picture-taking all week long so they could share their experience with Mommy and Daddy gave them a sense of the visit being time-limited and kept the connection to home.
Suni