DS going away without me

My oldest is almost 6. My in laws have a condo in Florida. They asked us if they could take DS for 4 nights/5 days over the spring break. I ADORE my in laws- more than my own parents, if we are being honest. I trust them with my kids just as much as I trust myself. It isn't about that. I am worried I will miss him, and he will miss us. He has done weekends at their house before, but he has never slept away from us for more than 2 nights. They would leave on a Tuesday and come back on a Saturday. I know he will be excited and want to go, so we haven't mentioned it to him yet. DH is all for it, I am on the fence. Has anyone ever sent their child away with the other parent or grandparents? How did it work out? TIA

Re: DS going away without me

Could you and your husband go away somewhere else at the same time? I have sent my kids to my parents, and yes I missed them, but there were extenuating circumstances where both my husband and I were incredibly injured so we needed their help. Of course we missed our kids, but they had fun and we were able to heal a little bit.

Re: DS going away without me

No I haven't. I wouldn't do it, just knowing my kid. I don't think he would cope well being away from us for that long. It would also be difficult for me, but I wouldn't let that stop me. I could deal with it, but I wouldn't want to put my anxiety prone child in that position.

You know your kid best. If you think he would be ok, I would probably do it.

Re: DS going away without me

Last summer DH and DS (age 7) went to Ireland for 5 days. The worst part was saying goodbye at the airport. After that I think it was good - he had a great time and they had a lot of fun together.

I think it depends on your kid - I was apprehensive since he had never slept over even grandmas house since he was little

DS going away without me

my DS is 6. when he was 4.5, it was our 10 year anniversary... so my parents watched him for 4 nights while we went to Charleston, SC ( we all live in NJ). i was nervous getting on a plane without him, and how he would do with my parents. but it was fine! he did great. i think my parents slept for 2 days after it was over HAHA but it was nice all around. i say if you trust your ILs, then go for it and maybe go away somewhere with DH that weekend... so you're not hanging around at home worrying about DS

Message edited 3/2/2017 7:50:11 AM.

DS going away without me

I'd be sad but my 3 year old would be like bye. But she is very independent. Only you know your child enough to make that decision.

Re: DS going away without me

I've never sent my kids on a plane before without us, but they've been with grandparents before. When one of the major storms hit CT several years ago, DS1 was just shy of 3, neither us nor daycare had power, but both of our offices did. We stayed in our house without power at night, but we sent DS to my parents for about 4 days on LI. Our kids stayed with our parents for 3 or 4 nights when we went away for our 10th anniversary. They were 3 and almost 7.

DS1 who's 8 has been spending a week at FIL's over the summer for the past few years. He goes to a camp there and spends time with FIL and his family. They live an hour from us. He has also spent a week with my parents once or twice per summer for the past few years. My mom talked about going down to D.C./Baltimore with him at one point, but they ended up staying local. They go into the City, see Broadway shows, go to Mets games, etc. They live 2+ hours from us. He'll be spending a week with each again this summer. It end up being two weeks in a row although we tend to see him at some point in between. I miss him, but we FaceTime and he has so much fun. Logistically, with camp, it works best to do it that way.

DS2 is still a handful although he's getting better. I'm sure he'll do the same thing eventually with his grandparents, but my guess is that they'll both prefer to take the kids one at a time for the week.

Re: DS going away without me

Let him go! These are special memories he will treasure. It's only 4 nights and you can still Facetime him as much as you want.

Re: DS going away without me

We left our DD at the time she was about I think 1.5 with my parents for about 7 days while we were went away for our 30th bdays. DH was the worst DD don't think even cared and I missed her but we called/faced time with her.

I would do it again no problem at all

Re: DS going away without me

I went away all the time with my grandparents when I was little. The first time was for a week when I was 6 years old (to their house in Florida). When my sister got older, she came too. We loved going!

Those are my favorite memories. I miss my grandpa

Re: DS going away without me

Thank you everyone.
We are going to give them the green light to book the airplane tickets, and take him. We can't go anywhere while he is gone- we also have a 4 yr old, 2 yr old twins, and a 9 month old. We will probably be too busy to miss him lol. We plan on letting them tell him when we go to their house on Sunday for dinner. He is going to be ecstatic. Their condo is just a 5 minute walk to the beach, plus the development has a pool. They also plan on doing Lion Country Safari and Miami Seaquarium. I am excited for him- I think it will be such a special thing for him to do with his grandparents. We will miss him- but I don't want us to stop him from doing this.

Re: DS going away without me

DS going away without me

Dh's two sisters do not have kids. They have been taking my two oldest boys away on vacation since they were in preschool. Disney, Bahamas, CA twice(one sister lives in LA). My boys love the special attention and have such close relationships with their aunts as a result.