[dlhall]

We left our 4 year old daughter for our two trips to Russia with her grandparents. I tried not to make a big deal about it. I find that the more anxious I am about it, the more anxious she is and vice versa. If I'm calm and excited about it, she is calmer too.

I tried to focus on all the fun things she'd get to do with her grandparents, and her grandparents made sure she was too busy to really think about us gone. We did not call home when we were away because I knew that would make her more upset that we weren't able to come home now. It was harder on us than it was on her.

I did buy her a few special toys and books for her to have while we were gone, but I did not buy her one for every day.

She did fine while we were gone, but she was very clingy when we returned and I made sure that I spent a lot of time with her after we got back. I am nervous about our next trip (we've taken 2 1st trips, we still need to go to court) when we return with her brother. I think she'll have a hard time. I did buy her the "Seeds of Love" book and Target had these "magic" plants that grow in about one week, so I bought that to go along with the book.

Liz