Prep for Leaving Town Without Your Kids

Hi! I’m Amanda, your Type A Mom friend who has done all the research and tried all the things so that you don’t have to😊 I use the organizational and time management skills I learned while making movies in Hollywood, and my experience parenting three kids aged 10, 8 and 4, to streamline the behind-the-scenes work of parenting and solve different modern family life issues.

After being a mom for a decade and constantly sharing my solutions and ideas to help friends with varying parenting questions I decided to start Type A Mom so I can help you too!  It's my hope that these suggestions can give you ideas for navigating the behind-the-scenes work of modern-day parenting so that you can focus less on the busywork of parenting and more on quality time with your kids. Please let me know if there is anything in your parenting journey that you need help with – I’d love to share my ideas in future articles!

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Today I want to talk about something I just did a week ago: setting up a system for when you go out of town without your kids.  My husband and I just returned from a five-night trip out of the country. We had long international plane flights where we wouldn’t be reachable, and the time change was 8 hours ahead of our kids, so even when we weren’t on a plane we wouldn’t be reachable for little detailed questions throughout the day. That meant I had to prepare our kids’ caregiver with all the information before we left so things would run on autopilot!

Setting up to leave town is something that is so helpful once done but it can feel like a lot of work to do. When I was early in my Hollywood career I was an assistant to movie executives with very busy travel schedules. I would prepare their travel by making detailed itineraries about every bit of their trip so that things would run smoothly with few questions. When I first left my kids after becoming a mom, I leaned on the systems I used when I was an assistant to prepare caregivers for my absence. I’ve refined it over the years and now have a great simple system to prep for leaving town. With summer travels coming up, I thought it would be timely to share how I set this up!

LEAVING TOWN PREP

KID ITINERARY:

I use the notes app in my phone to set up an itinerary for each day I’m gone. The notes app works great for this because while I’m traveling I can simply check my phone to see what I’ve asked the caregiver to do each day, and I can also text or email that schedule from my phone to anyone else who may need it while I’m gone or if the caregiver loses it. Plus, having it on my phone in the weeks leading up to the trip is great because I can add things into the schedule as I remember them and don’t have to wait to get to a computer to type it up!

• Two weeks ahead of the trip I set up a notes document for each day I am away. It’s a very simple setup – just write the date in caps at the top.
• Then I look at my calendar at the days I’ll be gone and I add into each notes document whatever activities the kids have during those days.
• Next I look at the schedule and think about how the kids will get to and from each activity. I try to keep their activities schedule as typical as possible when away since a predictable regular routine helps comfort them. But, if I see that the logistics just won’t work, I will cancel the activity – I’ve found it better to keep the shuttling of kids less complicated while away!
• I add in information for driving/dropping off/picking up for each activity, and the address and contact info for each activity. The goal is to have it laid out so that I don’t need to be contacted if there are questions – especially if I’m on a plane or in a totally different time zone!
• During the days before the trip I will add details to these pages as I remember them – things like what needs to be packed each day for school and after school activities since each school day seems to need different items.
• I add any rules that we have – for example, screentime and sweets – so there are no questions. It also helps the caregiver defend a rule when they can point it out to the kids who are asking for something out of the ordinary.
• Once completed, I print out a page for each day. I walk through each day with the caregiver ahead of leaving, write any notes on it that they asked about, and then I leave them in a stack on the kitchen counter as a guide to follow.
• I make sure to add what day and time I will be returning so that the kids know.
• A sample day could look like this:

GROCERIES:

Stock up on items to choose from to make breakfast, lunches, snacks and dinners. It may be helpful to list ideas of what the kids generally enjoy at each of those meals.

• I do plan what’s for dinner each night since I find that figuring out breakfast and lunch can be easy to do in the moment, but figuring out dinner at the end of the day can be stressful so it’s best to have that outlined. Make sure your groceries include all the items you need for whatever you list for them to make!
• Check in with your caregiver about what food they’d like to have in the house for them to eat since they may need certain things that you don’t typically purchase.
• In the itinerary you can list what’s for each meal if that helps you plan what to buy ahead of time, or you can just state the dinner for each night and let the caregiver decide breakfast and lunch (again, as long as you provide options when you get groceries).

CAR:

If your caregiver is using your car, make sure it is filled with gas or has been fully charged.

CASH:

Leave cash in an envelope for the caregiver to use if needed.  Have them put receipts into the envelope when they use the cash.

EMERGENCY CONTACTS:

• Make a list of people for the caregiver to contact in an emergency in case you cannot be reached – people like family or neighbors who the kids are familiar with and who can help if needed.
• Let the emergency contacts know you’re leaving town and give them the caregiver’s information just in case they need to be in touch with them or the kids for some reason.
• List the pediatrician and dentist’s name and information in case the caregiver needs to call them.
• One big note is to make sure your home address is listed near the phone/main area of the house so if a caregiver calls 911 they can quickly tell paramedics how to find them.

MEDICAL CONSENT FORMS:

To be extra prepared you can fill out an emergency form for each kid in case the caregiver must take them to the ER.  It can streamline check in since it will list all the information the ER may need in one place. Something like this could work well: Medical Consent Form Example

HOUSE CALENDAR:

In our home we always have a calendar on our kitchen bulletin board for the kids to see and understand what their schedule is (Family Wall Calendar setup).

• Before leaving, fill out that calendar with all the usual information so the kids can see it every day (it states their activities and the dinner plan – it doesn’t state anything about the adults – and it is less detailed than the itinerary the caregiver uses).
• Make sure that it is filled out for every day that you’re gone so they can track what’s happening.
• Add in when you will be returning so they can see that!

ALERT SCHOOL/DAYCARE:

Always let school/daycare know you are traveling and who will be staying with the kids. You may need to fill out forms for the caregiver if they are not already on the approved drop off/pickup list.

CAREGIVER(S):

One thing to think about is how long you’ll be gone, and whether you need to either have someone come in and relieve the main caregiver for a few hours on some days (like on weekend days when there is no school), or if you will need to switch out caregivers partway through the trip. You should consider how the caregiver’s energy and mood will be around the kids after many days caring for them without a break and try to think of ways to keep things positive for them and for your kids! Things to consider are:

• If you have a grandparent watching the kids then they may need a break so having a sitter come over on a weekend day (since there is no break of a school day on the weekends) for a few hours could be helpful.
• If you are asking your regular nanny/sitter to stay for a lot of days but then need their help when you return, they may not have any days off for a long stretch of time. In that case, it might be good to have a different sitter take over partway through your time away to so the regular sitter can have a break/time off.
• If you do have multiple caregivers, print out an itinerary for each of them and write their name on the top so they know what to follow for the day. Use the same itinerary for both caregivers but delineate who is in charge of what (who is prepping dinner, who is packing lunches, who is driving whom, etc.), and highlight each itinerary accordingly so there are no miscommunications.
• Remember to ask what they need in the house for their food (and coffee!).

Setting up to leave town can feel overwhelming but once you’ve set it up one time it’s easier to keep the same system for the next time! It’s worth it to plan all of this ahead of time so things can run smoothly without any help from you while you’re gone – it helps everyone (including you!) feel taken care of and calm during your time away.

I hope this system of how to prepare for leaving town is helpful for you and your family!