Somewhat Simple is sharing this countdown chain she made for her kids while her and her husband were on vacation! I love it! Thanks Stephanie for sharing!
Part of our preparations for this vacation included making a countdown chain for the kids. Since our itinerary was set by the cruise line and we had booked our shore excursions before we left, we knew pretty much exactly what each day would entail, and I wanted the kids to know what mom and dad were up to each and every day. Here is what I did:
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1. I grabbed 3 pieces of coordinating scrapbook paper
2. I typed a little blip for each day simply telling the kids what mom and dad were doing that day. I ran the scrapbook paper through the printer & printed these small notes on the backside of the scrapbook paper. Here are what some of the notes said:
Sunday, May 9
Today mom and dad are in Spain and we get to board the big cruise ship! Mom will probably eat a ton of ice cream and dad will probably eat a ton of shrimp at dinner. Be good at church today! Ethan, remember you are saying the scripture in primary! You will do great! We love you!
Tuesday, May 11
Today mom and dad are in Naples, Italy. We are going to go see an old town that was completely covered in ash when a volcano exploded thousands of years ago! We will take a lot of pictures and maybe buy you all something fun! We hope you are being good for grandma! We love you!
3. Then I cut each day into strips and began assembling them in chronological order, forming the chain.
Each morning, the kids got to tear a link off & read what mom and dad were doing that day.
Each night they got a candy hug & a candy kiss just before saying their prayers- our way of "tucking them in" even though we were thousands of miles away.
... it was like we weren't even gone! ♥
... it was like we weren't even gone! ♥
Thanks again Stephanie from Somewhat Simple!
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We do countdown chains all the time because my husband is in the Navy and he deploys often. When he was in Iraq, we created it just for the last 90 days so it was not too depressing at the beginning. We also do what I call a 'reverse daisy chain' where create a chain. I have the kids draw or write something exciting that they did that day (I write for the little ones) on one strip of paper, then we staple it together. At the end, we hang it across the garage for Daddy to see when he gets home-- and the best part is, once he settles in, he gets to open the chain and see what special things happened while he was away. The kids really like it because they feel like they get the share their good stuff with daddy!
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We thought we were the orginators of the countdown chain...darnit, guess not...we made one/two/three..etc each time my son in law was in Iraq so his precious girls would know when daddy would be home..ours were very long 140-160, then he would be home for R&R & we would make another after he left..along with the chain, we bought a globe so they would know right where he was, along with a life size poster..Thank Goodness we dont do it for that reason anymore (he is now out of the Army) but love the vacation idea, so when my daughter & son in law leave the girls here & go on a trip, the girls will know just what they are doing..gonna be a copy cat on that one.
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