work trip next week, three days. told her this evening and bedtime turned into an hour of one more story, one more water, one more hug. the 12 yr old just asked if he can have my side of the bed while i'm gone. do i tell her later next time, like the morning of? or is that worse
On release days I get home after our daughter is asleep, so I recorded a short voice note of me singing her usual song, and my partner plays it at bedtime. She is not even one, so I can't say how a 7 year old would take it, but you could record a story for each night you're away.
We do something similar with our three year old. One thing I'd add: let her choose the stories before you leave. Choosing them seems to matter as much as hearing them.
Keeping the voice note idea for my next trip. Mine's still a baby but she definitely notices the suitcase.
We tried telling our daughter on the morning itself when she was around that age. It made the evening calmer but the morning much worse, and she found out from the suitcase rather than from me. We went back to telling her a couple of days before, with a calendar on the fridge and the days crossed off. The clinginess didn't go away, but it moved from bedtime to a few minutes at the door.
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