Saturday, February 27, 2010

Breaking the Chain

About a month after returning home from our Texas Chrismas, LilE began, out of the blue, crying and telling us how much she missed Mimi, Pop, and Nonnie. Seriously, crocodile tears. We would love on her and console her. (I really think she started to play us a bit too since she could get away with having a fit/meltdown.)

Mimi and Pop have a scheduled visit mid March. We can't wait!! LilE would ask every day after they got their tickets, "when are Mimi and Pop going to be here?" Do you know how hard it is to try and explain a month to a 4 year old?

Enter the countdown chain. I cut strips of paper for her and numbered each of them. On each we wrote one thing we love to do with Mimi and Pop. We then practiced our numbers--putting them in order and counting over and over. We are still having problems remembering 13 and 16. This repetition is helping.


Each morning she tears one off and we read what we love about our grandparents.

If you plan a trip to see us, you might just get a countdown chain too!

7 comments:

Erica said...

What a great idea... we make chains for Christmas, but I haven't done one for a families visit.
I think I need one for Elizabeth's birthday, one for Anna's birthday, one for Nana's arrival, and one for our trip to America next summer. Those are the events I am asked daily "how many days" until they happen!

Caroline said...

I LOVE that idea!!! It is so hard to explain to little ones the concept of time. I will have to use this one day:)

w and js mommy said...

we do this with vacation, christmas, visits or grandparents visits! We started this when Jonathan and Kelley were headed home from India. Its a great way to get them excited and talk about whatever event is coming up!

** we also did this before Jay was born**

Mimi said...

What a cute idea and so practical for those little ones who have no concept of time. We can hardly wait for LilE to be at the end of her chain.

amothersjourney said...

Such a great idea! I saw it last night and wondered what it was about. =) It gives her something to look forward to every day, and takes away the endless days of missing them. Good job Mom!

The Rollins Family said...

This is an awesome idea! I'm storing it in the back of my mind for the future.

TCW said...

Great idea. I hope your visit was good. It was so good to see them.