Travel Mantra
Like most kids, Sky thrives on routine and any big change in that can really throw her (and her behavior) off. To prepare her for everything that's about to happen on vacation, we've been talking through a travel mantra. It goes like this:
We're going on vacation to America.
Who's going to America? Mommy, Daddy, Sky, and Fire are going to America.
We're going to America on an airplane.
We'll have fun on the airplane and we'll have fun in America.
Sky will have her birthday in America.
We'll see lots of family in America.
Sky and Fire will play with I and R (cousins) in America.
We'll have Christmas in America.
After we go to America, we're going to Majuro.
Who's going to Majuro? Mommy, Daddy, Sky, and Fire are going to Majuro.
We might see Mommy Agnes in Majuro.
We might see Fire's Mommy Elizabeth and Daddy Job in Majuro.
After Majuro we're coming home.
Where's home? This is home.
Who's coming home? Mommy, Daddy, Sky, and Fire are coming home.
We say the same things over and over to reinforce the basic concepts that we're going someplace, it will be fun, and that we're coming home. We started using the mantra before our trip to Majuro in May and it helped a little. It didn't occur to me until halfway through the trip to add that we were coming home to Kwaj and that everyone was coming home. The new addition this time is the "fun" part. There wasn't a lot of definite fun on our trip to Majuro and so far, pretty much every flight Sky has made with us has been stressful in someway (rushing back to America, traveling alone with Mommy, and returning to Majuro). We're hoping that by laying out the basics of our trip beforehand, we can at least lighten some of Sky's worries and maybe head off some of the behaviors that come with them.
We're going on vacation to America.
Who's going to America? Mommy, Daddy, Sky, and Fire are going to America.
We're going to America on an airplane.
We'll have fun on the airplane and we'll have fun in America.
Sky will have her birthday in America.
We'll see lots of family in America.
Sky and Fire will play with I and R (cousins) in America.
We'll have Christmas in America.
After we go to America, we're going to Majuro.
Who's going to Majuro? Mommy, Daddy, Sky, and Fire are going to Majuro.
We might see Mommy Agnes in Majuro.
We might see Fire's Mommy Elizabeth and Daddy Job in Majuro.
After Majuro we're coming home.
Where's home? This is home.
Who's coming home? Mommy, Daddy, Sky, and Fire are coming home.
We say the same things over and over to reinforce the basic concepts that we're going someplace, it will be fun, and that we're coming home. We started using the mantra before our trip to Majuro in May and it helped a little. It didn't occur to me until halfway through the trip to add that we were coming home to Kwaj and that everyone was coming home. The new addition this time is the "fun" part. There wasn't a lot of definite fun on our trip to Majuro and so far, pretty much every flight Sky has made with us has been stressful in someway (rushing back to America, traveling alone with Mommy, and returning to Majuro). We're hoping that by laying out the basics of our trip beforehand, we can at least lighten some of Sky's worries and maybe head off some of the behaviors that come with them.
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