Tips for Dads Who Have to Work Away From Home
Working away from home or being on the road can be hard on you and the family. Some of the positives that dads tell us about being away from home include earning good money to support your family, having time reflect on what you really value and some down time. Negatives include, loneliness, missing family and friends, isolation and missing the kids grow up on a day to day basis.
Here are a few tips for working away from home-please send us some that you find work for you.
Regular Phone calls. Talking regularly on the telephone is a common and positive way of staying in touch. Make it for a few minutes each night.
Email, SMS Photos and mini films: Pictures can help distant family members stay in touch. It’s cheap and effective. And if you don't have a digital camera, you can always take regular photos, have double prints made, and mail them back and forth as well.
E-Cards. Good for teenage sons and daughters.
Surprise Gifts. Leave something behind under their pillows or send something for your partner via the net. It doesn't have to be expensive, and it is always a nice surprise for her.
Get the Book. Order a phone book from the community where your family lives (or you could find information online) and orders pizza or other goodies to be delivered. I loved this idea because it was easy and creative, and lets the kids know that dad is thinking about them regularly.
Read them a Book. With young children, you can keep the continuity by reading them a few paragraphs from a book at bedtime; this can be done by phone and continued in person when you are there. Also reading a book onto a computer and sending by email works well.
Whatever your strategy, staying in touch when you are far away is important for dads and grandfathers. The relationships you build under less than ideal circumstances will communicate your love and concern all year long.
Staying in touch with the children while you are on the road can be a real challenge. Consider these ways to keep close to your kids as a road warrior. (Extracts taken from aboutfatherhood.com)
Difficulty: Easy
Time Required: Half an hour a day
Here's How:
- Plan Ahead. I have always found it important to bring along some cards or paper and envelopes, postage stamps, addresses (for the children not living at home) and a good working pen. If you are planning to e-mail or instant message, make sure you have addresses with you. You may also want to bring a digitial camera if you want to email pictures home.
- Jot Down Schedules. If you want to talk to your kids daily by phone or send them instant online messages, you'll need to know when they'll be home. Note in your planner or PDA when the kids will be at school, work or at social commitments while you are gone.
- Mail a Card When You Leave. Because there can be a lag time from when you arrive at your destination and when communication arrives at home, mail a card for each child from the airport or local post office when you leave. That way, there will be communication the first day you are gone.
- Consider Picture Post Cards. My children have loved getting picture post cards of places I have been. Pick some up at the airport gift shop or a truck stop if you are driving. It's especially fun if you send cards with pictures of things you have actually seen.
- Find Low Cost Telephone Solutions. If you have a mobile with nationwide long distance, free minutes early or late in the day and free roaming, try to use it. But beware if your phone adds roaming charges! Consider buying a phone card if you will be calling from the hotel or pay phones along the way--it can really cut your long distance costs.
- Internet at the Hotel. If you aren't bringing along a laptop or a web-enabled PDA or phone, see if your hotel offers low cost or free email or Internet services. Some hotels are now equipped with WiFi access, so maybe you can use e-mail on your PDA.
- Balance Talk Time with Wife, Kids and the Whole Group. I recommend that some of your time on the phone be allocated to individual family members rather than just to the whole family on a speaker phone or the like. Taking a little individual time with each child is important. And don't forget to keep connected with your partner as well.
What You Need:
- Phone numbers
- Addresses: physical, e-mail and IM
- Cards, paper and envelopes
- Postage stamps
- A phone card
- Laptop or PDA (optional)
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Raising Boys: Why Boys Are Different - And How to Help Them Become Happy and Well-Balanced Men
