Hard to say goodbye

In the past two weeks or so, my son has been having some anxiety at nights. He asks if his daddy is going to work tomorrow, and if the answer is "yes" he makes sure to get all his goodbyes out. "Goodbye. Happy new year fifty-twozit. Goodbye. Mom, can you say goodbye to daddy? Goodbye. Happy new year fifty-twozit...." and his daddy and I try to make our escape as he continues his litany.

He is very insistent that I join him in his goodbyes to daddy. So I do, to humor him and to keep him calm so he can go to sleep. "Goodbye, daddy. Happy new year 95. Have a nice day at work. We'll see you when you get home." We tell him that he can call daddy in the morning if he wants to, trying to reassure him as we put him to bed.

For the last three mornings, we've been dealing with an addition to that issue. Just before my husband leaves in the morning - at 4:30ish - he calls out for one of us, and then starts crying if no one gets there in a certain amount of time. He wants to talk to daddy to tell him goodbye and give a kiss.

It makes me sad to think that my little boy already has so much on his mind, that he would be so worried about his daddy being gone he gets up crying. I know he must lie in bed worrying as he falls asleep so it's the first idea he grabs onto when he awakes. I'm not quite sure what to do other than to keep reassuring him. Hopefully this will be a hurdle he can get over quickly and easily.

Maybe I should get him a new toy.

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And the reference he makes to 52? He started saying it one day and we just shrugged it off. Kids make up a bunch of stuff. I finally asked him and he replied it's for McQueen. Uh, no...Mcqueen is 95. So I've been trying to teach him that it's 95. But fifty-twozit still sounds better.

About Last Night:
Spice it up and have fun at story time. Try reading to your child in a different voice. Plug your nose. Speak like Julia Childs. Pat your mouth as you talk to sound like an announcer. You, too, could make a 3 year old laugh like a loon. I even mimic a story on tape/cd, chiming when it's time to turn the page.