The husband of a good friend of mine travels a lot for work. They have two young twins, and when James goes anywhere he takes two of their stuffed animals (one for each twin, so in your case, one animal would probably be fine) with him and takes digital camera images of the animals doing whatever he's doing -- so they get to see their stuffed animals having coffee in Tokyo, or sitting in the airplane seat or whatever.
He then e-mails the images back during the trip, or if it's a short trip, shows them to the kids when he gets back. And their mom talks to the kids about what the stuffed animals are doing and how they're keeping their dad company because he's all alone and misses them.
This sounds sappy, and it may be overkill for 3 days, but it's *incredibly* effective. It focuses the twins' minds on the fact that their dad is missing them, rather than the other way around -- and they love seeing their stuffed animals off having adventures.
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He then e-mails the images back during the trip, or if it's a short trip, shows them to the kids when he gets back. And their mom talks to the kids about what the stuffed animals are doing and how they're keeping their dad company because he's all alone and misses them.
This sounds sappy, and it may be overkill for 3 days, but it's *incredibly* effective. It focuses the twins' minds on the fact that their dad is missing them, rather than the other way around -- and they love seeing their stuffed animals off having adventures.