Yes! Well the toddler does... DD2 is still pretty Mum focused and oblivious to anything else lol. We are actually looking at stripping our budget down to try and allow DP to drop to more part time hours because we all miss each other and they are only little for so short... then we start feeling a bit guilty trying to remember everyone needs to work to make the world go around, life is bigger than our little family unit... contribution to society and such but then, anyone could choose to live simpler and some things really aren't that necessary, we have sort of gone beyond the work for neccesities, trading what you have for what you need with others blah de blah.... circles and roundabouts lol. We are both quite disillusioned with the whole working 5 days to live for 2 business that life seems to have become, the extravagance even amongst the 'average' so as our self sufficiency grows, our needs for outside income starts diminishing and it starts to seem stupid to work more than required when we are happy to forgo the extras, materially speaking and just want more time, experiences, laughs, fun. ANYWAY getting a bit off topic there but yes, it is heartbreaking!

I don't have much of an answer, we try to explain why DP needs to work... we talk about the fun things her and I will do during the day (and Breeeeeeeee), then mention the things they will do when DP gets home, try to explain when he will be home. We make things to show him or call him to tell him about stuff, I let her send a text message or two or a picture. We try and keep the day pretty busy... haha this is starting to be more about me missing him, she isn't actually too bad once the day gets rolling, it is more the goodbye. We always run to the balcony to wave to the car which seems to calm her down enough for him to get out the door and then in the afternoon we count cars and colours on the balcony wating for our car to come home so I think the routine/stability thing helps. After lunch is when we call (after our lunch, it is during his)... always go to the park in the morning then afternoon is cooking or painting or something messy unless we have something else on that day (playgroup, playdates, speech). We keep a whiteboard where in the morning we write a general gist of the day so she kind of knows what is going on and all the fun stuff in between him leaving and coming back. And we do have fun, of course!

I dunno, I can understand how she feels really... I mean, I miss him too and the toddler inside my brain thinks life is SOOO unfair and longs for the ability to just be selfish... I mean really, why can't we just spend all day everyday soaking up rays in the park haha but yeah, just getting stuck into fun stuff seems to remind us both we can have a good time together and then we get to show him or tell him about it so bonus fun lol. And remembering it is the beautiful double edged sword of having such a neat and involved dad