My husband and I left this summer to go on a trip to Ireland and my daughter was 19 months old at the time. My mom came to stay with her. I was mortified at the thought of it, but we wanted to start trying for another baby soon and knew it was take the trip now or wait another several years. Well, I was thinking more along the lines of NYC or somewhere at least in the USA, but my hubby talked me into leaving the country. I was a disaster on the way to the airport, but I have to say that once we left, I was okay. We talked on the phone every night (despite the time difference) and she did perfectly fine. She LOVES her Grandma and I think it actually created an awesome bond between them. My mom lives in Florida, so they only get to visit about 4-5 times per year. Anyway, trust me when I say that NO permanent damage will be done by leaving them. We were gone for 9 days and my little one missed us, but she was back to normal within a day of our return (she actually clinged to Grandma when we first came home....broke my heart a little because she wouldn't come to me at first, but she warmed up really quickly). Do yourself a favor and go enjoy some time with your hubby. You won't regret it and the kids will probably fare much better than you! By the way, we came home with baby #2 in the oven, so mission accomplished! I'm really glad we went. :-)