One thing that helped me hugely is "counting off" the days. Some parenting mags/articles and stuff teach a caretaker when a parent is away on business or something to have the exact number of "treats" or a routine chart/calendar for the days the parent is going to be gone and then crossing off or eating the piece of candy, etc. so there's a better sense of time passing and one can see how many days are left until the person comes home, etc.

I use to use the large, individually wrapped Life Savers. Sometimes too I'd use my journal or hand-make a "calendar" in my journal and make a list of things I wanted to try/do while my T was away that I normally couldn't while she was there or I'd "practice" things (without the training wheels :-) knowing she'd be back if I messed them up but her being gone gave me an opportunity to try "for real" in a safe way (since she'd be back and could help me if I had a problem).