Daughters are extremely clingy to Wife, yet they are spending more time than ever with her

At different points throughout the day (particularly in the morning and late afternoon on) my daughters (3.5 and 2) become extremely clingy with my wife. They want her to hold them, they want to climb on her, etc. During the day, my wife says they are fine. She only works two days a week, so she's home with them three days during the week and then is of course around on weekends. So she's spending as much time with them as ever. However, the clinginess and "mommy, mommy, mommy" is getting to my wife; I think she feels like she can't be her own person because the girls take so much out of her. I try to get up with the girls in the morning to let my wife sleep in, but it's a battle to get them downstairs without my wife. Also, when I get home in the late afternoon, after running up and giving me hugs and kisses, they then start their ultra-clinginess (so it's as if my arrival triggers it).Some background: we recently pulled them out of daycare/preschool temporarily because of the departures of several teachers that we really liked there but have them starting at a new school in the fall and my older daughter will be doing a half day summer program starting soon. My wife has decreased her work hours so that she's only working two days a week now, and we have a nanny with the girls during those two days. As mentioned above, she's now spending more time with the girls than she's ever been able to, but it coincided with an increase in this clinginess. We're also expecting our third child later this year (the last one we're planning for), but the girls are very excited for him to arrive (at least the older one is, since the younger one doesn't really understand), so I don't know if that factors in at all.I give my wife breaks during the weekend and only continue my work in the evening after the girls are in bed, but I don't know what more I (or we) should do.Some thoughts/ideas:The loss of a structured school day may be having a large effect, but I don't understand how that would increase the clinginessIn anticipation of the arrival of the new baby, we're talking to my older daughter constantly about how she'll be a great big sister and that we'll need her help, and she has expressed nothing but excitement about itWhen my wife isn't around, the kids are fine and aren't constantly upset that she isn't there. It's just that when is around they want to be all over her.My younger daughter still takes naps, so the older one gets uninterrupted 1:1 time with mommy each day she's aroundAnyone have experience in handling this? Is it just a phase that we need to weather? via /r/Parenting https://ift.tt/2J777Ch