As this year begins there are thousands of families that will be split up by deployment. No, I’m not meaning divorce, but it is a time that families aren’t together. Some only seperated by states while others are seperated by countires. This is a very trying time for families, you miss each other terribly, children will have 100 questions that they ask every week and miss mommy/daddy even more.
What types of things can you do for your child to make this transition a little bit easier?
A few ideas I’ve tried and read about will be in these entries in the next few days. I hope that they help your child as much as they have helped mine. My children are 9, 6 and 3 so I don’t have many ideas for the teen but I have read plenty of great ones.
1st The Counting Chain
Unlike most chains this one actually counts how many days daddy/mommy has been away, the perfect thing about this is it can be used as decoration. This is the same type of chain that a child would make in school to count down until Christmas. As every day passes, write something you did that day or remember. It’ a great way to remember everything they want to tell the loved one that isn’t there. Once daddy/mommy is due home, use the counting chain as a welcome home gift…it’ll definitely be long enough to decorate the living room.
2nd The Keepsake Box
This is something I’ve tried but only because I read it in a book first. Get a shoebox and have your child decorate it, inside the box they get to add something every day or week (depending on what you want to try) and once daddy/mommy comes back they can tell them all about the items.
3rd The Kisses
Most military families have heard about this one if they’ve ever had a deployment, I think it is the one that is the most fun. Fill a glass jar up with Hershey’s kisses, but the catch is only the amount until daddy is due home. The magic thing about this is if you have young children have find out that daddy won’t be coming back as soon as first thought you can always add more chocolates.
Your child will know daddy is coming home as soon as the chocolates are gone. Be careful with this, they may try pulling a fast one on you and try eating them all in a day to get daddy home sooner. My son tried that one.
I hope these help you, there will be more added throughout the upcoming week.