Enlisting in the army is the ultimate sacrifice a parent can make. For a parent to miss out on birthdays and milestones to protect and serve is an amazing act of patriotism. The families left back home also are making a huge sacrifice by living without one parent. While many times the parent fighting overseas is the father, mothers also are shipped off overseas as well.
Leaving your children must be impossibly hard, for both the children and the parent. It’s important that children and parents write letters often and on schedule during this time. If the child is too young to write, he or she should color pictures for the parent and caregivers at home should read the parents letter out loud to the family. It’s important to keep letters up beat and talk about milestones missed and how you included the missing parent in the festivities. Sometimes parents can keep in contact via email. And, once in a while the military allows parents to video chat with families back home.
Including the missing parent in day to day life can make the child feel better. For example, the parent could give each child a special stuffed animal before leaving home and the children could sleep with that stuffed animal every night for comfort. During special events and milestones, the child can record the events to show the parent when he or she gets home and write down everything that happens for a letter. Keep a calendar count down of how many days until the parent gets home and cross out the days as they go by in the countdown. You can do this every night before bed as the day ends or when the child gets up the next morning. If you’re not sure when the parent is coming home next, keep a calendar of the days the parent has been away.
Military families make the ultimate sacrifice. They need support and admiration.