When you are a military family, there are chances of deployment. Deployment is hard on everyone in a military family, but especially the children. When your service member has to deploy, everyone in your family is affected by it. What are the best ways to surviving a deployment with children? This article shares six ways to help you survive a military deployment with children.
Spend time together
The best way to help your family to survive through deployment would be to spend as much time together as possible, before and after. Make sure that you are spending one-on-one time with each child. This way they will be able to feel the love even though you will be leaving their side for a bit.
When you arrive from deployment normal life is not the same to you. But try to remember that everyone around has missed you, so trying to spend time with your family members. Even if your friends want to see you, make sure you are spending time with your children too.
Invest in good technology
Another great tip for surviving deployment is to invest in good technology. There are more chances to be able to FaceTime or text on deployment, so you want to have every opportunity available. Try to make sure that your schedule is available when they are free to video chat and that way your children will still be able to feel in touch with their mom or dad. Because of the large time difference, timing out a call is important because you want to make sure your children are awake for the call.
Find books related to deployment
If you have not bought any books on deployment, this would be a great time to do so. There are a lot of them, so make sure you pick the book with the messages you are looking for. Reading books before bedtime can help your child feel more comfortable with the situation at hand. Make sure to talk through the book as well so kids can share their feelings and thoughts on the book and their parent’s deployment.
Have a voice recordable bear
A record voice recordable bear is another great way to help survive deployment with children. Bearegards.com has an amazing selection of bears that you can choose to record your loved one’s voice on. This way when your child is feeling sad, they can squeeze their teddy bear and hear their mommy or daddy’s voice. Bearegards.com also has the choice to choose a military branch bear so your child can have a bear in uniform too!
Make sure to keep busy
Staying busy is extremely important for the whole family because sometimes sitting at home can cause the most stress for everyone. Keeping up with sports, setting regular playdates, creating care packages, and visiting family can help keep everyone busy during that time.
Keep routines as normal as possible
Deployment can really be hard on little ones; however, it is important to continue with their routine daily to keep consistency in their lives. This can help them feel secure and know what to expect when their loved one is away. So many things in life are upside down and they need to be able to rely on the fact that they go to school every day and have soccer on Saturdays, etc.
Consider therapy
Lastly, if you are noticing a significant change in behavior at home or in school, it might be time to consult a therapist. Deployment is considered a traumatic event in a child’s life and we as adults know how to handle it, but children don’t have those coping skills. Just because they are smiling and not talking about it, doesn’t mean they are okay. Sometimes children don’t want to talk to their parents about situations that they know will upset them, so they just don’t. Consult with your child’s school and see if they have onsite counseling or go through your insurance to find one that works with children.
Final thoughts
Overall, deployment is hard for the whole family, but especially hard for children. Make sure to take your time and talk with your child about it as much as possible. Keep up with these tips and let them know they are loved.
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Bearegards.com has recordable teddy bears & animals for sale. You are able to record a loved one’s voice, purchase military bears, military clothing, ultrasound baby heartbeat bears and more!