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Military With Kids

The Resource Community for Military Families

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Battling Life on the Homefront During a Deployment

A story of the struggles of a military spouse during deployment and finding the grace to persevere.

When we were first married, I remember feeling like the military was our path. We talked about it for a while and with my husband coming from a military family where his dad and uncle were Marines, we felt like it was the obvious choice. My husband wanted to go to medical school and we thought that was the way for us to go. After chatting with them about different options, my husband didn’t feel like that was the right time so we went on with our normal lives.

Fast forward a couple of years. We had been married for just over 5 years. We had our first child and we had just bought our first home. My husband had graduated from college and our career paths had changed a few times. He was working really hard for our family but never seemed content with what he was doing. I remember getting the super strong feeling that we needed to start thinking about the military again and he agreed.

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Tips to Help Children with Deployment

child holding heart deployment

Approximately two million military children have experienced a parental deployment since 2001. While deployment is a shared reality for military children, the experience is very individual for each child.

Helping your child through a deployment is a big job for the parent who remains at home. Understanding the child’s perspective and the emotions your child may be feeling as a separation occurs can be vital in helping your child through deployment. [Read more…] about Tips to Help Children with Deployment

How I Thrive During Times of Separation

I’ll never forget the Summer of 2012. My husband signed his life to the Army and within a month we also found out I was pregnant. As my belly grew the time for Basic Training and AIT drew closer and I wondered if he’d be home in time for our daughter’s birth. I can happily say it all worked out, but 5½ months apart while pregnant was no walk in the park! 

pregnant with heart hands
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Helping Kids Find a Positive Perspective

Be Positive spelled out from Scrabble game letters

Having a positive mindset is a game changer when it comes to difficult situations.  I think creating this type of mindset early on in children can only set them up for success, allow for calmer decision-making skills, and a better acceptance to change.  Life has many curve balls for you, no matter the plan you have for yourself.  As kids navigate through these curve balls, big or small, creating a way to look at this in a positive light will give the whole experience a different meaning. 

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TDY With Your Spouse

This is no big secret and is part of the territory.  As a veteran and a military spouse for the last 12 years, I’ve gone on and lived through my fair share of deployments, remote tours, and TDYs.  

As a spouse you can’t go on deployment with your spouse, it’s impossible and dangerous don’t do it.  

However, you can travel in conjunction with your spouse when they go on remote tours and most especially on a TDY.  This temporary duty assignment can sometimes be to some pretty amazing places like Hawai’i, Japan or Orlando!  With this in mind, there are some things to consider when visiting your spouse while they are on TDY or a remote tour.  

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