April is the "Month of the Military Child"

People say to me, "This deployment must be easier than last time because your girls are older and can help out around the house." While that is true, it is emotionally more difficult too.

You see Miss E is wiser than her 11 years and now understands what it means to "go to war". She not only misses her Daddy, but I can tell she worries about him too. Last time Daddy deployed, she was mearly 3 years old and had no concept of time. My favorite story to tell is when we went to visit Daddy over in England. Miss E and I get off the plane, make our way through customs and the first thing she says when she sees her Daddy is, "Yesterday you and your Army Dude friends got on a bus and went to England!" In reality it had been over 4 months.

Now Miss N is a total Daddy's girl and just misses her Daddy. She misses the Daddy who gets up at 7 AM with her on the weekends and cooks pancakes. I can't make them, I have tried for over 10 years and I just can't make them. She misses the Daddy who makes up silly songs with her. Last time Daddy was gone, she was 8 months old, now she is old enough to express her emotions of missing her Daddy.

So, now that I have shared all this sadness... let's get to the positive right? Nothing breaks my heart more than when my girls cry at night for their Daddy, but nothing makes me prouder than to see how my girls have started to bond closer together and help each other out. I may even say they are beginning to gang up on me at times! They continue to do well in school and we work hard at being the best we can to make Daddy proud of us.

April is considered the "Month of the Military Child". We take time in April to think about how military kids cope and support them all we can. I am asking everyone to wear purple a week from today on FRIDAY, APRIL 13th in honor of all military kids. You may ask why purple? When an events supports all branches of service, we like to say it is PURPLE, not Air Force Blue or Army Green, etc...

Do you need support for your military kid? You are not alone. Remember that!
1. Reach out to your local Unit or Airwing, your local FRG, your Yellow Ribbon Network or Family Assistance Center, it is OK to ask for help!!!
2. Sesame Street Workshop offers wonderful tools for communicating with kids of all ages before/during/after deployments. Many printable and letter writing tools. Link for this is on the side bar of this blog.
3. Reach out our to your local school counselor and get them involved with the "Took Kit" available through the National Guard Youth programs office. (www.btyr.org)

If you are looking for ways to support military kids... here are a few ideas:
1. When you stop to tell Mom or Dad, "Thank you for your service." ...tell the kids, "Thank you for your service too!"
2. RESPITE CARE is a tremendous need for military families. Offer to take the kids for the night, do something as simple as bake cookies with them, take them to McD's, or a picnic in the park and let Mom or Dad have the evening off.
3. If you would like to donate $ to an organization consider Operation Military Kids, Flat Daddies or many other groups that provide activities and support to military kids.

Lastly... remember to WEAR PURPLE on Friday, April 13th and share your pictures via your own blogs and Facebook pages to get the word out to the world that we join together to support the smallest of heroes... MILITARY KIDS!

Visit http://www.btyr.org/events-a-deals for more information on "Purple Up" for Military Kids on Friday, April 13th.