Military Brats

As the month of the military child comes to a close, I pause to reflect on the military brats in my household.  Over the past 6 weeks, we have had a lot of good times. We have had dance recitals and first communions, play dates, purchased gear for sports, done homework (lots of it), read bed time stories, camped in the living room (see picture above) gone for walks and bike rides, road tripped across town to a favorite taco place just to get out of the house... as you can see we have been quite busy.

The hardest part of being a military wife for me is helping my children cope with Daddy being away. You see it is easy to stay strong for yourself, but it is so hard to stay strong for your babies too. It breaks my heart when they won't go to bed because they miss Daddy. It hurts when I see them angry because they don't understand why they are feeling the things they are feeling.

While virtual places (Facebook, Virtual FRG, etc...) are great places for us adults to connect, our kids need that face to face interaction with others to know they are not alone. I want to encourage MN military families to get involved with some programming we have here... ADAPT, Operation Military Kids, National Guard Youth Camp. Get your kids connected to other military kids at camps or through your FRG friends, check the State Beyond the Yellow Ribbon website for camps and other activities. I do wish there was more "regular" programming here in MN for elementary school age children, a lot seems geared towards teens. At the same time, I see how far military youth programming has come in the past 10 years and I am amazed at the progress we have made!

To all of you who are helping with my kids... having us for play dates, sharing a meal with us, picking them up and dropping them off, taking them to movies and McDonald's, and all the extra hugs you have shared... I thank you from the bottom of my heart.

Lastly, here are a few books that have helped us. Check Amazon.com or your local Family Assistance Center if you would like a copy of these books:
- Night Catch by Brenda Ehrmantraut
- A Very Long Time by Geri Timperley and Nikki Arro
- 100 Days and 99 Nights by Alan Madison
- A Handbook for Family and Friends of Service Members, Before During and After Deployment by Vulcan Productions and PBS