Military Monday

Not much is going on in our life that revolves around the military. Except they are letting my husband take a week off and I am thrilled. He is taking my son to the mountains with my father in law. They are going to bond and talk and do boy things that I do not allow within a mile of my house.
So I guess today I want to talk about how you bond with your child when you deploy constantly.
So far my girls do not seem to have been affected by my hero’s deployments. But my son is a teen and it has been hard on him. So we have to make an effort to make sure they work on their relationship. It will not always be possible for them to go away for a week together. As a matter of fact it has been about 5 years since they have done it. So when my husband is home we make an effort to let him have time to bond with each child. Rather it is a day at the lake, a trip to the mountains or even a trip to the toy store to make a wish list. It is all about time to talk about their hopes and dreams and worries.
Something I have realized is my son may say he does not need time alone with my husband and he may not have deep conversations but he does need it. And eventually he will bring up something that lets us know how special it was. So I guess today I talk more to the dad’s. I encourage you to be the scout leader, go to the dance practice, and teach them to check tire pressure or just take a walk around the block. Even if they are only home for 6 months.
Our goal is not for them to forget the deployments but to remember that when dad was home he was around and involved as much as he could be.
So my next question is how do you encourage your children to bond with their dad?
In case you missed it last week I have 50 Army wife bumper stickers to give away courtesy of buildasign.com. Just send me your address to prmpetrie@yahoo.com
Pam