SUPPORT FOR THE CHILDREN
Links to other Military Support pages
Support for Family and Loved ones page
We added this Share and Connect Board hoping that it will help each of you to keep in contact with others, or to just talk and share with each other. We hope that you will make new friends, find support and encouragement and even ask for and receive prayers if that is what you need. Please feel free to use it.
Hi once again, As you may have noticed in the previous pages I am a military Mom and Grandma. My son's two little girls unfortunately know all too well the pain of being without their Daddy. They are 6 and 4 years old and have not seen their Daddy since last November. They were supposed to go over to England to be with their Daddy and their step-mom (also in the Air Force), but then he got deployed to Afghanistan. Now they will not be able to see him for a few more months.
As I began researching supportive sites and music for our troops and families, I became aware that our children needed some very special support. They also serve our country. They are also heroes. They also know the pain and fear of war. Sometimes however they may be too young to verbalize what they are going through. All too often the children may be forgotten, and their emotions may be labeled as just temper tantrums or acting like a baby. We may not stop to see beyond the "bad" behavior. If you are a mother or father and your spouse is deployed, you yourself are also hurting.
It was after doing the research which I have been doing and noticing some changes with my Grand-daughters that I knew I needed to create a special page for our youngest heroes. I was able to find some positive websites created around the needs of military children. Some are geared toward our school systems and how they can help the children. Some are printable booklets which help recognize and understand the emotional cycles of the children and families.
I hope that you and your children will find encouragement and support here.
This video is Called "A Place in this World" a tribute to Military Children. This is a Veggie Tales tribute. A place in this world, is what many of our children may be feeling they need at this time. Please know that you are loved and are very special to so many people.
This video is by Sesame Street and is called "When Parents Deploy" I was so very pleased to discover that Sesame Street is taking such and active role to help our Military children. They have a website, which I will give you the link to. I however, know that children are very visual beings which is why I tried to find videos which they could watch. I hope that this helps you guys a little to know that you are not alone.
If this address takes you to a Sesame Street page that say oops, please don't worry. Just click on the "Initiatives" bar at the top of the page, then on the next page you will find in the lists where you can click on supporting Military Children. That will take you to the page you want. I am sorry for the inconvenience. I am trying to correct this issue.
The website address is: www.sesameworkshop.org/initiatives/emotion/tlc
Another site I found is : www.ourmilitarykids.org
Supporting National Guard and Military Families ~ One Family at a Time
Our Mission
Our Military Kids provides tangible support to the children of deployed National Guard and Military Reserve personnel and to the children of the severely injured service members through grants for sports, fine arts and tutoring that nurture and sustain the children during the time a parent is away in service to our country.
Our Military Kids grants are made to honor the
sacrifices military parents make and to ensure that the children have
access to activities and support that help the children better cope
with challenges arising during a parent's deployment or injury
recovery.
Our Military Kids vs. Operation: Military Kids
Our
Military Kids is a separate entity and has a different service
orientation to children of National Guard and Reserve soldiers than
Operation: Military Kids (OMK), a program of the United States Army.
Our Military Kids was founded in 2004 to offer Guard and Reserve
families grants for children's enrichment activities and tutoring.
Operation: Military Kids was founded in 2005 to help the Army reach
families with a range of support services through affiliation with
state and local agencies including 4-H. These organizations are two
distinct groups, with unique missions, that benefit the children of
deployed military personnel
.
Much of what we have been discussing so far has mainly had to do with how military life affects the younger children. This following video is for all the kids, especially the adolescents. This is a ministry which reaches out to military kids in the name of Jesus.
This is another Sesame Street video which is designed to support our children of military parents. Sesame Street has designed a kit, which can be ordered through the previous site link. This kit is designed to help the entire family through this difficult time of deployment. I hope that it will help you.
This video is very well done and talks about stress on military children of all ages. These stressors can show themselves in very real physical symptoms such as stomach aches and headaches.
It's alright to cry. Life is not always easy. Sometimes all these feelings just build up inside of you and you don't know how to handle them. It's Okay. It's alright to cry and let them out.
