Children need daily reminders that they are loved.
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Reminders come in many forms.
Action: Showing your children you love them is so important. My mother in law always tells my children “You Need THREE Hugs A Day!” And they’ve never forgotten that. So you can remind your children of how much they are loved with a hug, a snuggle, or a even a game of Chutes and Ladders before dinner.
Words: Communication is a big deal in our family. We try to talk things out when we have issues, or are upset, or even when we are excited about something. So we encourage our children to express how they are feeling. Good or bad. So saying things like, I love You, You are special, I love your hugs, I’m so proud of you… makes them feel good. And it edifies their good behavior.
Things: For myself anyways, I’m a visual person. Seeing pictures of my husband around the house makes me happy. For my children, its the same way. There are lots of different ‘things’ you can use as reminders to them that Daddy is coming home and that he misses you too. Pictures, Lockets, Letters, Daddy Dolls, or in our case… dogtags.
If you follow me on facebook or have been reading my blog, you know we are in the midst of our fourth deployment. My nine your old son is having a hard time. He has missed school, not wanted to participate in extra activities, and kind of closed himself off from others. He misses is daddy. He doesn’t want anyone to see him cry. He just wants his daddy to come home.
So my husband and I had a discussion about how we could help him feel like he was always with him. He needed a reminder to stay strong, and to know that Daddy is always with him, loves him and misses him like crazy too.
I found a set of my husbands dog tags. Placed them under my computer keyboard, and then when my husband was able to FaceTime us again, I sat my son down at the computer and let he and his dad have a conversation. They talked about how they miss each other a lot, and my husband told my son that there was something special for him under the keyboard. He told my son that he could wear them, or keep them close to him, in his pocket, whenever he was feeling sad, or missed him. And it will remind him to stay strong, and that his daddy is missing him and loves him so much. And that he will be home again before he knew it.
My son didn’t’ take them off for days. And now, he keeps them in a secret pocket in his book bag.
Before our second deployment, I learned about Daddy Dolls. I ordered two. One for each of my two youngest (at the time) and each with a voice recorder that my husband recorded a special message for each. They would hug their daddy dolls every night and listen to him. My daughter carried her daddy doll everywhere with her. Daddy even came to the commissary with us. We did not leave the house without him. They were wonderful, and they still sit on their beds at night several years later. Even after their daddy came home.
One thing that I plan to do today with the kids home from school due to freezing rain… is catch up on our deployment chain… and make a daddy corner. Where they can put up pictures of daddy, with a clock of what time it is where he is… and sit and be near him. Here are some ideas I saw online…. to give you a “visual”.
Image may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.
Image may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.
Image may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.
Source: Pinterest (I couldn’t find the original sources. Sorry.)
I will definitely share our Daddy Wall once its complete!
