How Do You Raise Young Children During A Military Deployment?
Children will inevitably feel the sting of a military deployment, but they do not always have the ability to communicate how they are feeling. Young children may wonder what happened to make their mother or father leave. Acting out is a normal reaction for children with deployed parents, but there are ways to encourage positive behavior, and the best way is through communication. Talk to your children before the deployment. Children need to hear honest explanations about where there parent will be, what they will be doing and when they are coming back. Explain that deployment is part of a job. Children may internalize their feelings, and think that they are the reason their mother or father is gone. Even if they don’t express this to you, make sure you let them know they didn’t do anything to make their parent leave. Stick to existing routines as much as possible, but create new routines that help your child communicate and deal with the temporary loss of their parent. Post a map in th
