Staying Connected during Deployment

To Open When letters are small messages intended to support a loved one during an absence. They can be written for the person staying at home, for the children or for the member who will be absent for military reasons.

Think about the different times that could be challenging for your loved one. Let your creativity flow and have fun in the process.   

Here are some examples:
•    To Open When you feel lonely...
•    To Open When you need to laugh...
•    To Open When you need motivation...
•    To Open before your exam...
•    To Open When you don’t feel like making supper…

 Add a picture, a drawing of a small gift. What is important is to think about the other person and what can make them feel good!

Use two identical stuffed animals, one larger than the other. The deploying member takes the smaller stuffed animal with them and the person left behind or child keeps the larger stuffed animal. Take the stuffed animals to different places and have someone take their photo with the stuffed animal. The photos can be sent by mail or email to one another or shared after the deployed member returns home.

Help your child decorate a shoe box using craft materials. Explain that the Memory Box is a place to keep things that they want to show their deployed parent when they return home such as pictures, crafts or report cards. Add to the Memory Box regularly during the deployment. An alternative is to create a scrapbook, photo album or e-journal to surprise the returning parent with. Include captions with the pictures and decorate as a family.

Before the deploying parent leaves, write several short letters and/or cards for special occasions for the child to open during the deployment. 

Have the deploying parent leave a t-shirt for your child (or you) to cuddle with. Children can also decorate a pillowcase or t-shirt to send to the deployed parent.

The deploying parent can make a video or recording of them reading a favourite bedtime story. The child will be able to follow along in the book and feel connected to the deployed parent by hearing their voice.

On a world map, locate where your family lives and mark an X with a marker or a brightly colored sticker. Locate the area where the deploying member is being deployed and mark it with an X or sticker. If the deploying member is going to be moving around or traveling during the deployment you can use the map to record their movements. Google other information about where the deploying member will be going such as language, culture and geography.

Sometimes it is difficult for children to talk over the phone to the deployed parent. The at home caregiver can help facilitate conversation by preparing current topics about the child’s new interests or experiences and sharing them with the deployed parent. If appropriate, the deployed parent can share information about where they sleep, what they eat, what they do, their daily routine, the neat things they saw throughout the day or people that they met. Send pictures for the child to look at as you talk about them.

Have a mug or cup made up for each child with a picture of them and the deployed parent on it. This way they can have their morning juice with the deployed parent!

Start by cutting thin strips of construction paper, you'll need one strip for each day of counting (or each night if you want to count the sleeps left). Glue or tape the strips together to create a long chain of links. Remove a link each day until there are no links remaining, and the deployed parent returns home! (Keep extra strips of the same construction paper in case of a delay in homecoming.)

Fill a jar with small candy, something like M&Ms, Smarties or Hersey KISSES. Remove one piece of candy each day as a count down. Keep extra pieces of candy available to add to the jar in case there is a delay in homecoming.