I just cant seem to grasp that Rod will be leaving REAL soon. I have done NUMEROUS deployments in our 13 years of marriage but never with kids. I havent cried but once and that was when I was sitting here staring at Ethan wondering how the hell do I tell him that daddy had to leave :sigh

I have always been strong enough for deployments for myself but please let me be strong enough for my kids. It actually is breaking my heart more for them then for me. Yes I am going to miss him terribly but I understand whats going on. My babies dont :sadeyes

Doesnt help that this was last minute, we're not attatched to the ship because its elsewhere so no where were I live will be going thru the same thing with the same ship etc.

I'm so sorry, Kristi. I wish I knew what to say to make it feel better - but I'll be in your shoes here next year. :hugs It'll be ok though - children are resilient beings, and I'd be willing to bet the deployment will go by faster with kids then it ever did without.

:hugs

I'm so sorry! I know how hard it was last year when DH went to Cali. Our daughter cried every night for him. There were plenty of nights she fell asleep holding my phone (has his picture). I cried most of those nights, too.

Kids are resilient..mine always acted up for a bit and had some issues with sleeping but as long as I talked to them and tried to get them to understand they eventually understood that dad would be back and it was not a permant thing

Mine have been through 3 deployments and after 9/11 we had a sudden deployment the following month.. so by now we pretty much got it down.. If I am having a bad day I usually do my best to keep it in until they are asleep.. I have managed very well with that soo far..

Maybe its easier for me since my grandfather was a Marine and my brothers are Marines.. I just get it as part of the job and have instilled that into my children.. daddy goes on "trips" and will be back in soo many months..

Good luck !!!!

Thanks all

We're watching that seseame street video right now and I just tried to tell Ethan that Daddy has to go away for awhile and he says "bye bye daddy" :sadeyes:sadeyes:no:sigh

Thanks all

We're watching that seseame street video right now and I just tried to tell Ethan that Daddy has to go away for awhile and he says "bye bye daddy" :sadeyes:sadeyes:no:sigh

:sadeyes

:hang :hugehug

I'm SOOOOOO sorry!! I have 2 little ones (6 and 4) and this deployment was by far the hardest one but kids are resilant just keep talking about him and they will be fine! You are a GREAT momma don't ever doubt you're ability to be awesome for them! I know you will be! If you need to talk PLEASE PM me!

Damnit I typed a response and I lost it:(

I have two young ones myself (6 and 4) and this was the hardest deployment by far. But you are a great momma and kids are resislant. Just keep talking about him. Never doubt yourself! I KNOW that you will do just fine and you will be just as awesome as you are know. If you need to talk PLEASE PM me!

:hugehug I know deployment is hard with kids. I couldn't imagine being somewhere you have almost no support for the ship. Also kids are great for your sanity, they keep you up and moving around when all you want to do is be sad. :hugs

Thanks all

We're watching that seseame street video right now and I just tried to tell Ethan that Daddy has to go away for awhile and he says "bye bye daddy" :sadeyes:sadeyes:no:sigh

ahhh that brings tears to my eyes :depressed:sigh

we always make movies of him, since he will miss all major holidays this year. our ship seems very iffy on what they will have going on for kids if anything. we will see though. anyway ihope you guys can sort it out. we live in oceana and not a lot of people down here are on ships, they are mostly squadrons. but my son's school has a deployment support group. if your little one is school aged maybe you should look into having him talk to someone, or maybe even a therapist for the first few weeks. there are some great books also hit up fleet and family services.

I am so sorry Kristy. I have never done it with kids either. But take everything one day at a time:hugs

Kristi, you will do great. I know you will. Good Luck hun. :hugs:hugs

Kristi, it's hard, but you guys will make it through.. I've been through 2 since we had DD.. The first one she was a newborn, and this last one she was 2 when he left.. if you need any ideas, or ever need to talk/vent/cry, you can PM me.

Did you get a copy of the Talk Listen Connect DVD from onesource yet??

Kristi, it's hard, but you guys will make it through.. I've been through 2 since we had DD.. The first one she was a newborn, and this last one she was 2 when he left.. if you need any ideas, or ever need to talk/vent/cry, you can PM me.

Did you get a copy of the Talk Listen Connect DVD from onesource yet??

Thanks. Yeah thats the video we were watching when I said daddy has to go away and he said bye bye daddy

Thanks all. I am going to head to the mcx when Ashley wakes and buy a jar and fill it with kisses and those will be dada kisses. And then we'll make a video of Rod reading a book and I am going to put some pictures of Rod in Ethans room as well as a little calendar.

I am so sorry Kristi... future children are the one reason I am scared for us to stay in, I can survive deployments myself. You are so strong though, and you will get them through it too!

:hugs Kristi, you know I'm here for you if you need anything! I might now be in SD with you, but I'm here! This deployment has not started on the right foot with me so far because of the yo yo crap concerning the date they leave. We still don't know for sure but we'll find out tomorrow at the latest... possibly today.. it could be delayed for a few more weeks, we don't know yet.

I hope Ethan and Ashley know how wonderful their Mama is!! You are so great to them. Kids are amazing and they will show you just how amazing they are and I think you'll probably be surprised to find out that you will get your strength through them to get through deployment!!!!! :hugs

Call me if you need anything, email, YIM, whatever!!! usscrommelinomb@yahoo.com is the ombudsman's email for you!! She'll be able to answer any questions you have if you need her. She's great! Her name is Michelle, her hubby is a chief and she's been great the last day or so!!!! :hugs

Thanks. Yeah thats the video we were watching when I said daddy has to go away and he said bye bye daddy

Thanks all. I am going to head to the mcx when Ashley wakes and buy a jar and fill it with kisses and those will be dada kisses. And then we'll make a video of Rod reading a book and I am going to put some pictures of Rod in Ethans room as well as a little calendar.

Ok, I'm glad you got one.. The jar of kisses idea is great, and when you have a more definate homecoming date, you can always do the paper chain for Ethan. Camryn and I celebrated making it through each month by taking a trip to Chuck E. Cheese. It gave her something to look forward to.

:bigsadhug

I've never been through a deployment without kids, but I can tell you it's going to be challenging. At the end of it all, your kids will make it through & you'll be a much stronger person (hell, moms who do deployments ARE :superhero Supermoms!). Also, you know that I will be here for you. :hugs G always asked about Daddy when he was away on this last one. K didn't recognize Daddy when he came back, but after a couple of weeks he was all over Daddy. :wub He jabbers up a storm to him when we pick Daddy up from work now. A is used to this, being that he is older. He cried a few times, but he made it through.

It's going to be harder on you than them honestly. :hugs Like others have said, Kids are resilient. :)

Kristi though I'm not in SD with you I'm always here!! It's going to be harder on you than the kids. :hugehug

:hugs
We're all here for you, well have to do dinner more or more activities on the weekend to stay busy. :hugs (L)

Thanks all. It means so much to me to have ya'll here. I couldnt find a jar for the kisses today so I will have to keep looking. I know in theory it'll be harder on me but it just breaks my heart thinking of them not having dada home. Kinda like when they got their first shots. I felt guilty for getting em stuck lol.

Thanks all. It means so much to me to have ya'll here. I couldnt find a jar for the kisses today so I will have to keep looking. I know in theory it'll be harder on me but it just breaks my heart thinking of them not having dada home. Kinda like when they got their first shots. I felt guilty for getting em stuck lol.

I honestly do think it's harder on us as their mothers. Once I reassured Cam that Daddy was ok, and that he loved her and thought of her everyday, she was ok. It may sound bad, but as long as the kids have you there consistently for them, they'll miss Dad but won't really be bothered by his absence all that much. Especially at under 1 yr and age 2.

If you can, get Rod involved with United through Reading.. you can find out about it at your FFSC. They'll videotape him (DVD now) reading stories to the kids.. It's a great program.

I reminded her that Daddy is a hero and he helps others while he's away. (easy way to explain it to a 2 yr. old)... We had a world map and I'd point to it and tell her where Daddy was.. When he called and she was awake she talked to him. I kept her involved with care packages.. she sent a "letter" every time covered in crayon scribbles and stickers.

I made homecoming a huge deal, we have matching T shirts made up.. Camryn helped with making signs.. and she loved picking out decorations and things for Daddy..

Can you guys find a playgroup up there? Cam and I stayed very busy with playgroup activities while DH was gone. It really helped.

I'm available whenever to meet up and have coffee and let the kiddos play. I don't have decals on my car yet so it would have to be somewhere off base though.

I don't know how old your kids are, but they get through it.
My youngest (4) was pretty sad, but she loved getting care packages together. She would color the boxes inside and out... complete with stickers. Then she would hug herself and "put" the hugs in the box along with kisses she blew.
I also made a big deal of pay day dinners... we counted pay days here, made it seem to go by faster. Every pay day the kids and I would go out to dinner. I also got us memberships at legoland... best investment ever. $38 bucks a months for me and three kids... that way there was always somewhere fun to take them when we were all having a bad day.
Take care... this too shall pass.

I honestly do think it's harder on us as their mothers. Once I reassured Cam that Daddy was ok, and that he loved her and thought of her everyday, she was ok. It may sound bad, but as long as the kids have you there consistently for them, they'll miss Dad but won't really be bothered by his absence all that much. Especially at under 1 yr and age 2.

If you can, get Rod involved with United through Reading.. you can find out about it at your FFSC. They'll videotape him (DVD now) reading stories to the kids.. It's a great program.

I reminded her that Daddy is a hero and he helps others while he's away. (easy way to explain it to a 2 yr. old)... We had a world map and I'd point to it and tell her where Daddy was.. When he called and she was awake she talked to him. I kept her involved with care packages.. she sent a "letter" every time covered in crayon scribbles and stickers.

I made homecoming a huge deal, we have matching T shirts made up.. Camryn helped with making signs.. and she loved picking out decorations and things for Daddy..

Can you guys find a playgroup up there? Cam and I stayed very busy with playgroup activities while DH was gone. It really helped.

I'm available whenever to meet up and have coffee and let the kiddos play. I don't have decals on my car yet so it would have to be somewhere off base though.

You can get on base here with no decals ;) Just have to give em my name and addy :teehee

I am not too worried about Ashley. She is only 8 months old. Ethan being 3 does a bit. Oh well.

I dont know alot of the activities offered. This isnt a ship he is attatched to. The ship is in a different state. He is just going with for the deployment to help out. But I will record Rod reading here and play it for him

I also plan on having Ethan make daddy cards and such etc and will make homecoming a huge deal and the like

Hang in there Kristi:hugehug:wink:stay strong & always remember we are here for you sweety

Thanks all

We're watching that seseame street video right now and I just tried to tell Ethan that Daddy has to go away for awhile and he says "bye bye daddy" :sadeyes:sadeyes:no:sigh

That is so heartbreaking :sadeyes

wow im sorry...

i wish i had helpful advice but i dont have kids :( maybe as many phone calls and pics as you can get would help them

:hugs