My husband is planning on joing the Army, how do I prepare my 2 and 4yr olds for his being away for 9+ wks?

Answer 1

pray....

Answer 2

Army life is more than 9+ weeks. After basic he may be stationed somewhere halfway round the world but with married accomodation so you may be moving too. Army life is tough on kids, not only are you the mom left most of the time while he is out training or whatever but moving every so often is pretty hard. My dad was in the army for 22 years, up until I was 17 so moved about every 2 years or so. I got to see some lovely places but is hard making friends then leaving them because your dad is posted some place different from where they are going.

Answer 3

PREPARE YOURSELF FIRST! Know and understand what kind of job he will be getting, where are the possible locations for this job and if he's going for additional schooling (lasts for 2-4mos.) right after Basic training (9 wks.)

It is important that YOU are well-prepared if he decided to join since you will be left with the parenting responsibilities and household decisions for the time that he's on-training.
Sit down with the kids and tell them daddy's going on a training and it is important that they write to him, talk to him if he calls and take care of each other while daddy's away.

Whatever his decision may be, your support is the most important factor so he can be successful in his chosen career. The first few months will be hard but when he's done with it and the family's moving to your 1st duty station, he'll be home everyday by 5pm.

God Bless and Goodluck!

Answer 4

Tell them daddy is going on a trip, but he'll be back soon. Record his voice reading a favorite book, so they can listen to daddy's voice every evening. Kids at 2 and 4 really don't understand a lot past today and tomorrow. Next week means next month to them, so there's no reason to really "prepare" them for it. You have to prepare yourself for the time he's away. Be sure to build in some time away for yourself with adults while someone watches the kids, too, and come back when you say you will so they that you are coming back. This will help them understand daddy's coming back, too.

Answer 5

Talk 2 them & let them know exactly what is going on. My bf & I have 2 kids & we belong 2 a band. We have 2 travel at some point in time every year, sometimes more than once. Our sons (ages 2 & 4 yrs) stay with their grandmother and every time we have 2 go we take them out and try 2 spend as much time with them as possible b4 we go and we always let them know exactly how long we will b gone & when we will return. It will help them if u help them count down how many days till daddy returns. The will b excited & anxious 4 the return instead of b pre-occupied with him not being there.

Answer 6

(merely being honest) yet i advance into an extremely smart new child - i do no longer understand what the case is with your son, yet i might make up all varieties of issues for all varieties of motives to get what i needed, and definite, teenagers relatively can summon up reasonable tears on command. even however, if this may be a real concern, getting him to stand it - relatively at an early age - will in all probability get him over it lots swifter if he can see there is no harm. by potential of letting him stay dwelling house over something that doesn't have incredibly carried out any actual harm, even however, you're putting a precedent the place he believes that if he cries or acts scared which you will enable him to stay decrease back from doing something he does not opt to - no remember if or no longer he's enjoying at it, this might very actual advance right into a subconscious lesson to him on the thank you to act to get what he needs.

Answer 7

Ok I will give you all the advice I can then I will give you my email because I know what you are going through right now I have a 5 year old that her daddy is gone for 6 months and let me tell you it is definitely a learning experience, he was also deployed at 2 years with her too so I think I can help. The first thing you need to do is start talking about it to them in words they understand he needs to be telling them that daddy is going to be leaving for awhile and that it is not because he does not love you all or anything like that but because he has a new job now and he has to go learn how to do it, and when he is done learning he will come back and you all will move to a new house together. Second you need to be prepared for nights of no sleep, temper tantrums, hitting, and behaviors that you have not ever seen out of your children. They will go through different stages from sad, to angry to hurt and everything in between. You need to remember that all of these are ok for them to have but you need to hold fast to the rules of the house that you have already established or you will be in trouble fast. Third, if you have spare pictures laminate them so they can have them at any time, they won't get ruined easily but they will feel like they can see daddy when they want too. There are going to only be a few phone calls and when there are they are going to be short and you are going to have to stay positive he is going to need that so try not to rely on those phone conversations for the kids. Fourth one thing that is working great for me this time around is the fact that children do not understand the concept of time so what we did is we counted out how many days daddy would be gone and got a clear jar and filled it with a small candy for every day he would be gone, every night she is allowed a candy from daddy and she knows when it is empty daddy will be back. She sees it empty out and that is how she is understanding the time passing so that is one thing you can do, I have also heard of it being done with a paper chain and other things like that. The last thing I can say is stay busy both you and the kids, there are going to be good days and there are going to be bad days I will tell you that right now, he is going to need you now more than ever and if you can write to him every day it will make his day every day even if it is a few lines to tell him you love him, but stay as busy as you can and keep the kids busy. The military life is not bad it has its ups and downs but it is ok I have survived one deployment and am currently making it through another one email me if you need help or someone to talk to it will be fine I promise it will be. [e-mail]

Answer 8

I had 2 and 4 year olds when my husband in the Army was deployed for a year. We kissed his picture good night every night. I asked them what I was to tell him in letters. I took pictures and sent them to Daddy and they were allowed to pose any way they wanted. We told them that it was Daddy's job to have to go away and that he was helping lots of people by doing it. You can have him give them a calendar with the day he is returning marked with a big red circle and a special crayon to mark off each day until he returns.

Answer 9

first of all it is more like 9 months or more!

Just tell them daddy is taking another job far from home and he will be gone for a while!

I think before he leaves he needs to think about his family and plan a nice Vacation or a long weekend away and really spend time with the kids before he leaves!! This will help the Kids adjust easier!! good luck take plenty of photos of him that will help the kids remember him!! Good luck!!!

Answer 10

The only advice that I haven't seen already is something that I do with my kids. We fill "Daddy" jars up with Hershey kisses, one for each day he'll be gone. At the end of the day each child eats a kiss from Daddy. When the jar is empty, daddy will be home. Of course you may not know EXACTLY how many days it will be, but you can fudge it a little when they aren't looking.

Answer 11

A friend of mine has a son who went into the Army and went to build a bear.He got the voice message put in the bear with his own voice,telling the child that he loves them and to make him proud and do whatever Mom asks.That way the child can hear Dads voice whenever they miss him.The only problem is you'd probably have to get one for each child.that might be a little expensive,but worth it.