Surviving Deployment - Articles - Celebrate the Holidays

Yes, there’s a key person missing from your holiday table this year. But the holidays are about celebrating and appreciating our blessings so even though it would be even better if you had the whole family home, give yourself permission to celebrate with friends and family who are here! A few ideas:

Try new traditions. Instead of making a big turkey dinner, make 100 peanut & jelly sandwiches and deliver them to the homeless.
Accept invitations. Let someone else make the pies!
Keep it simple. Stay in your jammies and let each person in the family pick a movie to watch for your all-day movie marathon.
Be creative. Find ways to capture the spirit of each family member. Create ornaments with photos of your family. Send one to your service member and keep one for your home decorations.
Send e-cards - BooksforBrats.net original e-cards, military-themed holiday e-cards

More ideas to help kids through the holidays.

Helping Children Handle Deployments - Your child's moodiness and behavior during the deployment may be a sign of stress or anxiety. Here's what you can do to help your children handle deployment.

Kids and Journaling - Journaling is a great way to help kids sort out all of the feelings they have when someone they love deploys. Here's how to get started with kids of different ages.

Happiness After Homecoming - Sometimes the greatest deployment challenge is coming together as a family after the homecoming.

Budgeting for Deployment - Are you prepared for the financial changes of deployment? Download this worksheet to help you create a deployment budget.