We sat down last weekend and talked to her to explain that Daddy’s leaving. The Elmo video (See previous post on Feb. 8) had arrived in the mail last weekend – Perfect timing. So, she watched that – great video – and then we talk to her. I hung up a calendar outside her bedroom door so she can X off the days and I showed her the day Daddy will be back. When it gets closer to his arrival we will do a paper chain (see previous craft of the week).
Mrs. Marine
Trisha
The paper chain craft sounds like a perfect idea.
ReplyDeleteI love that you're giving her a calendar to keep track of time, I know for kids it can seem like forever and when they have something tangible to look at it makes it easier :)
ReplyDeleteUg, that's rough, though. By the time my husband left, I was so ready for him to just be gone already. The anticipation of his leaving was almost worse than the actual leaving!!! I did all kinds of stuff like that for the year and a half my hubby was gone...it was good for the kids.
ReplyDeleteOh girl I feel for you. I'm very sorry you're having to deal without your husband for any amount of time, let alone have to explain to your daughter that he's leaving again. That is hard. I'm glad you've got some constructive things in place to help her deal with his departure. Keep up posted on how you're doing.
ReplyDeleteThe buildup is so hard. At least once the deployments started you can begin the countdown and settling into a routine.
ReplyDeleteHang in there...