Yesterday we were fortunate to have the hubs in the area so we drove out to see him. He’s been on the road for a week already and the kids have really missed him.
I had mixed feelings of going to see him because although we miss him dearly the “see you later” is always hard and full of tears. Little man especially has a hard time with his daddy being gone.
He usually screams for a good hour wanting his dad asking him to come back and asking why he has left him. Every time i’m left heartbroken trying to reassure my son daddy didn’t leave him he’s just going to be gone for days or weeks.
I knew yesterday as we made our trip out there to see him that I had to come up with a solution, something that would make the “see you later” easier.
I remember when the hubs was in the military they gave us a Deployment video by Sesame Street. I didn’t have it on hand since It was given to us back when we were in San Diego I’m sure I have it in a box somewhere.
I went searching online and was so thankful when I finally came across the “Talk, Listen, Connect” tool kit but most importantly their videos!
Tonight as I prepared for another tearful bed time story and goodnight hug and kiss I decided to let the kids watch the video For Families: Deployment story instead of our usual story-time.
I knew that although the hubs is not in the same situation of a deployment there are still many similarities with trucking like:
- Being away from your families for a while.
- having challenges with kids feelings about the situation
- and worrying if dad is ok and safe
I hoped this would help little man cope with his daddy being gone.
Sure enough, after watching the video little man was tearful and said he missed his daddy like Elmo did and he wanted to go with daddy too just like Elmo but daddy had to go work with grownups. He already began to understand and it made me so happy. We printed out a picture of dad to put by their beds.
Putting them down for bed was much easier. I am thankful for resources like these that help all families going through similar situations. I am even more thankful that the tool kit is bilingual(English/Spanish) and consist of parent information as well as kid activities relating to the topic.
Tomorrow we are going to draw pictures for daddy. We hope to see him again in a couple of weeks.
For English and Spanish materials click here
Disclosure: I was not compensated or asked to share this information. I wanted to share because I believe in the resource and hoped it would help others who perhaps are going through a similar station.
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