Christmas….Military Style

I’m on my way back from having fun in the sun.  Since I’m not home yet, I have another guest post for you today from Rheanna of Cammo Style Love.

For military families everywhere the holiday season can bring a swift dose of reality.  We are one short.  Although we might be one short, it’s more about what you make of it.  Making sure to include your service member is not only important for your loved one; but it is just as important if you happen to have little ones running around.  We’ve experienced several holidays without our hero and we’ve chosen different ways to handle that.  It wasn’t really until recently that the kids really grasped what it meant to not have daddy around.  They opened presents and had fun.  For them that was really the extent of it; not having him home really was harder for me.  Last year when my oldest was in Kindergarten things like time and dates really meant something to him.  We had to get creative.  So I thought of some ways that might help you make holiday time fun, including some of the ones we chose to do.

Christmas can always come another day

Last year, Daddy made a special call to Santa and we got our presents delivered a week early.  It was pretty cool, and my oldest was for it.  Making it work is the name of the game, and if the time you have together is closer to Christmas (either on the backend or the front) then go for it.   Being together and celebrating TOGETHER is so important.

Christmas isn’t just a date

Currently I have a friend who is leaving up Christmas until her husband comes home in February, the outside lights, the Christmas tree and all that is staying up.  What a welcome home for him.  It isn’t about a date, it’s about family and love, and you can’t confine that to one specific date.

Christmas with Technology
This is an old stand-by; but old stand-bys are tried and true don’t you think?  They work and there’s a reason why they work.   Skype and face time have revolutionized deployments, tdy’s and geo-bachelor’s lives!  It has mine and I am forever grateful for it.  If you’re going to take this route do it right!  Send presents early, decorate the house up, make food for the table.  You don’t even have to talk or carry a conversation.  Simply just being together doing an ordinary activity can revitalize a long-distance relationship. 

Remember when we were young, and long-distance relationships were this thing we wondered if we could do.  We wondered if it was even worth it, and maybe who those girls/guys were that did it.  Now we do it all the time, sometimes for twelve months at a time.   We have to get creative and shake things up.  Sure these ideas might not be grand or require lots of steps; but I know that especially for my children, it’s the simplest of things that provide the most joy.

 

Rheanna is a Military Spouse and Stay at Home Mom. Rheanna and her husband have been living the military life for eleven years, have lived in three different places, and have had many opportunities to travel around the United States. They have three children. On her blog, Cammo Style Love, she blogs about parenting, military life, her love of books and history, working out and any other random thing that comes to mind. With a husband that travels frequently, in her spare time you find her and her children giving back to their military community in our Nation's Capitol!