5 Ideas to Help Kids Keep in Touch With Family Members Far Away
Tonight has been a hard night for my children, their dad, my ex-husband, left for a twelve month tour of duty in Iraq. He is a Sargent with the United States Army, stationed out of a base about five hours away from where we live.
The kids are used to not seeing their father as often as they would like; however, this goodbye was a hard one because we knew that it would be for a long time. I know that my children are not the only ones who are currently separated from a loved one, for every child it is difficult for them to understand.
It could be a parent, grandparent, aunt, uncle, or special friend that lives or works far away, making it hard for the child to have regular contact with them; however, there are ways that you can make a special connection across the miles.
Here are some ideas of things that we have done in our home to help the kids feel closer to their dad when he is away, as well as other loved ones who live far away.
♦ Make a special bear for the child that will always be a reminder of the person that they are missing. I took my children to Build a Bear Workshops in our local mall and had them build teddy bears with their daddy.
They picked out Army outfits to dress them in and the coolest part was that the store had a special sound chip that allowed their father to record a special, personalized message to each child and install it in the bear.
So now when my children miss their dad, they can push the hand of their bear and hear their daddy’s voice tell them how much he loves and misses them.
♦ Make special pillow cases with the loved one. My children took blank pillow cases and we had their dad dip his hand in paint and then make a hand print on each of their cases.
He also painted a special daddy loves you message on them. My kids like to sleep on these pillow cases, especially on nights when they are really missing him, I know that it makes them feel a little bit closer to him.
♦ Use a web cam. You can buy them very inexpensively now and they are so user friendly that even my six year old can set it up and start a session with his dad. We try to set aside time once or twice a week where the kids can get on the web cam and talk to their dad and see that he is okay.
It is fun to watch them interact across the miles and show him things they have done at school or new moves that they have learned in Karate class.
♦ Create books on tape. This is one that was a favorite of my children when they were much smaller but even now they enjoy pulling it out and listening to it, once in awhile.
I had different family members who live far away purchase a couple of their favorite children’s books for the kids. But before sending it to them I had them read the books onto a blank cassette tape and include special messages to the kids.
They loved these! It was always so fun to see who was sending them a new one each month. They would play them over and over again!
♦ Help kids understand the distance. I have a world map that we label with where we are and where other loved ones live. This way they can easily see just how far away those special people are and understand better why we can’t see them as often.
We also keep a special clock in our house that is set on the time in Iraq where their father is headed so they can know at a moments glance what time it is where he lives compared with our time here.
Distance is hard for kids of any age to deal with especially when it is for a very long period of time. One of the best things that we can do is let our kids know that it is okay to be sad or upset and always be available for them to talk to us when they are.
I know that this next year will not be easy for my kids and my heart goes out to all the other families, military and civilian, who are separated by great distances. I hope that one of the above ideas might help your family as they have already been a great help to ours.
If you have other ideas that have helped your children stay connected with family members please share them with us in the comments box below. I know that I am on the lookout for new ideas this year and I am sure that others are too.
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