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Free or Discounted Child Care Agencies for Military Families

According to my father-in-law, Cokes used to cost only a nickel, everybody liked Ike, and the world was a swell place. Childcare was easy to find in this world also, since family was always nearby and you had known the neighbor’s kids their whole lives. Sadly, military people have never...
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Children and Homecoming

The homecoming of a service member is a major change for the children in a household. They have grown physically, emotionally, and socially during the deployment. They are not as skilled at coping with their stress because they have little life experience. As a result, they may become firmly attached...
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The Military Man’s Guide to Pregnancy: 7 Things to Do When She’s Pregnant

Maybe it happened like this: You came home, kissed your wife, unlaced your boots, peeled your socks off of your blistered feet, washed the smell of mud and gunpowder out of your hair, changed into something comfortable and collapsed on the couch. She was staring at you, doe-eyed and dreamy....
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Homecoming Tips for Single Service Members

As a single person living in the barracks, you may have new roommates when you return, or you may have someone who has been living in your home or apartment while you were away. Perhaps you moved out prior to deploying and will need to find a new residence when...
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Caring for Yourself While Supporting Your Service Member

Deployment and reintegration can be extremely difficult times for a family. If you are the spouse of a service member, a lot of your energy will be spent supporting your loved one. However, it is important that you take care of yourself as well. Staying Healthy Eat well. Be conscious...
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Retirement: Parties, Opportunities, and Attitude

Throughout our time in the AF, we threw lots of parties. Monday night football parties, roasting pigs in our backyard parties, Christmas parties, promotion parties, New Year’s Eve parties, No Clown Punching parties…. the list goes on. It should be no surprise then, that the advent of our retirement from...
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The Strength that Lies Beneath: Our Children and their Dragon Hearts

Every year since we returned from Europe, our children’s schools have held assemblies to honor Veterans. Every year our children have asked their dad to attend. He refused to do so the first two years, but has been swayed since then by the righteous indignation of our children, especially our...
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Relocation, New Friends, and Long Distance Friendships

A host of recent studies have examined the effect of frequent relocation on children and adolescents. Military families relocate significantly more often than civilian families, and service members’ kids are not the only ones affected. Leaving close friends and established support networks, and bidding farewell to friends as they leave for...
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Packing Out – Ten Tips to Stay Sane

We took a BIG load of moving boxes to the recycling center today. They had been piling up in our garage since we moved in to our “forever” house eleven months ago. This is one of the downsides of retirement: the motivation to unpack and get rid of boxes is...
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Preparing Your Children for Deployment

Children of military members make sacrifices every day. They have less quality time with their parents because of lengthy deployments and longer working hours. During your deployment it is important that your spouse and children are aware of the support programs and services available in the military community. You should...
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