Do you want to cheer up your deployed soldier?
After five deployments away from my GI Joe. I have found a trick or two to help!
How To Cheer Up Deployed Soldier
It’s no secret that being away from each other is hard.
Likewise, deployments are even tougher I understand.
Especially when it comes to birthdays, holidays, and special occasions.
We hope this post will help you to find something thoughtful to do for your man or service member.
Things to do for a Soldier that’s Deployed
First, a perfect way to cheer up your soldier is to let your son or daughter draw pictures on the outside of their shipping box!
For example, you can get a free priority box from the post office (you will have to pay to ship at drop off) but the boxes are free.
Let your son or daughter draw pictures for Daddy on the box.
My daughter got the biggest kick out of this as you can tell in the picture above!
Second, idea is to send local newspapers for that soldier that loves to stay up with current local events is to send hometown newspapers.
Pieces from Home
Third, sending something from home can very touching.
For example, my son wanted to send his favorite racecar to his dad.
It was Lightning McQueen toy car.
In return, my husband and his buddy took a video of them playing with our son’s car in Afghanistan.
Our little boy thought it was the coolest thing!
Video Messages
Forth, one of the highlights my hubby really enjoyed during some of his long deployments was meaningful videos from home.
For instance, for Easter. I reached out to family and friends and asked those that would like to participate to please send me a picture holding a sign or create video messages for me to add to the videos.
We had family and friends all over the United States that showed their support.
It was a really cool video and really helped him feel close to home.
Tip:
Another great idea is to send videos of the kiddos doing everyday family things.
For example, playing at the park, picking out a fun toy at the Dollar Tree, or their concerts at school.
This helped my husband still feel part of our world.
How to Stay connected with your deployed soldier
During deployments, one of the hardest things is realizing how much they miss out on.
And as we all know they really miss out.
Believe me, I feel your pain. It’s rough on both of you.
When they miss births, first steps, first words, all of the big and little moments.
Skype and Facetime are so helpful in creating family time when the opportunity presents itself.
For example, the picture at the top of this page is my husband celebrating with our youngest daughter and (giving her a high-five) through the computer screen for an accomplishment she achieved.
If you are looking for a more personal touch why not send your soldier a good old fashion personal letter in the mail?
You could always include your favorite photo of the two of you.
I bet your deployed soldier would really enjoy it!
Creative Picture
A picture is always meaningful especially from the kids. Mommy or Daddy will love kid art!
It sure is a great way to cheer up a deployed soldier!
Plus, if you’re looking for something to send to help hold the picture up using this Elmer’s Tac ‘N Stik Reusable Adhesive.
It’s amazzzzing for hanging up pictures. 😉
Bedding
Another really great idea is to send bedding from home like blankets, sheets (twin-size) and pillowcases.
This gives them a sense of relaxation and it helps to remind them of home.
A pillow with your perfume scent is another great idea.
Digital photo frames
Battery Operated Photo Frames are another great idea!
In fact, this particular photo frame here comes highly recommended.
My husband loved getting things like this in his care packages!
Special Holiday Ideas for Deployed Service Member
Decorated Gift Wrap
A really great way to surprise and cheer up your deployed soldier is to send gifts with decorated gift wrap from the kids.
This will not only be fun for daddy but the kids too!
Christmas Tree
Imagine the expression on your soldier’s face when he opens a box with this decorated Christmas tree here.
To add extra cheer add ornaments of family & friends all over the tree.
My mom used to make one of these for my husband each deployment and this really cheered him up.
You can even find battery operated lights now at the Dollar Tree now.
Homemade cookies
My husband LOVES my cookies. 😀 A great way to cheer him up was to make homemade cookies.
Of course, I had to make me a batch too. 😉 :0)
Ornaments
Handmade ornaments from the kids are a great addition to the cheer up box for Christmas.
Calendar
A personalized calendar with birthdays and holidays are a great way to give your soldier something to look forward to while deployed.
Tip: Prior to my husband leaving on deployment I would make him a calendar.
In the calendar, I would add things like…
- School Breaks
- Birthdays
- Anniversary
- Concerts
- Sports Events
This was great for my husband because of the different time zones it still allowed him to know when he would get to talk to the kids too.
Elf on the Shelf Idea
Prior to Christmas send the Elf on the Shelf to Daddy and have him take pictures of the elf in different locations.
Although you’ll want to be sure to have him send the elf back in time to start the holiday tradition.
The cool part is your soldier will feel a piece of home when he posts pictures of hanging out with the elf and the kiddos will LOVE it!
Decorate a Turkey
Lastly, decorating a turkey has become a hoot in our family.
See, this silly tradition started in our family during a deployment when we missed our GI Joe a lot! The kids and I needed to be cheered up too.
So we grabbed some Mr. Potato headpieces and decorated our turkey.
Talk about the laugh of the century that day!
In fact, the tradition has stuck and in the memory of all of our deployed soldiers, we continue to dress our turkey every year.
