My dad told me he was going away.
He told me he was going to be deployed about a month before he was leaving. I've heard other kids know almost a year before and others find out a week or even a day before their parent leaves.
Here are some helpful stories from military kids dealing with deployment.
Will you come home safe?
Even though many military youth try to cover it up, not think about it and NEVER talk about it, most kids worry something will happen to their mom or dad while they're deployed.
Here we go again...
"Well I thought this deployment stuff was all over. Wrong! He was deployed AGAIN! This is the third time and each time it was for over a year. I was 10 years-old when he went the first time.
I'm having a panic attack!
You probably don't want to hear this but missing a parent when they go away is normal. As a military kid you are probably very familiar with missing your parent when they are deployed.
Stressed out?
How many times have you heard your friends say, "I'm so stressed out?" Lots of things can stress you out — homework, friends, teachers, a job or even your parents.
My dad's deployed before and things were OK, so why am I dreading this time so much?
There are many reasons why a new deployment might feel different.
These people don't have a clue around here.
TJ's mom had to TDY for 4 months of training so TJ went to live with his dad.
Why are my parents fighting when dad leaves in 2 weeks!
This is my dad's third deployment but there's this one thing I still don't get. The closer it gets to his leaving, the more we all fight at home — especially my mom and dad.
I'm really surprised how much it helped to tell my teacher at school.
The first time my dad deployed I was in 5th grade. He had just joined up with the National Guard. None of my friends even knew what the National Guard was.
My dad won't talk to me about leaving.
Everyone prepares for a deployment a little differently. Some parents will avoid talking about the deployment, sort of pretending that nothing is going to change.
