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On Your Way to a Smooth Move: DoD Roundtable
It is that time! PCS season is upon us and many military families are negotiating orders and beginning the process of planning for a move. With that in mind, I had a great chance to listen to and speak with Barbara Thompson, Director, Office of Family Policy/Children & Youth, Office of the Deputy Under Secretary of Defense. We all know that a PCS can be an amazing adventure but also an incredible stressor on families. I have an example for you; in the late 80’s my family moved from Ft. Walton Beach, Florida to Keflavik, Iceland. Can you say, “Change of scenery”? In the end the move to Iceland was…
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The Year in Review – 2012
MilitaryAvenue.com has a lot to offer the military family, from local military discounts, to stories of personal experience, and articles from reputable resources like the DoD, USAA, Community and Family Policy and so many more. So what was important to our families this year? Here are the Top 10 Articles on MilitaryAvenue.com from the year 2012: MilitaryAvenue’s Moving Checklist: A move isn’t complete without a checklist! It certainly is less stressful with one. Click on a link below to take you to the appropriate time frame and then skim the other lists to make sure you are on track for a great move. Growing Up in the Military: A few years ago,…
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Homework Help
From Kindergarten through High School, homework is a recurring theme through the school year, usually met with loud, obnoxious groans from around the world. If you struggle, like I do, with motivating, encouraging and helping your kids to ‘get the job done’ here are some great resources. What can Parents do to Help with Homework?As millions of children return to school, the burden of homework and new schedules can often lead to anxiety and almost certainly new amounts of stress. This is not only true for the children, but for their parents as well. Homework can be frustrating for students and for parents as well. Research shows that parents can play an…
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Surviving the Storm – Hurricane Preparedness
Being prepared, it seems to be the motto of military-families worldwide. Hurricane Season is upon us and it is time to start making plans, thinking through what we need to do to be prepared. Some great tips from Hurricane Survivors include: Make sure you have lots of bottled water on hand and fill your bathtub before the storm. Tap water easily becomes contaminated and you won’t want to risk it before it’s checked. Make sure you have plenty of batteries, flashlights, candles, and nonperishable food on hand. – Cathy Keep those laptops and cell phones charged. If you have kids and have no power you’ll want to entertain them somehow.…
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Caring for Your Parents from a Long Distance – Military Style Part Two – The Checklist
Sometimes a blog inspires new ideas and last week’s Caring for Your Parents from a Long Distance – Military Style brought up the idea of a checklist that might help others. Much of the same information but in a shorter format without personal details. Think of it as a guide and then add your own ideas too! Share your experiences with others too by commenting! 1 – Caring For Senior Family Member While Long Distance: print a copy of this list and put in your glove box. One never plans for an emergency long distance road trip. However, when called to go, arrive armed with a design for success. 2…
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Caring for Your Parents from a Long Distance – Military Style
Praying for Grandpa and Grandma as they travelOne thing that military families know about is long distance communications! We also face long separations from family and find ourselves frequently traveling a long ways to be with family. Sometimes that makes us better at helping others from a long distance too! We know the phone does not always give a clear perspective of what is going on at the other end. So when the phone rang two weeks ago with an almost distraught family member on the other end we knew there was more to come … We have a large extended family but as the military piece of it we…
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Week in Review: March 13 – March 19, 2011 (Military News) #MilitaryMon
Popular Military Family Articles for the week of March 13th – 19th on MilitaryAvenue.com Willard: Assisting Japan is ‘Highest Priority’: U.S. forces in Japan are engaged in one of the biggest natural and manmade disasters of a lifetime, Navy Adm. Robert F. Willard said here tonight. Willard, commander of the U.S. Pacific Command, spoke over the phone from Hawaii to the Pentagon press corps about what the U.S. military is doing to help the Japanese Self-Defense Force respond to the disaster caused by the March 11 earthquake, tsunami and subsequent nuclear emergency. … Emergency Preparedness: Disasters like Japan’s recent earthquake and then tsunamis are hard to shake. You may not…
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Looking Back
I have a full checklist of things that need to get done this morning but as I was doing a bit of research I ran across an old blog-post that took me back: Holding up the Fort. I wrote this two years ago right after Hubs returned to Iraq from R&R. You can go ahead and read it I’ll wait right here… 🙂... Isn’t it fun to look back? Relive? Revisit? The kindergartener in “Holding up the Fort” is now a 2nd grader. My preschooler from a few years ago is enjoying his own Dr Seuss week with his kindergarten class! This morning he proudly got on the bus with…
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Week in Review: Week of January 2 – 8 (Military News) #MilitaryMon
Popular Articles for the week of January 2nd through 8th on MilitaryAvenue.com: The Military Family Should Be the Next “TIME Person of the Year” The Military Family is a Hero group! Self sacrifice is their first name and we come in all sizes and shapes! There is not a more diverse group of Americans who serve their country. … Have You Been “Cutting Out Coupons” for Your Bank Services? The beginning of a New Year is always a time of financial considerations for the military family! We have traveled to family Christmas and other celebrations, purchased presents and just received our bank statements for December. … Face of Defense: Soldier…
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Week in Review: Week of February 21-27 (Military News)
Here are ten of our most popular military-related articles for the week on MilitaryAvenue.com: MilitaryAvenue.com Resources: Money and The Military: Looking for some resources related to money-management? Look no further: * 2010 Military Saves Week – The Stress of Making a Purchase – Did you know that The Department of Defense has designated Feb. 22 through March 1, 2010 as Military Saves Week? Saving money… kind of a sore point for me. Extending Your Dollars Not as Tough as Once Thought- Trying to squeeze a few more pennies out of those dollars you receive every couple of weeks is a challenge to many. … Is this what support feels like? The ‘Pause’ of…