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Today’s Teachers: Frontline of Defense for Military Children
Today’s Guest Post is from Levi Newman of Veterans United Network Today’s military children have to adapt to more stressorsthan ever before. Their parents are deployed more frequently and many kidschange schools anywhere from four to twelve times during the course of theirparents’ military service. It’s a stress many outside the military are unfamiliar with,especially teachers. The biggest service we can offer to these children andtheir teachers is to preparethem both for these transitions. And while the children can ask theirparents how to prepare for these changes, who is there for the teacher? You may be thinking, “What does a teacher need to know aboutthe child’s move?” Well, it really depends…
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5 PCS Tips Before the Movers Arrive
Today’s guest post is from Army Wife, mother and blogger at RecreateAndDecorate.comWith PCS season quickly approaching, many military families will be moving worldwide. Moving is known to be one of the most stressful events we encounter. However, planning ahead can reduce unnecessary stress and help your move run smoothly. Here is a list of tips that you can do in advance that will help eliminate some stress during your next PCS.1. Decide what items you will be packing and moving yourself then separate them from the rest of your household goods. If you are moving overseas, make sure you keep your passports and other essential paperwork out of sight…
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The Insecure Military Brat (That’s Me)
I started a wonderful book over Spring Breaktitled ‘The Artist’s Daughter’, a memoir by Alexandra Kuykendall. MOPS International gave it to me and I have a hard time putting it down each time I pick it up. If you ask me about my identity (a key question in this memoir) I struggle to answer. I have grown a lot through the years. Especially now, as a mom, wife, a resident of the same city for the last 12 years. But years before that? I was (and still remain) a Military Brat. I was always a little awkward. I had a SUPER hard time making new friends. The shy introvert who just wanted…
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The ‘busy-ness’ of Spring
Ah… Spring. A perfect adjective would be refreshing. We get out of the house. We start the garden. We clean off the deck. We pull out our soccer cleats, baseball gloves and running shorts. We pump up our bike tires, clean out our cars and hose off the outdoor dump trucks, bubble wands and kiddie pools. We open windows, smell the flowers, take long hikes. We start to fill the family calendar with all sorts of events. As military families we also might be looking at orders. We clean out our closets, get rid of the ‘extras’, plan for the future. We make last ditch moments to see the town we called home…
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PCS? Moving Tools Can Make it Easier!
It is the PCS season for many military families. Orders in hand and with the next location almost in site, how do you find help to learn more about that next assignment? Friends? Social Media? Military One Source? Family Centers? Military friendly businesses? There are so many resources that are available for you! We tried to grab and bring them to you in a centralized location. Military experience helped us create some ways that can help you on MilitaryAvenue.com. Our Moving Tools section is perfect to guide you through many of the challenges military families face! Come take a look: School reports, mortgage advice and articles, packing materials, utility hookups…
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Awkward! Junior High Time to Step Forward
Junior High School… a wonderfully awkward time of life! Who are these kids? Adults… no. Little kids… no. On any given day they act like either one… or give an hour and they are flipping the switches and are both. This was the first time in my life that I moved: changed school districts, changed me! I walked into the new school literally a head taller than any other girl and had that raw feeling of ”who in the world am I?” Clueless. Tonight in our Junior High Youth Group we are going to be talking about a timeline. Gaging where they were, where they are going and perhaps…
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Grandpa, my favorite antagonist
This weekend we will lay to rest my grandfather. James Marion Kissinger, 88, of Lake Placid, Florida, died on January 31, 2013, and is now present with the Lord.Jim was born in Culver, Indiana to James and Cynthia Jane (Anderson) Kissinger on March 15, 1924. He was one of nine children including: Irene (Don) Weimer, Wilbur (Helen) Kissinger, Clifford (Virginia ) Kissinger, Dannie Kissinger, Lloyd (Nancy) Kissinger, Marjorie (Russ) Underwood, Janey (Dean) Cernek, and Karl (Julie) Kissinger. He graduated from Liberty Twp. High School in 1942. He served honorably in the US Army during World War II where he spent a considerable time in England with 685th Engineer Base Equipment…
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How do you organize your family calendar?
We are more than a month into the new year and for us it is a pretty quiet month as far as individual and family activities. This is a great month to get organized so that when the craziness starts (and it will start!) we are in a routine. How do you organize your family calendar? At the beginning of the year I went to the big box store and bought a brand spankin’ new multi pack of sharpies. (Woo hoo, they were even on sale!) They were perfect coupled with my new calendar with great big spots for each day of the month. I designated a sharpie for each family…
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A Moment Out of the Norm: Dog Show
A moment out of the norm. “Grinda” is a rescued pup. She is a hoot! She is a Welsh Corgi Pembroke. She has short legs and long ears. She also has our hearts and pride of ownership streaming all around her. Yesterday was her moment to shine. Well, we all take that idea differently… the car for example shining moment would be a wax job. The house’s shine would be a spring cleaning. The shining moment for our dog Grinda: an entry in a dog show. No kidding!Mrs. Becky Kissinger, teacher at Christian High School in Grand Rapids, MI, led an interim class on the subject of ‘dogs’. The class…
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Raising a Generation that Loves
Today Newtown, Conneticut will bury the first of their children. Noah Pozner, age 6, will be laid to rest at 1:00pm. (Newtown shooting victims: First funerals to be held) Then there will be 19 more funerals for children and 7 for adults. Oh deep sorrow runs through my blood. My husband, the level headed soldier who has seen more then I would like to imagine, came home on Friday and immediately turned on the news. He watched for a quite a while, standing there stunned. Then the man who is never sick complained of a headache the rest of the night. I don’t know if it was a headache as much…
