Part of the preparation is of course mentally, and that includes preparing the children. Although Annika is growing and developing immensely (latest accomplishment: she can wave!! I told Michael to say bye-bye, and Annika actually did it by waving. She also waved bye-bye at Michael when I put her down for the night, without me prompting her), our efforts in this area focus on Michael. We don't want to just not say anything, although we are not sure how much he is going to understand. However, we seem to constantly underestimate his abilities to understand us and what's going on, due to him not speaking very much yet. So we'd rather overdo it than leaving him clueless and having to deal with the sudden absence of his Daddy and the move to Germany. After looking at several children's books about a parent's deployment and the free brochures the Army hands out, I came to the conclusion that nothing really fits our particular situation. Therefore I wrote a story just for Michael, which we will have printed as a photo book. Some parts of it are shamelessly stolen from the aforementioned sources, so don't give me too much credit. Here it is:
Michael's deployment story
My name is Michael. This is my family. There is Mama, Daddy, my sister Annika, and I.
My Daddy is a soldier. When he goes to work, he wears a uniform. I like playing with the patches on his uniform and his belt. His boots are way too big for me!
Daddy flies a helicopter. His helicopter is called a Kiowa and has a ball on top.
One day he brought a big chest into the house. He started to put a lot of things into it. “I have something to tell you, Michael,” Daddy said. “I’m going to be deployed.”
I didn’t know what “deployed” means. “It means that I have to go away to do a very important job,” he said. “I’m packing all this stuff because I will be very far from home and I will be gone lots and lots of days.”
Daddy said he would be gone for a year. A year is a very long time. It means fall, winter, spring, and summer. Annika’s birthday, Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, Daddy’s birthday, Fasching, Easter, Mama’s birthday, and my birthday, the 4th of July!!
He said he would be in a different country called Iraq. He has been there before and he told me that it is hot there in the summer, even warmer than Alabama. The countryside there looks different than anything I know. There is no ocean like in Hawaii, and no forests like in Germany.
He told me he would be flying his Kiowa a lot. From the helicopter he can look over all the houses, roads, and fields and make sure that the people there have a safe place to live.
I tried climbing into the chest so that he could take me with him. “I’m sorry, Michael,” Daddy said. “You can’t come with me. But I know something else that will be lots of fun. You and Mama and Annika will go to Germany and stay with Opa and Oma while I’m gone. You can sit with Opa in his rocking chair and read, and you can help Oma cook, and Uncle Christian can give you a ride in the wheelbarrow.”
That sounded good. But I felt sad that I wouldn’t get to see Daddy for such a long time. “It makes me sad, too,” he said. “But you will still be close to me because I keep you right here in my heart. I will always think of you. I love you!” Then he gave me a big hug. I felt better. We put a calendar with pictures of us in the chest so that Daddy could see how soon he would be back with us and remember how I looked.
Over the next few weeks we did a lot of things together. We went to the beach and ate ice cream. Daddy read books to me and let me watch TV with him on our couch. We played ball and he tickled me from head to toe.
Then the day came for Daddy and us to say goodbye. There was an airplane waiting for Mama, Annika, and me to fly to Germany, and another one for Daddy to take him to Iraq. I did not want him to go there. I was scared that he would forget about me or not come back to us.
“I’ll never forget about you, Michael,” Daddy said. “I love you, and I will be back with you as soon as I can. I’ll miss you every single day!”
He had a surprise for me. Now I can give Daddy hugs and kisses anytime!
The trip to Germany was long. More than a day! Oma and Opa gave us big hugs and were very happy to see us.
I like exploring all the things in their house. The yard is great too. Oma and Opa, Uncle Christian, and everybody else play with me and I get to do a lot of fun things. And Mama is always there to snuggle with me and to comfort me whenever I’m sad. When I miss Daddy she shows me pictures of him and reads me this book.
Sometimes I see Daddy on the computer and get to talk to him. He also calls us on the phone, but a lot of times I’m asleep already. Mama gives me kisses from him when I wake up. He writes us letters and emails that sometimes have a special note just for me.
We take lots of photos of us so that Daddy can see what we are doing and how much I’m growing. When we send him letters we walk to the mailbox and I get to throw them in myself! I draw pictures for him, and we also send him his favorite candy in a package.
Daddy has two weeks of leave. We are all excited to see him. But it is sad that he can’t stay with us. He has to go back for lots more days.
When he is done doing his job in Iraq he will come back for a long time. Then Daddy, Mama, Annika, and I will live in Hawaii again. Oma and Opa are staying in Germany, but they are coming to visit us soon. I’m looking forward to doing all the things with Daddy that we used to do together. I want to do new things too. Mama says at first Daddy might not know how much I can already do by myself and what things I like and dislike. I think I have forgotten a few things about him too. But that is O.K. We will get used to each other again. And in the end it will all be good. Because I love Daddy, and Daddy loves me.
My Daddy is a soldier. When he goes to work, he wears a uniform. I like playing with the patches on his uniform and his belt. His boots are way too big for me!
Daddy flies a helicopter. His helicopter is called a Kiowa and has a ball on top.
One day he brought a big chest into the house. He started to put a lot of things into it. “I have something to tell you, Michael,” Daddy said. “I’m going to be deployed.”
I didn’t know what “deployed” means. “It means that I have to go away to do a very important job,” he said. “I’m packing all this stuff because I will be very far from home and I will be gone lots and lots of days.”
Daddy said he would be gone for a year. A year is a very long time. It means fall, winter, spring, and summer. Annika’s birthday, Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, Daddy’s birthday, Fasching, Easter, Mama’s birthday, and my birthday, the 4th of July!!
He said he would be in a different country called Iraq. He has been there before and he told me that it is hot there in the summer, even warmer than Alabama. The countryside there looks different than anything I know. There is no ocean like in Hawaii, and no forests like in Germany.
He told me he would be flying his Kiowa a lot. From the helicopter he can look over all the houses, roads, and fields and make sure that the people there have a safe place to live.
I tried climbing into the chest so that he could take me with him. “I’m sorry, Michael,” Daddy said. “You can’t come with me. But I know something else that will be lots of fun. You and Mama and Annika will go to Germany and stay with Opa and Oma while I’m gone. You can sit with Opa in his rocking chair and read, and you can help Oma cook, and Uncle Christian can give you a ride in the wheelbarrow.”
That sounded good. But I felt sad that I wouldn’t get to see Daddy for such a long time. “It makes me sad, too,” he said. “But you will still be close to me because I keep you right here in my heart. I will always think of you. I love you!” Then he gave me a big hug. I felt better. We put a calendar with pictures of us in the chest so that Daddy could see how soon he would be back with us and remember how I looked.
Over the next few weeks we did a lot of things together. We went to the beach and ate ice cream. Daddy read books to me and let me watch TV with him on our couch. We played ball and he tickled me from head to toe.
Then the day came for Daddy and us to say goodbye. There was an airplane waiting for Mama, Annika, and me to fly to Germany, and another one for Daddy to take him to Iraq. I did not want him to go there. I was scared that he would forget about me or not come back to us.
“I’ll never forget about you, Michael,” Daddy said. “I love you, and I will be back with you as soon as I can. I’ll miss you every single day!”
He had a surprise for me. Now I can give Daddy hugs and kisses anytime!
The trip to Germany was long. More than a day! Oma and Opa gave us big hugs and were very happy to see us.
I like exploring all the things in their house. The yard is great too. Oma and Opa, Uncle Christian, and everybody else play with me and I get to do a lot of fun things. And Mama is always there to snuggle with me and to comfort me whenever I’m sad. When I miss Daddy she shows me pictures of him and reads me this book.
Sometimes I see Daddy on the computer and get to talk to him. He also calls us on the phone, but a lot of times I’m asleep already. Mama gives me kisses from him when I wake up. He writes us letters and emails that sometimes have a special note just for me.
We take lots of photos of us so that Daddy can see what we are doing and how much I’m growing. When we send him letters we walk to the mailbox and I get to throw them in myself! I draw pictures for him, and we also send him his favorite candy in a package.
Daddy has two weeks of leave. We are all excited to see him. But it is sad that he can’t stay with us. He has to go back for lots more days.
When he is done doing his job in Iraq he will come back for a long time. Then Daddy, Mama, Annika, and I will live in Hawaii again. Oma and Opa are staying in Germany, but they are coming to visit us soon. I’m looking forward to doing all the things with Daddy that we used to do together. I want to do new things too. Mama says at first Daddy might not know how much I can already do by myself and what things I like and dislike. I think I have forgotten a few things about him too. But that is O.K. We will get used to each other again. And in the end it will all be good. Because I love Daddy, and Daddy loves me.
The End
By the way, if you wonder what the surprise is that Joe is going to give Michael (and Annika): it's a Daddy Doll, a photo of Joe printed on fabric, stuffed like a doll.
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