5 Ways to Celebrate Your MilChild
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April 20, 2020
Editor’s Note: This article was originally published on the Military Spouse Advocacy Network website.
April 1986 was the month and year Casper Weinberger proposed to be designated, Month of the Military Child. Children from military families deserve to be honored and recognized for the sacrifices, they too have to make, when a parent is a service member.
To celebrate all the milkids in your life, here are 5 easy ways to thank them for their service:
1. Treat your milchild(ren) to a meal of their choice.
Whether it’s a meal out at a restaurant, or their favorite home-cooked meal for breakfast, lunch, or dinner, make sure they know the meal is to honor them and was specially chosen for them!
2. Dress up throughout the month of April!
Choose one day out of each week and assign a theme. Maybe one week everyone will dress up in their favorite service apparel (Navy, Marines, Army, Coast Guard, or Air Force). April 13 is officially Purple Up Day. Maybe one week can be a patriotic day! Get creative and make it fun!
3. Write notes!
Does your milkid have a deployed parent? Or friends in a different time zone? Hang up clocks with the different time zones, and take a day to write special notes to old friends you have not seen recently.
4. Do a family service project!
As a service project adopt a deployed family. Find out what a family with a deployed service member needs help with. You can help with yard work, childcare, tutoring, homework help, a weekend buddy, or create a care package for the kids in the family and/or deployed member.
5. Create a scrapbook!
Gift your milchild with a scrapbook of some special moments you’ve experienced because of your military lifestyle, or maybe a single framed photo if you don’t have time to create a book.
Even though society may not highlight our most vulnerable members of the military family, we can certainly take the month of April to make them feel special and thank them for their resiliency, and gracious strength in a life they did not get to choose.
Happy Month of the Military Child!
The Military Spouse Advocacy Network (MSAN) has a mission to create stronger military families through education, empowerment, and support. MilHousing Network is proud to work in partnership with MSAN to help military families PCS better. To learn how MSAN can support you visit https://www.militaryspouseadvocacynetwork.org/.
