Seeking Other Moms Ideas

How long has he been gone? long enough to miss significant events and milestones? If so, can you put together a photo album which includes some items that the kids have made (either from school or homemade projects)?

Does he have a favorite show? Maybe you could purchase a DVD of the past season.

I would think that you could focus on "filling in the gaps." So whatever he missed during that time could be recaptured in pictures, videos, etc.

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I would let the kids bake him his favorite cookies/cake. Maybe breakfast in bed for his first morning home would be sweet also. From my experience, all they want is to be home with the family and eat some home cooked food. The kids could also make him a book with everything they did while he was gone.

I have 3 wonderful children as well. My husband has done 2 deployments while we have had our children. The girls and I have both times decorated the front of the house with a sign and red, white and blue decorations (balloons, flags, streamers)it is fun for the kids to decorate and gives my husband a wonderful surprise. A few of our neighbors got into the last homecoming and put a bunch of American flags out in their front yard as well.

How about having the kids make american flags for him? You could also get them t-shirts (or make them) that says something like, welcome home daddy or my daddy is a hero, something like that.
Not sure how old your kids are but maybe help them write a poem about all the things they want to do with daddy now that he is home. Or make a book of coupons for dad to turn in for.... "Free foot rub", 1,000 kisses, etc.
Oh, one other idea is you could get a really nice card and put it under his pillow.
ENJOY every second of it!!! : )

My hubby will be home from Iraq next month so I'll be wathcing for ideas, too :) I'm planning to tie yellow ribbons on the lampposts along our street. My son has a t-shirt that reads "My Dad is in Iraq" that I will alter to read "My Dad WAS in Iraq," and my daughter has an "I love Daddy shirt" for the trip to the airport. If your husband is flying into a comercial airport, arrive early with your military ID and you should be able to to all the way out to the gate to meet him.

I'm planning for each child to have their own "date with Dad" soon after he returns, too. Just a chance to go out to lunch or dinner or something where it will be just the 2 of them.

Good luck! I know you and your children must be getting excited about this.

S.

Hi there,

When my hubby came home we had shirts, posters, you can get flowers too. We decorated the hallway, we lived in Germany so we were all in apts...we decorated the inside of our home too. It was just us, no party, but he felt welcome for sure! Make his fav meal for the entire week at least and go to his fav and missed resturants too! I am sure you will go all out to let him know how much he was missed!

Gratz on him coming home!
God Bless!!

Hi T.,

Congratulations on the homecoming!! That is so wonderful. When my active duty soldier husband came back from his 14 month deployment from Iraq, his unit had tons of posters, giftbags and snacks waiting for them. I had made a few posters to hang at home, and made lots of his favorite food (there were certain foods he didn't or couldn't have in country, so he had hankerings.) The first few days, he really was exhausted, so giving him some space to rest was a gift in itself. i didn't plan a party or to have friends/family visit within the first few weeks, so he could adjust. About a month or so later, we started to have a few friends over here and there. But really, I'd say go with the flow and just be aware that it will take weeks (if not months) for him to adjust to being home. You've both changed in those months he was gone. Just being home with you and the kids will be gift enough for him, believe me.

My husband came back from Iraq and he was just happy to be back and see us waiting for him - that's all he cared about. He has been gone a long time and would probably just like to go home and rest. We made him a sign and put little flags in the yard at home - then made a little Welcome Home sign for the door and inside the house...he came home and just rested and relaxed with his family. We made him some nice good homemade food as well. :) I asked my husband what he thought about what we did, if we could do anything differently, etc - his advice to you was, "Don't do too much. I was just happy to be home." This is such an exciting time for all of you!!! Don't worry too much - even though as women, I know that's easier said than done!!...but just enjoy this time and congratulations!!!

Hurray! When my friend's husband came home, they put two small flags in front of every mailbox on their street, and it was really powerful. IF you have time for a scrapbook, I love digital scrapbooking...you just drop and drag some pictures, type text if you want it, and download to the publisher and they ship you a gorgeous hard bound book. My current favorite site is blurb.com. Their software is free and the books start at $20. ENJOY HIM! D.

I have seen people take a white bed sheet and write Love you, missed you or other message on it and have it over the garage or side of the house. If he has a fave color wear that when you meet him or if he has favorite clothes that the kids wear or something he bought them or you. Have a dinner/lunch/breakfast planned at his fave place or fave things at home. Have some of his fave goodies stocked in the house. If he has a favorite smell spray the house with it before you leave to get him. Wear his fave perfume. The kids could draw him a picture, write him a poem/letter. Just make the day all about him and his faves, but also allow him time to relax, this is his first time home in awhile so he may not want to be bombarded with a bunch of things, even if they come with love.

Maybe you could make a scrapbook or photo collage to present to him of the children during the time he was gone. He could look at it with them when you get home and they could fill him in on what they did while they waited for him to return.

Hi, When my son came home. We had banners that my work signed and we made. We had put flags up on a telephone pole that is in our yard for everyday he was gone. We made special dinners that we knew he liked. Anything is special to them for not having it for so long.
Please tell him thank you for me.

Hi! How exciting that he is coming home. When my husband (also Navy) would come home from deployments, I would hang a welcome home sign in front of our garage. I made it from a twin sheet going the long way. You couldn't miss it as you came down the street. Hope this helps!

I'm sorry i don't have any new ideas...But I just wanted to write to say that I'm so happy for you and your family. I don't know how you managed it all with his absence, but I can't imagine the intense anticipation of having him return home. What an amazing blessing. My heart goes out to you and your family with many wishes and prayers for a smooth and joyous reunion.

How wonderful he's coming home! Celebrating really depends on what his style is. A backyard barbecue might be great. Maybe a picnic at the beach (unless he doesn't want to look at sand again for a long while). My husband is plant sitting for one of his co-workers who is over due to return from Afghanistan. All year, he and the other office people have been taking her plant different places, dressing it up for different holidays and making a picture album of the plant's adventures.

We brought bells and whistles! The guys came off of the plane and we whistled and rang the bell for all of them, but we went crazy for Daddy! All 6 of the boys had something to make noise, one of mine had his whoopee whistle, and with the other hand they waved flags. All of them wore red,white, and blue jean shorts. I wore a dress(that is only important because I NEVER dress up), and one of his old white navy hats. He loved it. He's navy also. One of my boys started chanting, "WE WANT DADDY! We want DADDY!", and it was pretty cute.

a few suggestions...
WELCOME HOME DADDY sounds just great to me..
no fireworks or loud sudden noises, it will make the sudden readjustment easier for him. wear brightly colored clothing ( both you and the little ones), not only will it be easier for him to find you and the kids, but it will give him a sense of contrast, between a war zone and here. combat veterans have an exaggerated sense of personal space,make the reunion as stress free as possible, instead of just running up to him ( first instinct), COUGH LOUDLY first, then wait two, maybe three seconds and then approach him. from in front .that way, it gives the primal part of his brain a chance to say....FRIENDLIES.
my grandfather was a combat veteran , and you knew to
cough first before approaching him and it didnt hurt if you make sure he saw you too.
K. H.

When I came home last month my family welcomed me with posters, balloons and flowers. Making his favorite meal would also be a good idea because the food over there wasn't great and it was the same week after week. My sister was in town and asked me what I wanted for supper and made it. From my experience just being home with your family is all you want to do.

First of all, please tell your husband I said thank you for his service! I come from decades of military men (grandparents, father, husband, brother, etc) and know how hard it is, but THANK YOU to him for what he sacrifices for us! On that note, when my younger brother came home from his first tour in Iraq (he just left last month for his second) we had shirts made for our kids. We got a camaflouge print for my boys and it says "Got Freedom? Thank My Uncle!" and for my daughter, we just got her a pink shirt and it says "Don't mess with me, My Uncle is a Soldier". He loved the gesture, it was VERY affordable, and we loved it. We also had ones made when he came home for his first R&R that had a picture of him and it said "My JayJay...My Hero". Both were really cute. I also saw someone put a huge sticker on the back of their SUV that said something to the effect of "If we're speeding it's because we are going to pick up our daddy! He's home from 15 months at war!" That brought tears to my eyes. Good luck and ENJOY!

i would think a man that has been away from home would want a real meal when he got home. either make him his favorite dinner or go to his favorite restruant.