Blog Archives - BUSY NEST NEWS

Run Like a Mother

30/4/2018

by Brianna

A special book review for Mother's Day. Brianna and Ariel discuss a book just for moms. Not exactly a parenting book, so much as a book for parents. That will make them better parents. That has nothing to do with parenting. You'll see. This article has affiliate links in it. By using them to get the book, you're keeping Busy Nest News going. Thanks for your continued support!

Summary of Run Like a Mother: How to Get Moving-- and Not Lose Your Family, Job, or Sanity, by Dimity McDowell and Sarah Bowen Shea

For May, the month of Mother’s Day, we decided to read a special sort of parenting book. Run Like a Mother, by Dimity McDowell and Sarah Bowen Shea, is a book for moms. In it, McDowell and Shea have a conversation with each other and the reader about what it takes to be a mother/runner. They detail their own struggles and triumphs with staying active after having kids, and offer readers solid advice on everything from just finding the time to preventing and rehabbing injuries (whether said injuries were brought on by running trails or slipping on toys). They cover selecting the right footwear, embarrassing playlists, setting reasonable goals, and how to stay relatively safe and comfortable on a run.

Review of Run Like a Mother on BusyNestNews.com

Links We Learned From Vol. 3 No. 1

28/4/2018

By Ariel

In which Ariel discusses four links that got her thinking in the last few weeks. What if there was a way to get the most out of your Netflix binge? Should we jump while we still can? Is a date morning the solution to the challenge of scheduling date night? Are we rushing labor and delivery to the detriment of mothers and infants? Read on to find out!

Links We Learned From Vol. 3 No. 1

Brianna and I are readers - readers of books, readers of articles, readers of blogs etc. We read. When we find something interesting, absurd or promising, we share it with the other. That is the beauty of sharing this crazy wild journey that we call parenthood. Twice the resources! This is a curated list of links (in no particular order) that I think will have a significant impact on how I parent.

The Runaway Bunny: Review & Craft

20/4/2018

By Ariel

In which Ariel discusses the classic The Runaway Bunny by Margaret Wise Brown - a sweeping epic tale of the creatives ways our children will test our resolve and the lengths we will go to to love them. Pair this with a military-themed craft and you have an activity that opens up discussions around what being a military family means. This post contains affiliate links. By using them you help keep Busy Nest News up and running. Thank you for your continued support!

The Runaway Bunny
By Margaret Wise Brown

Since the military community comprises such a small percentage of our population, we can’t always easily find books that reflect the challenges our families face. We are forced to either create our own which is becoming a more realistic option as time goes by. Just take a look at My Daddy Sleeps Everywhere! Or we can make classic stories that address timeless dilemmas, like The Kissing Hand our own by adding our own twist. The Runaway Bunny by Margaret Wise Brown and illustrated by Clement Hurd is one such classic that lends itself well to retellings.

Mother's Day Gifts for...

20/4/2018

By Ariel and Brianna

In which Ariel and Brianna gently nudge their families toward fantastic gift ideas for them. Ahem! Is the mom you are purchasing for a coffee lover or a jet-setter? Is she a mom married to the military or simply a multi-tasking mom who always needs a third hand? Chances are she falls into one of these categories. If so, we have ideas to jump-start your Mother's Day shopping! This post contains affiliate links. By using them you help keep Busy Nest News up and running. Thank you for your continued support!

My Daddy Sleeps Everywhere

16/4/2018

by Brianna

Wherein Brianna introduces a book that helps military kids understand where their parent is when they aren't at home. This article contains affiliate links. Using them helps keep Busy Nest News going. Thanks for your support!

My Daddy Sleeps Everywhere, by Jesse Franklin and Tahna Desmond Fox

My Daddy Sleeps Everywhere, written by Jesse Franklin and illustrated by Tahna Desmond Fox is a picture book for military kids. On each page, Daddy is shown sleeping in a new position and in totally different terrains and climates. In concise, rhyming prose, Franklin explains that Daddy sleeps in forests, deserts, snow, and rain. Daddy sleeps on boats, prairies, airplanes, and in broken houses far away. But Daddy’s favorite place to sleep is home. The story is accompanied by Fox’s detailed watercolors depicting each location, with the sleeping Daddy (and his coworkers and gear) contrasting as a simple black and white line drawing.

My Daddy Sleeps Everywhere, a book for military kids on BusyNestNews.com

At only 1% of the U.S. population, military families are a minority. As such, there aren’t a lot of great books for helping our kids with the various challenges involved in our families’ service. With the rise of independent publishers, vanity presses, and viable online self-publishing options, more service members and spouses are opting to fill this gap with some much-needed literature. However, that doesn’t mean they’re all the same caliber we would expect of more mainstream children’s books. In fact, some are quite bad. So where does My Daddy Sleeps Everywhere fit?

Planning to Parent: Thriving During A Deployment

13/4/2018

In which Ariel shares what areas she focuses on when planning for a deployment - how to nurture your child's relationship with their deployed parent, how to nurture your own relationship with your deployed partner, how to keep the routine going when you are solo parenting and how to make sure you still have energy left to take care of yourself.

Planning to Parent: Thriving During a Deployment on BusyNestNews.com

Why Do You Need to Plan for a Deployment?

Living through a deployment is the most challenging part of being a military spouse. It is also – ironically – the most romanticized part. Though my husband is no longer active duty, his job keeps him away from home for months on end, several times a year. How do we make it through relatively unscathed? We have a plan in place and do not deviate from it (often).

So while your civilian friends are picturing perfumed letters and wistfully staring at the sky, pre-deployment for us looks like A Beautiful Mind with more laundry and lists - to-do lists, checklists, lists of lists, lists scrawled on post-it notes, lists scrawled on the whiteboard, half-washed off lists on hands and the list goes on. I have heard from multiple sources, including Brianna, that this listomania is not uncommon.

Having a well-thought-out plan in place during a deployment takes the guesswork out of stressful situations. And when you are solo parenting, everything can become stressful at the drop of a hat - even Skyping with your spouse. How horrible is that? When you want to see them, but the kids are dirty, the dishes are overflowing and the plumber is about the come over to fix the dishwasher that broke the second your spouse deployed. So you Skype - and you are genuinely excited to see them because you miss them - but you find yourself snapping at the kids and being short with your spouse, because this needs to get done and that deadline is coming up. The point is, if you aren’t intentional about the deployment, life will get in the way.

This is not going to be a how-to on planning for deployment. There is no magic bullet. No one approach to deployment will work for everyone, because every family and every deployment is different. Each of our families has unique strengths and a diverse array of needs that should be taken into account. What this is, is a reminder of the - often overlooked - areas we should be intentionally planning for. It's important to plan ahead for when things go right or wrong. So accept that things will go wrong and be as ready as you can anyway.

Throughout this article I often use “you” to refer to you AND your spouse. While you, the at-home partner, may shoulder much of the responsibility for making sure the plan unfurls with minimal hiccups, you cannot plan without input from your spouse. You both need to be on board or someone will end up dissapointed.

Reading to Stay Connected

10/4/2018

by Brianna

In which Brianna presents a couple of options for military families to stay connected by reading to their littles, even when they're away.

A great deployment strategy for a resilient family

Here at Busy Nest News, we love reading. It entertains us, challenges us, broadens our horizons, deepens our empathy for others, and it makes us smarter. So when we heard that other military families use reading to stay connected to each other during deployments, it seemed a natural and wonderful solution.

How reading can keep you connected and build resilience during a deployment at BusyNestNews.com

Some fortunate families can video chat daily during deployments. Since every day isn’t necessarily remarkable, frequent chats like that are a great opportunity to read books to littles or discuss books with the spouse or older kids back home. However, most of us aren’t in that position. If Monkey’s daddy was deployed right now, the very best he could manage would be an almost daily email, maybe. Worst communication situation would be a phone call once or twice a month. As a couple, we’ve experienced both scenarios. Monkey will not hang out on the phone long enough for her daddy to read her a story. But she would still miss having him read to her, as reading is already an integral part of our family’s routines. Fortunately, I know of some resources to bridge the gap between technologically deprived service members and the littles who love them.

Deployment Dolls

6/4/2018

By Ariel

In which Ariel discusses how personalized dolls - sometimes referred to as deployment dolls, since they are frequently used by military families - can help your little one deal with separation anxiety.

Plushies With a Personal Touch

During a deployment finding comfort in the absence of your loved ones can seem like an impossible task. If you are lucky you may be able to hear their voice or see their face but something is missing - touch. You cannot steal kisses or snatch hugs. You and your children feel this loss keenly, like an ache. One item that helps to fill this void are stuffed animals. Think about it; it makes sense. When I want an example of our most basic nature as human beings I watch my daughter. What does she turn to first when she needs comfort and my husband and I are otherwise occupied? Her luvvie. There is a reason most children have beds overflowing with plushies and bins vomiting up soft cuddlies - when we need comfort - physical comfort is the easiest to achieve with a pleasing texture or the act of putting our arms around something warm. Deployment dolls take the classic stuffed animals and make it personal.

Deployment Dolls on BusyNestNews.com

Military Kids: How Teachers Can Help

5/4/2018

by Brianna

In which Brianna details real ways teachers can make an impact in the lives of military kids, whether they have any in their classroom or not.

Teachers, this one is for you! Did you know that here in the United States, April is the Month of the Military Child? You’re probably thinking (if I dare to guess) “That’s awesome! I imagine Military Kids have unique challenges, and deserved to be thanked for the sacrifices they make.” And you’re right. Then you might think “But I don’t have any military kids in my class, so there isn’t anything I can do.” And that’s where you’re wrong.

Military Kids: How Teachers Can Help on BusyNestNews.com

According to the Military Child Education Coalition, the number of children whose parents are active duty, reservists or veterans stands at two million strong. Only 2% of their school-aged kids attend military (DODEA) schools. Chances are, you’re more likely to have military-connected kids in your class than you think. Military-connected children include those whose family includes someone who is or was a member of our armed forces, either as active duty or a reservist. Many active duty families will live on or very near a base, and you know if you’re in one of those areas. But some families are on special duties away from a base, or their family has chosen to remain in a civilian community for one of many reasons (usually physically separated from their service member). Also, we can’t forget that there are reservists and veterans in every community, and even though those designations sound pretty low-key, that isn’t necessarily the case. I’ve known reservists who have deployed several times more than a lot of active duty troops. Likewise, a veteran who has separated from the military will often have interactions with the military and be dealing with medical issues as a result of their service. Their family members take on the role of caretakers to varying degrees. If your community is composed primarily of immigrants or children of immigrants, do not assume that they have no affiliation with the military, either. Green Card holders can get their citizenship fast-tracked upon completing basic training, and I met many families who speak little-to-no English in the home while I worked with the military.

No Matter What

2/4/2018

by Brianna

In which Brianna introduces the readers to one of her family's favorite books for dealing with a common childhood anxiety. This article contains affiliate links. By using them you're helping to keep Busy Nest News running. Thanks for your continued support!

No Matter What, Debi Gliori

April is the Month of the Military Child. As the mother of a military child, I’d like to share one of our favorite books that helps us thrive in this lifestyle. The best part is, it’s a great book for any kiddo, whether they have a military parent or not. Lots of kids have worries about big things, but all that is required to sooth them is often gentle, steady reassurance. Debi Gliori’s No Matter What contains the simple, but important message that a good parent loves their child, even on a bad day.

No Matter What on BusyNestNews.com

No Matter What features two kangaroos, known only as Small and Large. Large discovers Small throwing a fit and knocking over furniture. When Large asks what’s wrong, Small replies that they’re “grim and grumpy” and worry that Large does not love them at all. Over the next several pages, the two progress through dinner time, bath time, and bedtime while Small questions the steadfastness of Large’s love. “If I was a grumpy grizzly bear, would you still love, would you still care?” Each test is met with a calm “Of course...I’d always love you, no matter what.” When Small has calmed down and is accepting that Large’s love will survive any tantrum, they have more questions. Can you fix love? When they’re separated, does the love go with Large, or does it stay with Small?