One of the things our son liked best during deployment was getting cards and letters from kids. Several classes adopted him during both his times in the Middle East and it meant so much to him that I wanted to share some of the details.
There were two preschool classes and one elementary school classroom that adopted him. They loved keeping up with where he was and all the aspects of being half-way around the world. The teachers told me it gave them the opportunity to talk about the weather and how different it was from where we live. They used math to figure out the time difference. It also gave them the opportunity to introduce the students to a different culture.
The students regularly wrote letters and made cards. At first the teacher would call me and ask about censoring some of the children’s natural honesty. But for our son, the more honest the better. He got a kick out of the cards that told him to “duck good” and “don’t get hurt.” But the things that meant the most were the times when they let him know they were praying for him. There’s just something precious about the prayers of children.
The kids would also remember him on special occasions and holidays with packages. They sent candy, iTunes gift cards, and snacks. On group sent him a box with games and things to do for fun. They included Nerf footballs, Frisbees and playing cards.
Finding military members to adopt isn’t that hard. We can look in our own communities. Even if we don’t know someone who is deployed, chances are we know a family or two who has a loved one serving. Being adopted by a classroom is a big deal to our troops, and a relatively small thing for us.
