My Little Army Brat

To celebrate April, Month of the Military Child, I dug out this patriotic picture of my sweet son Caden, because he was being so stinkin’ cooperative in my attempt to show just how dearly he loves his mama.

I cannot imagine how these little treasures ever got dubbed with the term “Army brat.”

So, I did some research. Maybe I knew in the back of my mind that the term was an acronym, but I really couldn’t remember what it stood for. Come to find out, the term, like many of our military traditions, stems from the British Army.

It stands for British Regiment Attached Traveler.

Now that we are getting into PCS season, the term “attached traveler” really comes into play. They are attached, and yes, they are traveling to different parts of the world that their civilian peers will likely not experience. Every PCS will affect your child and that may make you, as a parent, feel out of control. However, you have more control than you think.

Your children will take their cues from you during the move. During our last move I was getting stressed with the details of planning and was thinking about the future in a negative light. My son picked up on my own fears and started to mirror my own behavior. I was so worried he would be upset with the whole move, that I would use the wrong words when discussing future plans.

I would say things like, “Don’t worry, I will make sure the next school you enroll in isn’t a bad one.” (Insert worried mom face with ugly frown lines.) Of course, all your child will hear from that sentence is: worry…bad school ahead.

What I finally learned to say was, “Your next school will be great, and it will be so much fun meeting new friends and finding new parks and playgrounds.” Focusing on positive words isn’t only reserved for the very young, it works on children of all ages—even adults! I quickly learned that replacing any words that could hold a negative connotation, even unintended ones, like “don’t worry,” really made an impact on my own internal dialog and happiness.

How do you help your child through the many challenges of military life? Share with us!