My family and I had the privilege of attending the Army's Strong Bonds retreat last weekend in Anaheim, CA. We attended the family version of the program. There is also a couple's version that I hope we can attend someday, but this review will pertain just to the family one.
We stayed at a lovely hotel in Anaheim. It was the Sheraton Anaheim Hotel it was beautiful and was referred to by the staff as the "castle" hotel. A fabulous buffet breakfast for two was included for each room, then we paid for my sons at $10 and the baby was free, although he ate more than my son!
The deal with Strong Bonds is you do have to pay for the hotel upfront it was about 130 a night I think, and then your soldier submits it for reimbursement on DTS (Defense Travel System). Ideally your soldier is a government card holder and you can just charge this. The caveat with that is you have to make sure his unit turns on the card. (They turn it on and off with every set of orders.) We discovered when we got there that they had not turned his on, thankfully this was not a first for us, a few phone calls up the chain of command to a few not so nice officers got it taken care of and we were good. Personally I love how my husband was read the riot act by an irritated Major because someone else didn't do their job. He was on speakerphone and OH how hard I had to bite my tongue!
Meals also needed to be charged or paid for and then you received per diem back. For our 4 day trip the per diem was 248.50 per person. This is definitely a sufficient per diem and the way we choose to use it was to eat cheap on most meals and then splurge on others like Dinner with Goofy and Breakfast with Mickey. These are character meals at the Disney hotels so no admission into Disneyland is required.
Did I also mention that your soldier is on orders so he is paid to be there? Again, you are paying in advance but for most people this offsets the cost of Military Disney Tickets that you can purchase through an ITT office on base.
The general schedule for the family retreat was a mixer Thursday (no its not check in and leave like most of us thought), this lasted about an hour and a half and all family members must be present. Friday was 9a-4p, and yes they went the whole day. Saturday was 9a-12p, so plenty of family time after. Then Sunday was 9-11a with an optional service before if you choose to participate no pressure at all.
Now off of the details and onto the actual review of the retreat. The retreat is put on by the Chaplains. This scared me away a little but don't let it. It is definitely anything from preachy and very little religion if any is actually mentioned. There were some fun family activities and some lectures too. We made a family mural, which was actually a little more fun than I thought it would be, it was just a little difficult to get onto the floor to trace each other. My family choose to take a more creative spin on it and the boys made each member a superhero. My husband was of course Captain America!
There were activities about actually listening to your kids and what they say. Most of these activities were to my dismay done with other peoples children. I didn't really find myself overjoyed at the idea of bonding with another couples kids which we did three or four times over the weekend. I do understand the concept though, that your used to tuning out your own kid (come one admit it you do), so another child is probably necessary, and then one of the other activities was meant to have someone else brag about your kid. I would have liked on the whole more interaction with my own child. My oldest child is 7 and some of the content was presented in a way that was over his head, did I mention the PowerPoint's, now I know the Army LOVES it's PowerPoint's, but with a group of kids its a little dry for them!
Bottom Line would I do it again ABSOLUTELY! We got a basically free trip to Disneyland out of it! Was there some useful information, yes, most of it is relatively common sense, but its also some of the stuff that if it isn't in front of your face you may not even realize it!
If you want to attend you need to check out Strong Bond's Website for upcoming events. Some of them are unit specific some they have Open Enrollment for, for us this was key! Also, make sure you ask your soldier what RSC (Regional Support Command) they are under, it was the one number in the chain of command I didn't know. Wow didn't I feel silly when the chaplain who told me about the event was like uh your in this one, hehe! Also, you have to attend the one in your area, don't try and go to Hawaii, it's only for those stationed there! (I'll admit it I tried.)
Sunday, August 19, 2012
Dealing with Deployments!
It is that time again in my household, the dreaded "D" is in full force as my husband has departed for his third deployment in five years. It's never an easy thing to deal with and we all cope differently. I find as the wife of a reservist we have different struggles. My husband has yet to deploy with his unit, and is always cross-leveled out to a unit from another state. That leaves the camaraderie of a FRG (Family Readiness Group) pretty much out of the question. Since we are also geographically separated from many Army units, the closest people who can understand are Air Force wives. They thankfully have been very accepting of me, but I find they don't always understand either as their deployments are usually 4-6 months versus the year or longer that my husbands is. When it comes down to it though, every persons deployment challenges, length location are all different and all still a challenge for that person! When we were away at a Strong Bonds retreat last week (more to come on that later) another wife nailed it, I am pretty numb still in regards to this deployment. It's a fact of life, I can't change it so I am just getting through it!
When my husband leaves I always try and find something to keep myself busy. I usually end up leaving my job because the cost of daycare and the extra toll on my kids just isn't worth it. The first deployment I was working on my Bachelors Degree. The second deployment I decorated and renovated my house. This deployment I think I decided to work on me and getting into shape. Depending on his return (there is always talk about the dreaded extension word too) we may plan on renewing our vows, since we never had a real wedding. That definitely should keep me busy, it also goes hand in hand with the weight loss!
I also find that I tend to overcompensate with my children. We go out and do more to distract them from what is missing. I think if anything I do it to distract myself from what is missing. One of my favorite things to do is look for memberships to places on the deal websites like groupon, livingsocial, etc. My goal is to go out and do one special thing a week with the kids. The memberships (which were discounted) help offset the costs of all those activities!
I have lots of little tidbits coming soon on different programs available to deployed spouses, some I have used, some I haven't. So stay tuned for upcoming information to help you and yours!
If you ever have any questions find me on facebook and ask away!
When my husband leaves I always try and find something to keep myself busy. I usually end up leaving my job because the cost of daycare and the extra toll on my kids just isn't worth it. The first deployment I was working on my Bachelors Degree. The second deployment I decorated and renovated my house. This deployment I think I decided to work on me and getting into shape. Depending on his return (there is always talk about the dreaded extension word too) we may plan on renewing our vows, since we never had a real wedding. That definitely should keep me busy, it also goes hand in hand with the weight loss!
I also find that I tend to overcompensate with my children. We go out and do more to distract them from what is missing. I think if anything I do it to distract myself from what is missing. One of my favorite things to do is look for memberships to places on the deal websites like groupon, livingsocial, etc. My goal is to go out and do one special thing a week with the kids. The memberships (which were discounted) help offset the costs of all those activities!
I have lots of little tidbits coming soon on different programs available to deployed spouses, some I have used, some I haven't. So stay tuned for upcoming information to help you and yours!
If you ever have any questions find me on facebook and ask away!
Wednesday, August 1, 2012
FREE Daddy Dolls for deployed Military!
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One of my favorite organizations is Operation Give a Hug. I am sure you have heard of Daddy Dolls, and probably even did a quick Google search for them. There are different varieties of them but usually the one thing in common is they are EXPENSIVE. Operation Give a Hug provides Daddy Dolls to the children of deployed military for FREE!
If you are Army you will likely get a camo print one very quickly as the Army provides funding for them. Other branches can receive a "patriotic" themed one as funding becomes available from private donors. Don't let that discourage you, get your name on the list ASAP! Susan runs this organization and does everything she can to accommodate all requests! Visit Operation Give A Hug and request yours today! If your Significant Others unit is deploying please ask the FRG/AFRC etc leader to request them in bulk, it does make it much easier on the organization. I just requested them for my husbands unit after I got a quick head count, it was very easy!
Free Retreats for Army- Strong Bonds Program
If your an Army spouse chances are you may have heard of the Strong Bonds program. If you were like me you knew about it but had NO idea how to actually use it.
What it is: A program for Army families, Couples, and Singles meant to strengthen relationships.
From their website:
Strong Bonds is a unit-based, chaplain-led program which assists commanders in building individual resiliency by strengthening the Army Family. The core mission of the Strong Bonds program is to increase individual Soldier and Family member readiness through relationship education and skills training.
Strong Bonds is conducted in an off site retreat format in order to maximize the training effect. The retreat or “get away” provides a fun, safe, and secure environment in which to address the impact of relocation's, deployments, and military lifestyle stressors.
Where do you find more info: www.strongbonds.org
You DO NOT always have to attend with your unit. While it is designed this way they do have ones that state "Open Enrollment" we are attending one in about a week that is an open enrollment retreat.
For us it is an opportunity to get away right before a deployment and if it help[s our family all the better. We live in the southwest so out retreat happens to be in Anaheim, which happens to be where Disneyland is located. So I bet you can figure out where we will be in our off time!
Whats the catch you ask? You do have to sit through the classes, don't try and skip them. The other catch is outside of airfare (if necessary, we are driving) that the expenses are reimbursed, so food, gas, hotel do have to be paid up front. If your spouse is a Government Card holder, they can be put on the card. For us per diem is 248 for the four days per person. So we eat cheap most of the time then we can splurge on things like dinner with Goofy and Breakfast with Mickey and maybe a souvenir or two for the kids.
I will let you know how it goes when we get back! Seems like a good deal, I suggest you check it out!
What it is: A program for Army families, Couples, and Singles meant to strengthen relationships.
From their website:
Strong Bonds is a unit-based, chaplain-led program which assists commanders in building individual resiliency by strengthening the Army Family. The core mission of the Strong Bonds program is to increase individual Soldier and Family member readiness through relationship education and skills training.
Strong Bonds is conducted in an off site retreat format in order to maximize the training effect. The retreat or “get away” provides a fun, safe, and secure environment in which to address the impact of relocation's, deployments, and military lifestyle stressors.
Where do you find more info: www.strongbonds.org
You DO NOT always have to attend with your unit. While it is designed this way they do have ones that state "Open Enrollment" we are attending one in about a week that is an open enrollment retreat.
For us it is an opportunity to get away right before a deployment and if it help[s our family all the better. We live in the southwest so out retreat happens to be in Anaheim, which happens to be where Disneyland is located. So I bet you can figure out where we will be in our off time!
Whats the catch you ask? You do have to sit through the classes, don't try and skip them. The other catch is outside of airfare (if necessary, we are driving) that the expenses are reimbursed, so food, gas, hotel do have to be paid up front. If your spouse is a Government Card holder, they can be put on the card. For us per diem is 248 for the four days per person. So we eat cheap most of the time then we can splurge on things like dinner with Goofy and Breakfast with Mickey and maybe a souvenir or two for the kids.
I will let you know how it goes when we get back! Seems like a good deal, I suggest you check it out!
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