The Department of Defense Military Community and Family Policy has designated the month of April as the Month of the Military Child. As dependents of enlisted personnel serving the country, the U.S. Department of Defense recognizes the difficulties faced by military children.
Branded as “military brats,” which when used with derogatory inference indicates a perception of military children as privileged lots. People outside of a military environment, usually do not comprehend the difficulties faced by military families. Frequent transfers in connection with different deployments or re-assignments, present difficulties for children who do not understand the nature of their parent’s occupation.
Adjustment to new environment and to different culture, combined with struggling to communicate with a different language, are some of the challenges faced by military offsprings. The older children who understand the dangers and risks faced by their parents, are likewise affected, as worries over a military parent’s safety while on active duty, can act as stressors.
Still, such factors can bring life-defining experiences to those children, making them more resilient. Military programs and regulations provide support, all geared toward ensuring their safety and well-being. As a matter of fact, the military organization encourages military moms not only to care for and protect their children, but to be overprotective if necessary.
A Cursory Look at Overprotective Military Moms
A military wife carries the responsibility of seeing to the welfare and safety of her children not only out of her natural caring tendencies and abilities. As a participant in the military organization, her role includes ensuring that her husband has peace of mind while on active duty. That way, circumstances that can affect a soldier’s mental alertness and focus to the current mission on hand, can be avoided. That being important not only for his safety but also for the safety of those working around him.
The moment a military offspring is brought into the world, he or she will be exposed to military culture, attention and to a long list of military programs and regulations. Travel is imminent while growing up, to which the number of relocations experienced by a growing military child averages at 10; some even have as many as 36 on record. On her part, a military mom does her best to ensure her child’s safety and well being in their new environment.
As much as possible, a military mom purchases the best tools and devices available for child caring, the best convertible car seat, baby monitor, crib, strollere, carriers and any other travel equipment that will let her baby travel in comfort. She will go to the extent of testing smoke alarms, poison gas and carbon monoxide alert systems, as well as check if the nursery furniture have all been properly re-assembled by movers.
When in a new neighborhood, she will check the safety of their new yard to make sure everything is secure and devoid of objects that can do harm. She looks into the community’s social support, write down the numbers of emergency hotlines, look for the most-child friendly school, and. research on recreational facilities. Actually, there is a long list of must-dos that a military mom must accomplish every time the family relocates, all for the sake of ensuring that her military family has minimal risks of encountering potential problems.