NTC preperation...

      NTC is approximately 30 days but the preparation, training, some weekends and late nights begin about a month before NTC. We see our soldier a little bit in the evenings and sometimes the kids go to bed without seeing their daddy at all. When we were stationed in Alaska we were preparing for our first deployment and our soldier trained in California then also. So preparing for training this time was a repeat of 2 years ago with another child this time around.
       We talked to Dylan (our 6 year old) and let him know how long dad was going to be gone, where dad was going, and what dad was doing while he was gone. Sometimes Dylan would ask a million questions and others he would ask us not to talk about it. Every chance Mike got he would spend extra time with Dylan. They went on daddy/Dylan dates or would stay up on a school night play games or snuggle to a movie.
      A tradition we started was dad buying a special gift for Dylan. (Masons too young to understand still)  He bought Dylan a special toy when he went to boot camp, again when we left him for AIT, and both times dad left for NTC.

      The weekend before Mike leaves is always the worst because its the only thing on our mind. THIRTY DAYS! THIRTY DAYS! So we took off and did something to keep our minds busy. The North Pole in Colorado Springs. The rule: no talking about our soldier being gone for a month.

A fun day full of smiles ending with dinner and a movie. The last month has been spent watching our soldier getting his army gear together, talking about "while I'm gone..." so it was a MUST we got out of the house for some fun. 

The day before Mike left we took Dylan to Build a Bear to make a special bear. Its an army bear but the special part is dad recorded a message and the message was placed in the foot. It says "Love you Dylan Miss you." every time he pushes the button he gets to hear his dad and snuggle with the bear. Dylan named his bear Max! 

Last thing I had to do was talk to Dylan's teacher and luckily teacher conferences was a few days before dad left. I gave the teacher a heads up that Dylan doesn't do well with dad being gone, the older he is getting the harder it is for him. The behaviors I see from Dylan when dad is gone is emotional break downs, extra clingy, and a little spacey. Hard to get his attention. After a long talk and an advanced apology his teacher told me she works with only military children and has done special training. She also is a Military child herself so she understands the kids behaviors. She continued to tell me If there is anything she could do, if talking to Dylan or allowing Dylan to bring a picture of dad, a special stuff animal to school then she will allow that not to be afraid to ask.

With extra long hugs and kisses knowing the day is around the corner we felt prepared and ready to go. Lets get this 30 days over