Deployment Journal
Hello! My name is Mandy, I am an army wife and have been with my husband since 2004. My husband serves with the Royal Engineers in the British Army, but have been around the army all my life as my dad and grandad both served in the British Army as have many extended members of my family. My husband and I have two children who have struggled over the years with deployments. I was looking for an all-in-one resource that would enable my children to cope better. However, nothing I could find met their needs, so I decided to make my own and so 'Dandelions Have Heroes - The Deployment Journal' was created and is the only journal of its type as I write this!
This deployment journal will help military children successfully navigate through periods of ‘hero separation’ and also doubles up as a lovely keepsake to reflect on together when their hero returns or years down the line! The journal is suitable for all ages and can be differentiated by the user, younger children may need some additional adult support, but it has been designed in a very user-friendly child-centered way. Throughout creating this journal I have drawn upon my knowledge both as a mum to military children, but also professionally as I work as a mental health practitioner for children and young people, and have integrated coping strategies and emotional literacy work within the journal.
So, what does the journal include?
This 6.96 x 9.61-inch journal, with full color throughout, this 135-page deployment journal is printed on bold white paper with a paperback fabric look cover. Inside includes:
- Details on how to use this journal
- A detailed color-coordinated contents page for ease of use between sections
- A section for deployment information
- A section about the young person’s hero
- 7 sections one for each month covering up to 7 months of deployment
- Habit and goal checkers
- 5 weeks of double pages to express yourself per month
- A monthly activity
- A monthly count-down page for each month
- Reward ideas for completing each month
- Additional pages to write and doodle every month
