Homecoming is just around the corner. You want to make it a wonderful experience for your service member and your entire military family.
Our group of collaborators put their heads together to share all of their best ideas for making your next homecoming extra special! What ideas would you add to this list?
Contributors: Rebekah Sanderlin, Erin Whitehead, Stacey Shade-Ware, Katie Foley, Traci Moran, Kristine Bedwell, Rebecca Alwine, Lucha Reyna, Morgan Slade, Samantha Dean, Monica Pugh, Tia Johnson and Stacy Huisman
35 Ways to Make Homecoming Special
1. Ask your service member for a list of what they want in the fridge and pantry when they arrive home… and stock it with those foods/beverages.
2. Let the kids paint on the car windows. Office supply stores have paint sticks that clean off easily. Stuff like “out of my way, going to get our mom, our hero.”
3. Sign idea: “Welcome home! Get ready to be de-briefed!”
4. Our second deployment I didn’t make a banner because he had mentioned a couple times he didn’t like the banners hanging on the houses, so I changed it up. I wrote this on the walkway leading to our front door and he loved it. I think it felt more personal to him.
5. Make sure to communicate homecoming wishes with your service member. Some like having lots of friends and family around right away… some only want the immediate family.
6. My friend is pregnant and her husband came home from a mission and she had a sign that said, “I know you just came home and this is crazy… But BEFORE you left we made a baby.”
7. Try to resist the urge to throw the kids at your service member with a long list of chores that have been piling up since they were gone. They might need several days to decompress.
8. I have friends who’ve made signs that said “Sgt. So and so, report for booty duty here” with an arrow pointing down, and they hung it over their beds.
