Celebrating the holidays should be a joyous occasion for all families, friends, and loved ones. For some military families with a deployed service member, celebrating can seem a little bittersweet. If you know of a military family that is going through the holidays without their deployed loved ones, do your best to reach out to them and offer your support. In the spirit of gift-giving, here are 10 unique holiday gift ideas for military families with a deployed service member.
Babysitting/Dogsitting Services
A gift straight from your heart, offer to baby sit/dog sit/ house sit for a day or even a weekend. This gives them the chance to enjoy themselves or perhaps get their mind off of the situation.
If their only connection to their deployed loved one is mainly via internet, you can get them their own mobile hotspot like this one and some data cards as their stocking stuffer to go with it. This provides a backup to their own home wifi and they can use it on-the-go.
Amazon Prime
On my husband’s last deployment, sometimes I didn’t want to bother going out to a big box store to buy something. Thankfully, we had signed up for Amazon Prime
Homemade Craft projects
Another chance to give from the heart. Your local crafts store or Michael’s or Joann’s may offer a military discount. Easy craft projects include customizing a picture frame, making a scrapbook, or even a trinket box.
Streaming Service
The times I binge watch TV are mainly during my husband’s deployments. I loved having streaming services because they would work with my schedule not the other way around. Your Amazon Prime Membership also includes streaming
If you’re feeling extra generous, a gopro video camera would be an awesome gift if that military family has kids or pets. They can strap on the light weight camera and record memories to send to the deployed service member. After the deployment, the gopro would still be a great gadget to have on hand for any adventure junkie.
When my husband was deployed, I was glued to my cell phone. Not to check social media, but to be there just in case he called, or my kid’s school called, or any other family member called. It was like a lifeline to my service member and family but the lifeline has a battery life to maintain. So I had several extra device chargers like these around to charge things just in case.
I know, I know. Hear me out. As I look back on photos of our family during my husband’s deployment, I noticed how cute our son and our dog looked in every one of them. That’s right. Just the kid and the dog. Not me. Because I was the one taking the photo. A third arm such as a selfie stick or tripod at least guaranteed that I was in some of the shots.
Gift Cards to Home Improvement Stores
For the handy and non-handy alike, I liked getting gift cards to home improvement stores so that if anything broke on the house, I can get the supplies to fix it. I also got these to do special projects around the house to surprise the husband when he got home. Home Depot and Lowe’s are known for their military discounts.
Photobook
A good photobook on hand can surely brighten someone’s spirits. You can either create one yourself for the military family or give them a gift code so that they may create one.
What will you put on your shopping list for that military family?
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