Gifts for Moms of Soldiers
- Buy a military mom a webcam so she can see her soldier as well as talk to him over her computer.web cam image by haruspex from Fotolia.com
If there is anyone in the world who needs some cheering up, it is the mother of a soldier. She lives every day with the knowledge that her child is -- or could be -- in harm's way; no matter how much pride she feels, that anxiety never quite goes away. If you know a soldier's mom, thank her for the sacrifice she (and her son or daughter) is making for you. Give her a gift that shows how much you appreciate her. - Since a U.S. Army captain with two sons serving on the front lines developed the Blue Star Banner in 1917, it has been the unofficial sign of a household that has a child -- or children -- in the service. You can find Blue Star Flags online for no cost to service families, or you can look up the pattern and dimensions and make one yourself. There are also Blue Star stickers, mugs and t-shirts available. Whatever you choose it will be a gift that a military mom will display with pride.
- Write to the soldier and ask for some candid photographs. These can be cell phone or digital camera photos they email to you or conventional photographs that you develop from a disposable camera you've mailed to them. Have prints made and assemble them into a photo album, scrapbook or multi-picture frame. You can use a "Day in the Life" theme or just choose the most attractive shots; either way, any military mom would treasure current photos of her beloved child.
- There are many places where you can buy t-shirts, hats, jewelry, car stickers and a variety of other items with a military mom theme. Get her a pink "Army Mom" baseball cap or a set of "My Son/ Daughter Is a Soldier" dog-tags. Many branches of the service carry "parent gifts" in their military shops; for example, the Marine Corps sells a Military Mom Starter Set that contains a recognition certificate, necklace and charm bracelet; they also sell charms that look similar to military ribbons and can be awarded for such achievements as "knowing that a piece of you is out there, somewhere."
- Every military mom spends a lot of time trying to stay connected to her soldier, so give her the raw materials for keeping in touch. Stationary, stamps and postcards are very welcome gifts, and so are flat-rate boxes from the post office (you can mail them for her). VOIP services -- a method of talking over computer lines instead of the telephone -- are relatively inexpensive and if you buy her a web camera, too, she can see her soldier as well as talk to him or her. International phone cards are also precious to military families -- they send them to their military kids so that they'll be able to call home whenever they can find a phone.
