Bob Hope Legacy Reading Program helps military kids stay connected

By Marguerite Cleveland

Deployments can be so tough on kids and it is often difficult for them to stay connected to their deployed loved ones.  Back in the day my father would send us cassette tapes and we could listen to him. Then we would tape one and send it back to him. Technology has changed so much since then and the Bob Hope Legacy Reading Program helps military kids stay connected with their deployed love ones.

Valerie Ortiz’s three year old was struggling with Dad being away. “Last Christmas, my husband was deployed and he sent a video and a book of him reading to our kids. Our 3 year old was having particular trouble with Dad being away and that video and book was everything. He must’ve watched it 30 times that one night and then watched it every day for a month. We were extremely grateful,” she said.

Ortiz had discovered the Bob Hope Legacy Reading Program. The Bob Hope Legacy partnered with the USO to provide is a virtual, on-demand story time that helps military kids connect with their deployed parent. The program has three parts: story time, military kid reading program and supporting local reading programs around the world. It has reached an estimated 23,000 military families throughout the world this past year.

The Story time program allows military service members to read to their children wherever they are in the world. It can help them provide a special gift to mark important occasions like a birthday or newborn birth. You just need to go to a participating USO locations to record yourselves reading to your child and that recording gets shipped home.

Another aspect of the program works in reverse with the military child recording themselves reading and the ability to share it with someone they love. The USO helps bring families together by sending the recording to a child’s loved one.

The USO and the Bob Hope Legacy supports local reading programs specifically designed to meet the needs of a local military community. These programs may be geared towards military spouses to help them meet others in their situation or kids craft activities designed to pair with a story.

Bob Hope was a famous movie star who loved the military. At his prime he headlined USO shows and usually spent every Christmas performing for the troops. The USO continues to honor his legacy and you can read more about him at Bob Hope – The USO’s One Man Morale Machine.

Marguerite Cleveland is a freelance writer who specializes in human interest and travel stories. She is a military brat, a veteran and now a military spouse.  Her military experience is vast as the daughter of a Navy man who served as an enlisted sailor and then Naval Officer. She served as an enlisted soldier in the reserves and on active duty, then as an Army Officer. She currently serves as a military spouse. She lives in the Pacific Northwest with her husband and two sons. Visit her website www.PeggyWhereShouldIGo.com

Photo Credit: © WavebreakMediaMicro/Adobe Stock

The street lights come on, colors sound, and suddenly you hear a chorus of voices filling the evening air.

“Johhny and Aiden, time to come in!”

“Sydney and Mariah, dinner!”

Kids scatter from the playgrounds while doors open and shut quickly as children sort themselves into the correct house. Bikes are left leaning against fences and neighbors sit down for spur of the moment glasses of sweet tea on porches.

Make the Most of Your On-Base Mayberry Neighborhood Life

Living on-base can feel a lot like living in a Mayberry neighborhood. Everyone knows everyone else, kids play outside almost all the time and there’s always someone there to lend a hand.

It seems like this simpler lifestyle could go on forever, but the years in your on-base Mayberry neighborhood are limited. Sure, you could end up in another similar situation, but then again you might not.

Right now is the best time to make the most of your incredible military community.

Photo Credit:
©devrim_pinar/Adobe Stock

Kids Play Outside All the Time

In a lot of on-base neighborhoods, the kids are always outside. Like, all the time. They’re riding bikes, chilling at the playground and catching air at the skate park. Some are building forts or playing a pickup soccer game.

This isn’t something that happens in off-base neighborhoods. Houses are more spread out, playgrounds might not be within easy reach or it’s just not that safe.

On-base, it’s pretty safe to let your child run to the within-shouting-distance playground with their friends for a bit. Or to let them run down the street for an impromptu playdate with a neighbor.

There are always other kids to play with on base. In fact, it’s hard to find a neighborhood without children at all. From infants to high schoolers, there are usually a whole group of kids in a similar age range.

Borrow a Cup of Sugar

Or grab a can of peas or a bag of nuggets. Seriously, your neighbors are here for you in ways that just aren’t a thing off base anymore.

It’s not uncommon for cul de sacs to have a community text message or Facebook chat. Send a quick message to your neighbors about literally anything.

Run out of an ingredient? Send a message and then just run across the way to grab what you need.

Neighborhood messages have been used to find a last minute sitter, figure out playdates, and even get quick checks at the mailboxes. No need to leave your house and check your box if you’ve got a neighbor headed that way already. It’ll save you the trip only to find an empty mailbox!

Find Support 24/7

What do you need help with? Chances are good that you can find what you need right in your on-base neighborhood. From tutors to yard care to babysitters, you’ll find resources within easy reach.

Many military neighborhoods use social media to connect. Members can post anything they need 24/7.

It’s definitely not uncommon to see a post from a military spouse looking for a date night sitter or wondering about the trash schedule. Social media groups make it easy to connect, find answers and support each other.

Easy Ways to Socialize

Base housing is usually organized based on rank/grade, which means that usually you’ll be living near folks who are at a similar place in life as your family. And this opens up great opportunities to socialize together.

On base, it’s not unusual to have spur of the moment BBQs or weekend fires. With a neighborhood text message or every family outside in the afternoon, it’s easy to make plans together.

You’re together almost all the time, you see each other every day. And getting together is simple.

Ask a neighbor about dinner plans, then suggest combining your grilling to make it into an impromptu party!

Or talk with other parents outside after school to make plans for a kids’ playdate or parents only fire.

Holiday Community Spirit

Whether you’re overseas or just across the country from your family, you’ll still be able to celebrate with people you love! Most military neighborhoods end up celebrating all the holidays, big or small, together.

Every holiday turns into a giant potluck with every family bringing their favorite sides and desserts to share. All the kids play together all day long.

After living on base, it might feel weird to not have a giant all-hands Easter egg hunt.

Having a giant potluck to celebrate with your neighbors make holidays far from your childhood home easier and more festive.

Make Separations Simpler

On base, it’s easy for families to band together and make deployments or TDYs simpler for everyone.

Combining families for dinner, swapping playdate locations and generally working together has saved military spouses on the home front more than once. Living on base makes finding support and teammates so much easier.

Everyone is in this together, dealing with stretches of solo parenting or missing a spouse. Finding your own battle buddy helps families stay sane and survive separations.

What do you love about living on base? Share your experiences with us!

Are you Taking Advantage of the many free and low cost programs?

Morale, Welfare and Recreation Programs are available on all military installations around the country and the world. Did you know that when you shop your installation Exchange the majority of the earnings are returned to MWR to help improve the quality of life for military service members and their families?

Here are some great things you can take advantage of through MWR:

• Installation Libraries. Many have fun programs and activities for younger children
• Get Fit. After physical training hours in the morning there are a variety of fitness centers available for family use. Swim and workout on a variety of equipment at no charge. Take fitness classes (some posts or bases have a moderate fee). Many MWR programs offer a variety of fitness challenges and races such as mud runs, triathlons and 10K runs.
• Outdoor Recreation. Offers a variety of equipment rentals such as skis and camping gear. Purchase fishing licenses and state park passes. Go on an outdoor adventure on one of the many trips they offer like white water rafting or a photography class at a stunning sunset location. Take scuba or kayak classes. Joint Base Lewis-McChord outdoor rec even offers a mountaineering program. Each installation will be different based on where it is located. For example Florida and Hawaii locations may be more aquatic centered while those in Colorado will have more mountain activities like skiing and rock climbing.
• Are you crafty? Check out the Arts and Craft Centers and learn how to frame like a pro. It is a handy skill for all the awards and certificates your spouse will accumulate. Many offer ceramics and classes on various artistic endeavors. Some offer art classes for home schooled children.
• Auto Skills Center. If you like to maintain your own car, this is the place for you. Skilled mechanics are available for questions and teaching while plenty of equipment to maintain your vehicle is available for a small rental fee. Some locations offer a free oil change for those with a deployed spouse, just bring your own oil and filter.
• Bowling alleys, Clubs and Dining. MWR offers a variety of recreational activities for service members and their families. Some are specifically geared towards service members while others are family friendly. The bowling alley is very reasonably priced compared to civilian locations.
• Golf. You may never get to play at the Augusta National Golf Club, home to the Masters tournament but you can play at the Gordon Lakes Golf Club located not far away at Fort Gordon. This is considered one of the finest courses in the South and was designed and built by Robert Trent Jones, Senior, a renowned golf course architect. There are great courses at military installations all over the country and you can play for much less than at a country club.
• Armed Forces Recreation Centers. Enjoy a vacation at Disney World, in Germany, Hawaii and South Korea for much less than you would pay at other resorts. The Hale Koa Resort in Waikiki sits on a prime beach front location. In addition many installations have camping and cabins available for rent. The Navy has great MWR facilities with lodging at Pacific Beach in Washington State as well as in Fort Story adjacent to Virginia Beach and condos in Key West.  You can really stretch your vacation dollars at these locations.

MWR has many great opportunities for recreation and sports. Check out https://www.navymwr.org/, http://myairforcelife.com/, https://www.armymwr.com/. You can also find out more information by looking at the local MWR site for the installation you are assigned to.

Marguerite Cleveland is a freelance writer who specializes in human interest and travel stories. She is a military brat, a veteran and now a military spouse.  Her military experience is vast as the daughter of a Navy man who served as an enlisted sailor and then Naval Officer. She served as an enlisted soldier in the reserves and on active duty, then as an Army Officer. She currently serves as a military spouse. She lives in the Pacific Northwest with her husband and two sons. Visit her website www.PeggyWhereShouldIGo.com

By Marguerite Cleveland

There can be a bit of a generation gap among military spouses and sometimes that can lead to misunderstandings or hurt feelings. After conducting some informal interviews among military spouses of varying generations here are a few things I learned.

Those spouses of a certain generation, the old-timers or those who have just been around a while want you to know they appreciate you and your youth and energy. They want you to know that this military sisterhood is such a bond and this sisterhood is what got them through the past 20 years. One thing that is very important to them is the military traditions that have been passed down to them and that they try to pass on to you. It is not meant to be a “these are the rules and you have to do it this way”, although it may come across that way to you. It is more like in a family how you pass down or teach the next generation how to make a beloved family recipe or maybe how you always go to your grandmother’s for Thanksgiving Dinner. These welcomes, farewells, coffees and teas were shared with them when they first started out. They may have seen a commander’s wife farewelled with a tea and looked forward to the day when they would get to experience that.

Their biggest pet peeve (and this goes across all the generations) is the lack of people RSVPing to an invitation or waiting until after the date has passed by. Many events are so logistically intensive and you need an accurate count to plan for the event. We often laugh about the movies showing military events in the past where the clock ticks to the time of the event starting and everyone gets out of the car at the same time and heads to the door. The old-timers wish you would adhere to that and not arrive early.  If they needed help they would have arranged for it ahead of time and that last ten minutes is their time to take a breath and freshen up before their guests arrive.

The newer spouses, the young ones, or those just starting on their journey wished you wouldn’t call them millennials. Did you know some millennials are now 37 years old? They also want you to know they appreciate the struggle you went through in tougher conditions and all that you did for the next generation of spouses. They also really appreciate the Family Readiness Groups and social events even though they might not always be able to go.  They say those groups help them to stay connected to the military.

The most important thing they wished you would remember is that they are going through everything for the first time. So even though you may roll your eyes at their comments about missing their husband when he departs on their first month long training event, this is the first time for them and they are away from their families. They also wish you would take the time to explain the traditions without just dictating do this, this and this. Another area they really struggle with is wanting to participate and volunteer but having difficulties with childcare. The costs have skyrocketed and there is rarely any free child care available.

No matter what the frustrations at times, the military sisterhood is there for you when you need it. Good communication is key and also needs to be empathy to understand what the other is going through. What do you wish your fellow military spouses knew?

Marguerite Cleveland is a freelance writer who specializes in human interest and travel stories. She is a military brat, a veteran and now a military spouse.  Her military experience is vast as the daughter of a Navy man who served as an enlisted sailor and then Naval Officer. She served as an enlisted soldier in the reserves and on active duty, then as an Army Officer. She currently serves as a military spouse. She lives in the Pacific Northwest with her husband and two sons. Visit her website www.PeggyWhereShouldIGo.com

Halloween rolls right into Thanksgiving and then we head into the month-long overindulgence of Christmas followed by New Year’s Eve. Chocolate everything, turkey with extra gravy, cookies and all that stuffing. I’m ready to lose holiday weight STAT.

There are tons of great options in the military community to help trim down after a busy holiday season.

How to Lose Holiday Weight on Your Military Base

Everything you need to start getting back into fighting form is right outside your door, and on your local military base!

Eat Right at the Commissary

Getting back into shape starts by eating right and your commissary has tools to help you find healthy foods. As you’re shopping, keep an eye on the shelves for nutrition labels to help you choose better-for-you foods.

The Nutrition Guide Program has helpful labels so that you can find healthier foods. Everything is color-coordinated and features an eye-catching graphic logo. You’ll be able to figure out which items are organic, low fat or whole grain.

Where I normally get into trouble are the middle aisles, where the snacks live. To avoid temptation, stick to the outside of the store. That’s where the whole foods are housed. The only exception you might want to make is for the freezer section, especially frozen vegetables and meats or seafood.

Fill your cart with produce, dairy products and meats or seafood.

Get Fit for Free at the Base Gym

Every military base has at least one fitness center that’s open, for free, to troops, dependents and retirees. Head down to your local base gym to check out what they have to offer.

Many fitness centers have a variety of standard equipment, like cardio machines, weight machines and free weights. Some centers also offer additional resources, like a pool or track.

You can drop into group fitness classes or join an accountability club, too! Many military fitness centers provide free group classes, like spin or yoga, as part of their programming. Some locations might also provide accountability programs, like running or cycling clubs. Log your miles every week to earn rewards!

Join a Military-Centered Fitness Community

If the gym isn’t your thing, connect with a non-traditional exercise group.

A super popular running group that’s already established is Stroller Warriors. No stroller or kids required! Join your local chapter for a January run. Groups are easy to find. Search your base and Stroller Warriors on Facebook.

You could also create your own DIY fitness group wherever you are located. Team up with friends, neighbors or folks in your unit. Get together for gym sessions, try out CrossFit workouts of the day or head out for a run. Use free YouTube videos or create your own programs together.

Keep each other accountable by tracking workouts and nutrition on a fitness app, like MyFitnessPal.

Hire a Personal Trainer

Fitness and personal training is a huge market in the military community. No matter where you are stationed, there are certified personal trainers in your military community.

Many personal trainers are military spouses who tailor their programs around their clients’ busy lives, factoring in deployments, erratic schedules or lack of child care.

Rates vary by location, so reach out to your local military community. Your on-base fitness facility might even have recommendations or personal trainers on staff.

Work with a Nutritionist

It’s easy to get stuck in a rut at the chow hall or cooking the same kid-friendly meals. Or you might be trying to eat better, but aren’t quite sure where to start.

Find a military-connected nutritionist or meal planner in your community.

A certified nutritionist can create an eating plan that accounts for your fitness levels, food preferences and other dietary needs. Your nutritionist can help you find recipes, share eating tips or introduce you to different foods.

Some nutritionists also run in-person or virtual accountability groups. You’ll be able to harness the power of a supportive community to make big changes in your life!

Plus, military-connected nutritionists will have experience shopping at the commissary. And they might be able to direct you to hidden gems on the economy, too.

Your MTF might have nutritionists on staff or have a curated list of preferred nutritionists.

Get Active with Others

Your MWR or FSS, as well as your local single service member program, might offer cool opportunities to get active with others in your community.

Depending on your location, you could find ski trips, hiking, scuba diving or horseback riding. Check with your MWR, single service member or FSS office to get specifics about excursions and trips near you.

Start Small First

There are tons of great options for military troops and families to get back in shape and lose holiday weight. It’s tempting to jump in all at once and try everything.

Instead of overwhelming yourself by trying everything together, start slowly and take small steps. Figure out what is the most reasonable and easiest place to start. Maybe make a plan to join a fitness group or overhaul your eating plans. Then add on next steps as you go.

What are your best tips to lose holiday weight? We’d love to check out your ideas and advice!

Helpful tips to make everyone look forward to the adventure

By Marguerite Cleveland

The first PCS move I can remember as a child was a three-week adventure I still recall to this day even though it was over 40 years ago. It was an epic trip from San Diego, California to Newport, Rhode Island with five kids, our dachshund Cleopatra, Mom and Dad; all in a Pontiac Station wagon. What an adventure it was crossing the desert at night to avoid the heat, seeing Monument Valley, the Grand Canyon, and Mesa Verde National Park. We got snowed in when in Colorado and ate spaghetti for six straight meals while visiting family (the go to meal in the 70’s for lots of people) in Louisiana. What could have been a challenge for many was a great adventure due to my Mother’s always positive demeanor and my Father’s excellent planning and organizing skills.

PCS moves can be challenging and stressful, but we all signed up for this life so embrace it and look at the positives.  My Mother began prepping us about three months out. “I’ve got the go bug,” she would say. “I am so tried of living here and ready to see somewhere new.” I am sure she had mixed feelings and would miss her friends, but she never let us know anything other than she was so excited to be moving. I have to say it was infectious. We never worried about leaving friends behind because she had us so focused on the fun places we were going to see and all the new people we would meet. So that is tip number one. No matter how you feel embrace the PCS and get your kids onboard. Act like you’re happy even if you aren’t because believe me whining and complaining especially in front of the children will make it much worse. I have made over 30 moves in my lifetime and I can tell you there is always something you can focus on at your new location that will bring you joy.

Plan, plan and more planning. Research your trip and make reservations well ahead of time but make sure they are cancelable. Also, don’t try to ironman it and wear yourself out. You get paid travel pay for 350 miles a day. Take advantage of that and drive 7 to 8 hours a day when traveling with kids. Always book a hotel with a pool. It’s a great way to get out all that pent-up energy after a long day in the car. Save money by bringing a cooler and plan picnic lunches. Always carry snacks.  You never know when you will hit a long stretch of road with no stops. I still have a trip notebook from one of our many moves. Give each child a notebook, colored pencils (crayons can melt in summer heat) glue sticks and safety scissors to journal their trip. We would stop at visitor’s center to get brochures to use in our books. One of my Mother’s most important rules. Stop every two hours and everybody out of the car to stretch and use the facilities. This was always nonnegotiable and avoided unnecessary stops.

To this day I still get the “Go Bug”, just that sense of wanting to see and do something new. So even though you may not be happy about your move try to focus on the positives not the negatives. It really does make a difference.

Marguerite Cleveland is a freelance writer who specializes in human interest and travel stories. She is a military brat, a veteran and now a military spouse.  Her military experience is vast as the daughter of a Navy man who served as an enlisted sailor and then Naval Officer. She served as an enlisted soldier in the reserves and on active duty, then as an Army Officer. She currently serves as a military spouse. She lives in the Pacific Northwest with her husband and two sons. Visit her website www.WanderWordsWine.com