Reading

 I mentioned before how much I love to read.  It's been important to instill that love of reading in my children as well. We make reading a special part of our week and our days.  Tuesdays are our weekly library date that we all look forward to. I know that Brady probably won't always get excited for a trip to the library but I'll take it as long as I can! We also read throughout the day and before bedtime as well.  Now that Brady is getting older and starting to somewhat understand that Daddy's job is a little different than the norm, I've been thinking how important it is to read more books about the military and deployments.  Brian will have been home for about 11 months before his next deployment so I'm not so sure that Brady remembers any of the 3 previous ones.  Brady is a child that really likes to be prepared for things so it'll be important for us to talk and read a lot about deploying and why will be leaving in the next few months.

A couple of weeks ago I received an email about reviewing this book and a couple of days later, it arrived in the mail:

A Sergeant in the House, tells the story of Lenny who desperately wants a puppy. His father is in the military, the family must move frequently, and Lenny is still very young to care for an animal, so Lenny strikes a bargain: When his daddy becomes a sergeant, Lenny can have a puppy. When his father is deployed to war, Lenny learns what it means to be responsible, to care for his family, and to help around the house. A dreaded phone call brings the news that Lenny's father has been injured and is being sent home. When Lenny's father explains that this means he'll never become a sergeant, Lenny realizes that what he truly wants is his daddy--puppy or no puppy.

I thought reading this story would be an excellent opportunity for us to introduce the topic of deployment and military life in general.

I really enjoyed reading this story with Brady. It showed a great example of how life is not predictable as a military family and you have to just roll with the punches.  One of my favorite parts was when the father was explaining to his son that he'd be away and needed his help. "Mommy will take good care of you but she will have to do everything while I'm away. I need you to be her little man and help take care of her, too."  I know we'll be telling Brady that a lot.  Brady's favorite part was the illustrations, he was captivated by them.  He kept pointing out every little part of every picture and really took an interest to the dog Lenny received.

Although he really liked the book I'm not sure how much of it he actually understood. I think this book is geared for children a little older than Brady. I would suggest it is more for children aged 6 and over. I think the whole injury part was a little over his head; I don't think he's quite at the age to comprehend that. I think this book would be a wonderful resource to a child who's parent is at war or a child who's parent has been injured while at war but for a 3 year old it was a little confusing for him. I just explained it that Lenny's daddy got an "ouchie" while he away at war. He was distracted by the fact there was a dog and he didn't seem to think too much about it. I do believe that after a couple more times reading it the questions may be coming!

One of the best parts is that all of the profits from the sale of this book go to support the mission of Hope for the Warriors.  Taken from their website, "THE MISSION OF HOPE FOR THE WARRIORS® is to enhance the quality of life for post-9/11 service members, their families, and families of the fallen who have sustained physical and psychological wounds in the line of duty. Hope For The Warriors® is dedicated to restoring a sense of self, restoring the family unit, and restoring hope for our service members and our military families."  

I am so thankful we got a chance to read this book.  There certainly aren't enough stories out there for military children so it was really nice to read something geared towards them!  Here is a link to purchase the book, we recommend it!