After some needed encouragement, I've decided to "soldier on" with posts on this site! I recently wrote on my family blog about ideas for items to send in packages to my husband overseas.
This is what I wrote:
"J. finally received his first package from me! He's been having a hard week and he said it made his day.
On that note...If you are interested in sending him a package, here are a few good ideas.
1) he really doesn't need drug store items like toothpaste, etc...he has access to a PX and if he needs something specific I will send it. Soldiers get too much of those type of items, and not enough of the fun stuff that really makes their day.
2) send specialty items that you think he might enjoy. Ideas include (but are not exclusive)...
a)gourmet coffee (this could be something you find on sale at TJ Max or a special blend you like, while it's my favorite, my point is that you don't have to send Starbucks), they get plenty of cheap coffee at the Dining Facility, and since it is the elixer of survival in the military, a nice cup of coffee is a special treat
b)Packaged store bought cookies, or vacuumed sealed baked good from home. J. loves all types of cookies and baked treats.
c)Candy- right now, before it warms up over there, chocolate is a great thing to send. J. loves it! Later on, it will melt and you won't be able to send it. Right now, any type of chocolatey treat would be appreciated.
d)Magazines. One of the things J. misses is not being able to watch the news daily. Magazines that cover interesting current events happening in America help him reconnect to home and keep him updated. If you subscribe to a particular magazine you think J. would enjoy, consider passing it on to him after you finish reading it.
e)Salty treats like trail mix, pretzels, granola bars are great snacks for those days he has to skip a meal or works late and needs a midnight snack
By no means is this list exhaustive. It's just a few ideas that I've had rolling around in my head and I thought it might help you get thinking about the special items you could send him. I know he'd appreciate it SO much! As would I! "
What advice do you give friends and family who want to send your soldier packages? What are your favorite things to mail overseas? I'd love to get a good discussion going on various ideas. I could use some creative ideas to add to my arsenal of gift box standbys. Thanks!
About Me
- Natalie W.
- Columbus, GA, United States
- ...updates and happenings on everthing West...
3 comments:
Hi! I came across your blog...searching for Christian Military wives. It is so encouraging to hear from others. My husband is currently deployed also, and this is my first one (and hopefully, last. He was a Marine who was recalled.) Thank you for your encouragement and thank you for you and your husband's sacrifice and service to our country!!
Umm, some things I send to my husband, Matt, are word puzzles I created online and printed. You can make them unique, which is fun to give him special words/phrases/jokes meaningful to us. He loved it. He likes magazines too!
Hi there, I'm also a new reader. I found your blog from comments at Like Merchant Ships. I'm Australian and my partner has been deployed to East Timor before and will go to the Middle East this year. He's away all the time at the moment and whenever I see frozen single serve meals (like lasagnas or whatever) on sale at the grocery shop I buy them because I know those first few weeks will be too hard to be bothered cooking!
But things that he loved receiving when he was in Timor were themed packages. So close to Australia Day I sent one with a flag, some tattoos, a new pair of thongs that were Australian themed, some Australian flag hankies (it was actually a bandana that I cut up, he uses them all the time), some green and gold lollies (our sporting colours) and so on. Very transferable to 4th of July!
I did a similar Valentine's Day present where I sent some of that packet pasta, plastic wine cups, a plastic red rose, candles, nice napkins, heart shaped lollies and a 'champagne bottle' full of blowing bubbles. He loved it.
A bunch of me and our mates had a birthday around the same time so I sent a birthday party in a box: pass the parcels, balloons, stickers, Allan's Party Mix lollies, a wrapped present, a party bag full of little toys like a yoyo and his favourite magazine.
Then for St Patrick's Day I sent one with seventeen green things from the practical (a new water bottle he wanted for his webbing) to the yummy (milo, a chocolate powder drink that comes in green packaging) to the kitsch (a green key - the key to my heart!).
It makes the parcels exciting for them, exciting for you to put together. And by being creative you can often put them together less expensively as well.
I'm so glad you are keeping up this blog. A mom of a soldier, a mother in law to a Soldier wife and friend to many others who are soldier wives, I have encouraged many to come to your site for encouragement of their faith while enduring this deployed status. Keep it up. You are entertaining angels unknowingly.
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