If you have been in the military over the last decade, odds are favorable that deployment is part of your vocabulary. Operation Inherent Resolve, Operation Enduring Freedom, and Operation Freedoms Sentinel are well-known among military families as active-duty members have served in one or more in the last decade.
While the rapid cycle of deployments may have slowed a bit, they still happen. Do you have a friend with a deployed spouse? Show them you care by being there, showing up, sending a text to check-in. Showing you care in any small way can go a long way in filling up your friends up. Want to go beyond that? Send a present that will be loved and appreciated. Need a few ideas? Consider gifting one of these military spouse treats to a friend during deployment to show you care.
14 Military Spouse Treats to Send a Friend
Chocolate Pizza
A sweet treat can go a long way. A sweet treat shaped like pizza will probably entice everyone in the family – enter Chocolate Pizza. Send one to a friend as a pick-me-up during a rough time, in celebration of a birthday, a holiday or just because. This chocolate deliciousness can be customized to just about anything – dark, milk or white chocolate, with varying candies or nuts, with any message.
Maybe the deployed spouse wants to send a sweet birthday message, that’s totally possible thanks to the internet. Any leftovers can be saved in the fridge or freezer for later. If you are looking for a totally patriotic chocolate pick-me-up, consider this one. If you want to bring a totally awesome sweet treat to a unit half-way party or gathering, get a large pizza or avalanche pizza (chocolate, cookies, AND candy – oh my!) to stun and yum the room!
Send a Meal
If you picked up a two-pack of lasagnas at Costco and your freezer doesn’t have room, consider your friend! A meal that can easily be prepared after a “Deployment Gnome” day is the grace your friend will need. Even if it isn’t needed right now, they can save it for later when they just can’t adult anymore. If you are on the other side of the world and want to send a meal, consider gifting a subscription box to the many meal services available. A chance to have a meal shopped for and pre-planned may be a welcome break from the Mac and cheese and chicken nuggets. They can only be eaten so many times.
Babbel
Your spouse is deployed and you are B.O.R.E.D. Even if you work and/or have kids at home, those evenings when everyone is asleep are lonely. There are only so many shows on Netflix you can binge watch before your brain turns into mush. With your spouse being gone it is the perfect time to pick up a new skill- like a language!
With Babbel you can practice learning a new language every single day with a few fun games and exercises that will help you learn common sayings, terms, words, pronunciation, and more. With languages like French, Spanish, Italian, Portuguese, Dutch, and several others, you can be on your way to learning a new language in no time. By the time your spouse gets back from deployment, you’ll be ready to take that post-deployment leave and practice your new language skills in person!
Caffeine
Whether in coffee or tea form, it is the fuel that keeps adults functional, and well, adulting. If they are one of the lucky individuals who don’t need caffeine, maybe ask to clone them because that is just miraculous!
CharlieMadison In My Heart
Military spouse owned business CharlieMadison has created a service-specific line of bracelets called “In My Heart.” These bracelets are lovingly made with specific colors chosen to represent each of the five service branches—Air Force, Army, Coast Guard, Navy, Marine Corps. Gifting this to a friend going through deployment allows your friend to wear it and be reminded of the connection they have with their spouse, despite the distance or lack of communication.
Each day of deployment can be a good or bad day, but a reminder of the support and love of the spouse is significant. When the survival of deployment is celebrated with homecoming, the bracelet can continue to be worn as a reminder of that survival and strength found through deployment. The Army bracelet hues signify the fatigue green. The Coast Guard and Navy bracelets demonstrate the blue shades of the sea. The Air Force bracelet honors the darker and lighter hues of the sky. The Marine Corps bracelet honors the colors of the dress blues.
Bonus: Your purchase supports a small business! If you are local to the R.Riveter’s Southern Pines store, you can purchase some of these designs in person.
Decocrated Subscription Box
Anytime your spouse is gone is hard, and any of the holidays can make it a little more difficult. Or in the summer. Or on the Fourth of July. Okay, all the seasons can be hard. Consider a Decocrated subscription box where curated seasonal decorations, textiles, and accents that add a holiday spirit with minimal effort. Each box comes with eight items to spruce up any space, and mood. A bonus item is sent with the first box.
The added bonus is that these items can be kept for years to come as a reminder of your friendship and the endurance of surviving a deployment. If interested, an annual subscription for four boxes a year, one sent every three months can be sent as a way to count down a deployment all while enjoying something fancy. All without loading the children into the car, dealing with traffic, shopping, or standing in line with said children.
For the Kids: Adventure Mailbox
If your friend has kids consider arranging a play date or gifting an age-appropriate activity to aide in distraction and fun. For older elementary kids (who often feel the pressure of filling adult roles during deployments) the Adventure Mailbox packages are a perfect fit. Arriving in a battered, “top-secret” envelope, the books in this package tell the story of a 12-year-old boy whose dad has a “secret” job that takes his family around the world.
The package also includes lifetime online membership to Crameye’s World and a personalized mission folder. Younger siblings will eagerly peer over their big brother or sister’s shoulder as they unpack this awesome envelope and the books make for a great read-aloud option as well. The deployment isn’t going to be easy on kids, but it can be a great learning experience.
Bonus: Daily Mom Military readers can save 25% off any purchase with the code: MilMom on Adventure Mailbox’s website.
Color Changing Accessories from Del Sol
Step out into the sun, lovelies. With color-changing accessories from Del Sol, the down-in-the-dumps feeling you have all deployment will be swept away every time you walk outside. The color-changing accessories like nail polish and sunglasses change color right before your eyes, making it fun to be outside and giving you some much-needed motivation to get that mood-boosting Vitamin D. You can treat yourself to nail polish that changes from white to pink, pink to red, or creme to pale orange. You’ll need some shades, too, and what is more fun than having a pair that goes from classic to funky with just a little sun.
Wine Caddy
It’s no secret that deployments are rough! Military spouses everywhere do anything they can to make sure they can make it through with some level of sanity. The running joke in the military spouse world is to have a glass of wine to just deal with everything that deployment Murphy tends to throw your way.
This cute Deployment Wine Caddy from Highland Concepts is exactly what a military spouse needs to help him or her get through the deployment. Designed with the military spouse in mind, this wine caddy holds a bottle of wine and two glasses all while reminding you that you (and your favorite cab) can get you through deployment one sip at a time.
Bubbly
Whether it is sparkling apple cider or sparkling wine, gifting a little bubbly to make a milestone will be appreciated. Add a note stating “one month down!” or “here’s to halfway” to mark the occasion will make your friend feel appreciated and loved. Especially if Murphy has been especially awful recently and they didn’t even notice the time mark.
Chardonnay Go
Speaking of celebratory beverages…your spouse might be gone but that means it is the perfect time for a girl’s night in. Chardonnay Go is a hilarious board game that will have you rolling on the floor laughing with your wine glass in hand, enjoying that precious time with your other milspouse friends. A roll of the dice will have taking sips of your wine at the “sip spaces” while the next turn will have you you doing things like naming “three places you should never take your kids” while you have your “legs on the table like you’re having a baby.” Oh yes, this game will bring you and your fellow milspouses closer together all while enjoying yourselves over a few glasses (read: bottles) of wine.
The #LDR Activity Book
Deployment separation can be a majorly challenging time for any couple. However, with the right tools at your disposal, it can feel like a breeze! A period of separation can actually be used to strengthen your relationship. The #LDR Activity Book helps you create the right environment for this sort of growth. Each activity helps you to understand the other person a bit better while celebrating the bonds you’ve already created. After you work through all these engaging tasks together, you’ll be positioned to jump right back into a healthy, thriving relationship.
Cookies con Amore
While no cookie can take away the pain, frustration, and monumental to-do list that often accompanies deployment, a whole box of cookies certainly won’t make it any worse! Cookies con Amore delivers gourmet Italian cookies right to your door. Some are great with coffee or tea while others are delicious all by themselves. Either way, it’s OK to take a moment to relax and regroup before tackling the next obstacle. Have a friend over for some much-needed adult conversation or eat the whole box yourself. These are so good you might not want to share! Deployment sucks and you’ve got a lot of people to manage. So indulge, hide in that closet, and eat all the cookies. You know we won’t judge!
I Heart Eyewear
If you are anything like us, daily life has you often proclaiming, “This is why we can’t have nice things!” It is hard to wrap your mind around spending a fortune on expensive designer accessories, especially when tiny hands have a tendency to run off with them. Enter I Heart Eyewear, your have-your-cake-and-eat-it-too solution to stylish and affordable sunglasses! These Blaine glasses come in at just $20 per pair while boasting optical-quality polarized lenses to keep your eyes safe from harmful UVA/UVB rays. At such great price point, you can afford to pick up a few different pair!
Taking Care of Friends During Deployment
Deployments come in all shapes and sizes. But they typically aren’t all breezy and fun. Caring for your friends going through deployment is important and these military spouse treats are perfect for that. From a text to homemade card to a gift from above, any expression of support and love is appreciated. We are a community, and you are never alone.
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Photo credits: Heather Walsh, Eastern Sky Photography
