Blog from the founder of the charity Little Troopers. Military wife and mum sharing thoughts and feelings of being a British Armed Forces family.

Little Troopers is a registered charity supporting all children with parents serving in the British Armed Forces, regular or reserve. We provide fundamental resources, initiatives and events to ease and aid repeated separation periods aiming to keep parent and child connected and bonded even when miles apart

19 Oct 2015

The challenges are always the same

It has been 3 weeks our soldier has been away and it seems so hard...I'm definitely out of practise! I am remembering very clearly that it doesn't matter where they are the feelings and emotions are exactly the same, ok so this time I am not worried for his safety so much but I still ache at the big void that is left.

Communication is very sporadic, in 3 weeks he has called home twice which many keep giving me shocked looks when I tell them, one lady even said "its not world war one its 2015" but it is a myth that because of the technological world we are in we can all face time or Skype our soldiers every night, often it is just not that easy.

The boiler's broken, I cracked a tooth, the TV cabinet fell forward and is now propped up with a door stop, my Little Trooper has been doing amazingly at her sport, my car service light keeps flashing.....and I can't share these things with him. I know so many of you will relate to this.

Its such a strange existence. When he has called its been very brief and the boiler fades into insignificance.

Our Little Trooper is 12 now and as much as I had hoped the older she got the easier she would find it, to a certain extent that is true she can process it better and understands where he is and what he is doing but I still see the pain in her face when good things happen and she wants to share them....and can't.

We are using the write things down and pop in a jar method so we can share everything with him when he does return home, he will then feel like he's not missed out and our little girl will feel like he was part of these few months of her life still.



A great weekend in the national press (Daily Mail article) for the Me & My Soldier calendar we released the wining images and I am so honoured we have such special images in our 2016 calendar! You can pre order your copy here

Have a positive week. Louise xxx

5 Oct 2015

and then there were two.....

Its a miserable Monday morning after a very long, quiet weekend, we are eight days into a period of separation and I have realised just how much I rely on the charity for support when my soldier is away, the Facebook page is a lovely community of people who are all going through the same thing which is so comforting to me right now.

It has been four years since my husband and I have experienced a separation of longer than a couple of weeks so it has been a real adjustment, I am SO bad at goodbyes even after all the practise I have had! I feel sick and become very quiet the day before knowing what is coming and then saying goodbye it doesn't matter where he is going I feel like my heart breaks a bit every time.

Luckily it was very late at night so our Little Trooper was tucked up and woke the next day really positive, I got up the next day feeling strong and determined to not have a black cloud over my week.

Separation is hard, it doesn't matter where your partner going (war or otherwise), how many months your partner is away for...its difficult, emotional and a real test of your resolve.
So many service personnel are away right now for a long time away from their families, its not in the news and you don't always hear about it but its happening and I want to highlight that.
To all those who tell me not so...The charity is NEEDED all the time because separation of British Armed Forces families is ALWAYS happening.

I posted an image on Facebook the day my soldier went away which many liked and shared and commented on because we all know the feeling...


One comment made me cry, lots of very real tears;

"I said goodbye a month ago yesterday and have to wait until 5th Dec to see him again, so far he has missed our sons first word, standing up, clapping his hands, my 21st birthday and our first wedding anniversary today"

I cried because I got it, I've been there. So many things people take for granted and military families have big gaps in their lives where things have been missed, memories are missing, occasions aren't what they should be and bonds with Little Troopers are affected.

If nothing else take away from this blogpost that so many families are separated right now, so many strong women are surviving and so many Little Troopers continue to need the resources the charity provides.

Have a great week, I am going to really try and be strong and put our Little Trooper separation pack to full use! See pack here

Louise xxx