Suggestions for Welcoming Your Soldier Home

Welcoming a soldier home from deployment can bring on a ton of emotions. The most important element of the homecoming is ensuring the soldier is comfortable by making things as normal as possible. Here are some suggestions for welcoming your soldier home.

• Stock the fridge full of the soldiers’ favorite foods. Being in a combat zone especially does not provide for the luxury of eating all the foods one is used to. Having these at their disposal, and enjoying their favorite meal will make the soldier feel more at home.

• Plan lots of quiet time away from everyone. A walk in the park, a picnic, even movie night on the couch can mean so much. Your soldier will want to get his/her mind off of being away for so long.

• If you plan to have some sort of party or celebration include the solider in your plans. Sometimes a soldier may not want a celebration, especially if it’s a surprise. Some may only want a small, intimate gathering. Their thoughts and opinions are valid during the planning process.

• Be supportive. Take your soldier’s feelings into consideration when dealing with certain topics and leave some topics off limits. Understand that they may not want to talk about what they went through if they were deployed to a war zone. Don’t be too pushy. Give them time to decompress and go as far as they want with certain topics.

• Have fun! This time should be enjoyable for both you and the soldier. Try to avoid anything that may be negative and take pleasure in spending time together.
  
  ** “Coming Home” airs Sundays at 10 pm/9c on Lifetime. The powerful all-new reality series features U.S. soldiers’ surprise family reunions after serving long tours of duty on behalf of the country, pays tribute to American armed forces personnel and their families.