One of the first ideas I came across while preparing for deployment was a deployment countdown jar. I started by filling a jar with Hershey kisses (hence the "kisses") - one kiss for each day your loved one is gone. We obviously don't have enough room to hold a piece of candy for each day (x2 because each of the boys get one) so I fill it up every couple days so they don't see the level going down. It'll be REALLY exciting once we're counting down our last few weeks because we'll actually see the candy level disappear!
Once we moved, unpacked and got situated I set up the jar. I explained the concept of the jar to our boys who nodded in excitement about the thought of getting a piece of candy every night. Considering they're only 4 and 2 years old I can't imagine they really comprehend the idea. The original plan was to get a "kiss" from daddy every night after dinner. I was surprised when we went to get their first piece of candy. I picked up our 2 yr. old so he could reach in and choose his kiss on his own. When I took the lid off, little man raised his hand to his mouth and blew a kiss into the jar before choosing his chocolaty treat. Our 4 yr. old then followed in his steps...
Hershey's was nice enough to give us milk chocolate and the NEW air delight kisses to help us get our Kisses From Daddy jar started. I've always been in love with the regular milk chocolate kisses, but was pleasantly surprised when I tried the air delights. It was like my favorite chocolate kiss, but lighter! My oldest son asked me where we got the "fun" Hershey's kisses from and all I could do was smile and laugh to myself. We all love the cute little kisses and the boys look forward to them every night after dinner (and I look forward to them when the boys are in bed).
