Waiting for Daddy: Rose's Story

Abstract

This digital app was based on some of the findings from the author's PhD thesis entitled 'Young children's understandings and experiences of parental deployment within an Australian Defence Force family' which used the Mosaic Approach (participatory) research to capture the voice of 2-5 year olds in military families in Australia. It contains research-based information in the back pages for parents, educators and family workers. The narrative follows the experiences of two-year-old Rose's family, as they experience various stages of a parent leaving to work away from home for many months. The activities encourage children and families to use practical ways to keep strong connections to the deployed parent and support siblings and the parent at home. It can also be utilised to build empathy of the children's peers and within the general community.