A couple of days ago, Scott and I discovered that we can do a one-way video chat. I have a webcam here (actually, it’s Beanie’s, a gift from her amazing godmother), but Scott doesn’t have one there, so during his first weeks in California we were just using iChat to type at each other. Then we discovered we could do an audio chat, which is pretty much the same as talking on the phone, but hey, it leaves both hands free—so we can type at each other AND talk at the same time. Ooh, the excitement!
And now, when our separation is (oh frabjous day!) fiiiinally drawing to a close, we have discovered that DUH, since I *do* have a webcam here, I can use it to let him SEE me while we’re talking and typing. I can’t see him, of course (and wah), but it’s really all about the kids anyway. HE CAN SEE HIS CHILDREN. He can talk to them and watch them laugh when he says obnoxious things. He can shout, "BOY!" and watch Wonderboy’s eyes light up. The kid just about chokes with excitement, and the way he signs "Daddy" over and over again, I’m afraid he’s going to gouge a hole in his forehead.
Scott has a hard time seeing the baby, though. She has grown so much. It’s been over a month since he saw her. When she laughs into the camera, I can hear his voice crumple.
But he likes to see the rest of the kids. One morning he asked me to leave the v-chat open for a while after we’d finished talking, with the camera aimed at the middle of the room, just so he could feel like he was home for a little while.
"It’ll be like my own personal African watering-hole wildcam," he said. Ha! I always knew I lived in a zoo.
Another room with a zoo.
I’ve felt so bad for your husband! The baby is gorgeous. I’m so happy you will be reunited soon.
..”just so he could feel like he was home for a little while” oh, Lissa, it breaks my heart. I am so glad you all will be back together soon. God Bless!
My husband travels pretty incessantly, and we love our webcam. It’s a way for my girls to see him and feel more connected than just talking by phone. So even though the separation stinks, I’m so glad for these 21st century inventions!
I used to leave the camera on when my beloved was deployed. Sometimes, he’d watch us for an hour, and I’d be careful to keep everyone happy and in sight. Other times, he’d just go. It’s hard to be apart from the ones you love.
When my oldest was a baby, he deployed to Korea for a year, and she couldn’t remember him when he returned. Knowing that was going to happen again, he carefully avoided forming an attachment with our youngest baby, now two. That broke my heart, because I knew why he was doing it, but I don’t think it made it any easier for him to come home to her. And now, we are up for round three, with another baby due in February and another deployment looming in the summer. Just thinking about it makes me cry, so I’d better not.
I’ll say some prayers for your family over the next month as you pack up, relocate and get reacquainted. I know how stressful it all is!
I too used a webcam when my husband was deployed. Our fourth child was born while he was gone and that first day home from the hospital, we got connected and I held her up for him to “meet” her. It was awful!
I’m glad it will all be over for you soon!