title: Daddy Misses Kisses and Candy at War: Help for Young Boys and Girls Missing Daddy
author: Kathy Barnes
description: About the Authors Our two authors have the credentials and personal experience to write this book. Kathy Barnes, Ph.D., whose son served as captain in the JAG Corps in Iraq, is a licensed marriage and family therapist and pastoral counselor. She was also an adjunct faculty member of the University of Georgia. She was a listener and encourager for her daughter-in-law, Jody, and her three-year-old granddaughter, Cora, when her son was gone. She leads a military family support group and believes that parents need to talk about feelings with very young children. "Even before children start using language, parents can say, "You're crying loudly. You must feel mad or sad. Mommy will hold you and we'll talk about it." "Avoiding feelings makes behaviors worse." Jody Berg's husband, Captain Ed Berg, serves in the Third Infantry Division in Georgia. She is mom of three-year-old Cora and nine-month-old Charis, who was born while Ed was in Iraq. "Charis means Charity," Jody explains. "People were so kind to us while Ed was gone. We couldn't have gotten through those ten long months without them." She is active in two military support groups, the JAG support group for the Third Infantry Division, and the Special Troops Battalion family readiness group. She also is active in her local church and writes a newsletter for mothers of preschoolers.
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  _**Safe With Me**_
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  ## Book Five in the With Me
  
  
  ### **in Seattle Series**
  
  
  
  
  
  **Kristen Proby**
  
  
  This novel is dedicated to my own
  
  
  hero, my husband, Sgt. Alvin Proby. I
  
  
  love you, soldier.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  ## Prologue
  
  
  “Why do we have to go to daddy’s
  
  
  house?” Maddie asks from the back seat
  
  
  of my SUV, her small arms crossed over
  
  
  her chest, holding her dolly tightly
  
  
  against her and her face scrunched in a
  
  
  scowl.
  
  
  “Because it’s Thanksgiving,” I reply
  
  
  patiently. “Your daddy wants to see you
  
  
  for the holiday.”
  
  
  “I don’t want to go,” Josie joins in,
  
  
  mirroring her twin sister’s pose, and I
  
  
  sigh deeply, scrubbing my hands over
  
  
  my face as I wait for the light to turn
  
  
  green.
  
  
  “It’s only until Saturday,” I remind
  
  
  them while doing my best to ignore the
  
  
  pit in my stomach. I don’t want them to
  
  
  go either. Their dad only sees them on
  
  
  holidays or their birthday, if he shows
  
  
  up at all. Of course they don’t want to go
  
  
  stay with him.
  
  
  They do