With a glance at his mom, Trent steps up to the glossy world map on his bedroom wall.

B次元官网网址淲hereB次元官网网址檚 dad right now?B次元官网网址� Roxanne asks her five-year-old.

Trent moves a thumbnail-size picture of the navy warship his dad, Leading Seaman Justin Mill, is currently sailing on, and places it just off the coast of Vancouver Island.

B次元官网网址淩ight there,B次元官网网址� he says confidently.

Throughout the six years they have been married, Mill has been away for weeks or months at a time, leaving much of the household and parenting responsibilities to Roxanne.

B次元官网网址淎 couple of days ago (Trent) said his stomach and throat hurt, and then he would say B次元官网网址業 miss my dad. I want my dad,B次元官网网址橞次元官网网址� Roxanne says.

B次元官网网址淚 understand and IB次元官网网址檓 trying to keep a smile on my face because I donB次元官网网址檛 want him to see how bad I want his dad home too.B次元官网网址�

ThatB次元官网网址檚 why she cheered inwardly when the Esquimalt Military Family Resource Centre launched Raising Your Military Child on its website Wednesday, the first online tool developed for military parents in Canada.

Roxanne says the bilingual service offers military families B次元官网网址� especially parents B次元官网网址� a beacon of hope.

B次元官网网址淚tB次元官网网址檚 a great resource for someone who might not want to go and seek out information,B次元官网网址� she says, adding that it will also appeal to newcomers to the military lifestyle. B次元官网网址淭his way we do it from the privacy of our own homes.B次元官网网址�

After a year in development the tool offers a wide selection of tips, tools and information about what children may be experiencing when a parent is deployed, or the family is moved to another military base.

The service is ideal for nearly 15 per cent of military families that live more than a 30-minute drive from one of the three MFRCs in Colwood and Esquimalt, says Linda Scott, Esquimalt MFRC program manager

B次元官网网址淒uring a deployment...they may be home and the children are in bed and they just have questions,B次元官网网址� says Scott, who helped developed the tool.

B次元官网网址淚f IB次元官网网址檓 not feeling so stranded and so alone, I am happier,B次元官网网址� Roxanne says. B次元官网网址淚 know that makes it easier for (Justin).B次元官网网址�

Raising Your Military Child is available at www.esquimaltmfrc.com.

emccracken@vicnews.com