“Reporting for Doodie” Details One Grandmother’s Story of Commitment, Frustration and Unwavering Love.

Long Beach, CA- With our military troops being sent to every corner of the world, more and more caregivers are suddenly being asked to raise and care for our military children.  Family and friends are being called upon to change their lives – often with little notice – to act as caregivers when parents are deployed to foreign lands.  Cases of dual military deployment are on the rise, as more and more troops are being sent abroad to defend our freedom.

What happens to these caregivers can be life-changing.  Grandparents (or sometimes a single grandparent) are often the family members chosen to take on this sometimes daunting task.  Grandparents raising their grandchildren is nothing new.  But a census taken a number of years ago showed that of the millions of grandparents raising their grandchildren (for various reasons), 48% are in a home with both grandparents.  Of the remaining 52%, a whopping 46% are being raised in a home with only their grandmother!  The remaining 6% reside with only their grandfather.    The numbers have increased due to military deployment, but the percentages remain pretty much the same.  Often, the grandparents are elderly and the daily requirements of raising a toddler or a teen proves to be overwhelming, at best.

“Reporting for Doodie:  One Grandmother’s Story of Commitment, Frustration and Unwavering Love” delves into the life-changing challenges of one such single grandmother, while revealing some of the other trials being faced by the members of our armed forces.  Divorce rates are rising, as are suicide rates.  Soldiers who had custody of their children at the time of their deployment are returning home to find that their ex-spouse has taken away those rights because they could not attend the court hearings.  Families and caregivers are being changed by war…some for months…some for over a year…and others – forever – if the deployed troop does not return home.

The book’s author, Judith L. Smith, writes of her own experiences as a result of the dual deployment of her daughter to Africa and her son-in-law to Iraq.  Her story is funny (sometimes very funny), sad and heartwarming all at once, while making the reader really stop and think about this timely and relevant issue facing today’s military families.  Her experience resulted in a reinvention of herself (inside and out) so inspiring that it caught the eye of the producers of the Oprah Winfrey Show, where Judith appeared in a segment on inspiring reinventions.

Readers can submit their own “Reporting for Doodie” story via the book’s website (www.ReportingForDoodie.com) for possible inclusion in future books on this topic by the author.  Plans are being discussed for the author to partner with various media to select the best stories and possibly award gifts such as babysitting services, help with daycare expenses, a much-deserved (and needed) vacation, etc. to deserving caregivers who have gone above and beyond their tour of “doodie”.

The book is available now and can be purchased at www.ReportingForDoodie.com for $19.95 plus shipping and handling.  Contact author:  jlsmith@reportingfordoodie.com for review copies; be sure to include contact info.