“(Adults) have the skills and tools to talk about how we feel,” Wojcik said. “These little guys and girls, they don’t have those kind of skills. They act out, and they do things differently. You have to be very cognizant of what’s going on with them.”

To help children such as Maxwell deal with the separation, the MSU Extension program offers Operation: Military Kids, a national program with 4-H Youth Development, which helps children ages 5-18 cope with having a parent deployed.

The group was recognized last Friday by Gov. Rick Snyder when he signed a proclamation making April the Month of the Military Child.

Ken Silfven, Snyder’s deputy press secretary, said the governor appointed the month for military children through the combined efforts of Operation: Military Kids and Barbara Levin, wife of U.S. Sen. Carl Levin, D-Mich.

“One of the most meaningful ways that we can support our service men and women is to make sure the needs of their families are met,” Silfven said. “People forget that the scarifies of military service fall on children as well.”

B’Onko Sadler, an associate program leader for the MSU Extension and the state liaison for Operation: Military Kids, said more than 19,000 children in Michigan have parents who serve in the military.

“Kids deal with pressure of being a kid,” Sadler said. “Going to school couples with having to worry about a parent who has been deployed, which adds more stress and causes a lot of confusion for kids.”

To help the children deal with the stress, the program provides different curriculum for each stage of the deployment — predeployment, during deployment and post-deployment. Wojcik said through the program Maxwell received a pillow made by another military child. He has a memory box to save things in throughout the year his father is gone. The curriculum sessions have taught him how to express his emotions with others.

The program also works to spread awareness of families with a member serving, Sadler said.

“Sometimes they don’t even know that military people are living next door to them,” Sadler said. “They think, because we don’t have bases here, we don’t have any military personnel.”

Michigan is considered a “red state” — one with a high number of deployments, Sadler said. He himself is in the Army Reserve and is expecting a child.

“It makes me look at my military career differently,” he said.

Maxwell said he thought it was “pretty cool” Snyder recognized military children during the month of April. But what Maxwell said he really is excited for is his dad’s expected return early next month.

“There’s no wrestling,” Maxwell said. “I miss making s’mores with him.”