My hubby is currently away and has another five more months before he returns. I only have three children, but I can tell you the ONE thing that I would love, love, LOVE is silence and a nap. I want to be able to lay down in my bed without having to hear my older girls fighting or the little man getting in to something he shouldn't be in. I want to not feel guilty for closing my eyes and forgetting the world while I rest my exhausted body.
If that's not something you can do, offering to take her kids because of your crazy schedule, how about facial interaction with your friend? I'd LOVE some adult face-to-face interaction. I miss talking to an adult and having adult conversations. I'm tired of hearing about cars, airplanes, trains, etc. Sure I can "talk" online to my online friends, but I miss physically moving my mouth and seeing someone's reaction to a joke or when they are telling me something that is bothering them. I get to talk to my husband every once in a while, but when I do, since it's a morale call, there's always feedback, clicks from someone listening or he just seems SO FAR AWAY with his sound/voice. I want a hug from someone who doesn't feel "forced" or "obligated" to hug me because they feel sorry for what's going on in our lives. I want that genuine hug of someone who's happy to see me and spend time with my kids and myself. I want someone to physically tell me, "you aren't alone, we are here with you" and rejoice as I count down my days.
But if you are looking for something physical to buy, I recommend a face/sleep mask to block the shadows and distractions out of the room while you are laying in a quiet bedroom missing your loved one. Another thing I recommend is Lavender, Peppermint, Orange or En-R-Ge oils. Every night before bed, I put lavender and peppermint on and I feel relaxed and more likely to fall asleep faster than without. In those early mornings, especially with school starting and our day begins at 6am, I use Orange or En-R-Ge for an instant "I can get through this morning" feeling!! The oils might be a little expensive since you said your budget isn't much, but the face mask costs $2.00 at WalMart and has done wonders with making you feel not so alone at night.
Depending on the age of the children, one of the things we did with one of my husband's deployment was made a foam craft (the thinner ones) and wrote the date and initial on it before mailing it back and forth to one another. At the end of his deployment, there were a lot of dates on each of the children's stars. In the middle of his deployment, one of our stars got lost in transit so we made another one--there was about two months of no dates for her. However, one of my daughters has two stars because the first lost star came back to us the last month of his deployment!! But that was a neat token that both of our kids experienced and have a treasure from that deployment.
