GUIDE
We just got PCS orders overseas, six or more hours ahead of the grandparents. How do we keep our kids from drifting away from them over the next few years?
By the seenow! teamLast updated:
Plan for two kinds of contact. Pick one fixed weekly call in the few hours when your evening overlaps the grandparents' daytime, and fill the rest of the week with recorded messages each side watches when it suits them. Add mail timed to the military holiday mailing dates and, if possible, a visit from the grandparents.
WHY
Why this happens
A move within the States usually changes how often kids see their grandparents. An overseas PCS also changes when they can talk. Six or more hours apart, the grandparents' free evening is your children's middle of the night, and your after-school hours are their early morning. The easy, unplanned calls that kept a preschooler close tend to disappear first, and a young child who goes weeks without hearing a voice can turn shy on the next call.
Military OneSource's guide to overseas moves points to the same thing for children's friendships: you may be several time zones apart, so find the best time to talk, and keep letters going. Its guide to living overseas adds that the holidays may now mean planned calls or video chats with family back home. The grandparents can stay close. It just takes a little more planning than it did when you lived a few hours' drive away.
The gap also moves during the year. The U.S. and Europe change their clocks on different Sundays, so for a few weeks each spring and fall the difference is an hour shorter than usual.
| Dates | Difference | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Nov 1, 2026 to Mar 13, 2027 | 6 hours | Both on standard time |
| Mar 14 to Mar 27, 2027 | 5 hours | U.S. daylight saving time starts the second Sunday in March; EU summer time waits for the last Sunday |
| Mar 28 to Oct 30, 2027 | 6 hours | Both on summer or daylight saving time |
| Oct 31 to Nov 6, 2027 | 5 hours | EU summer time ends the last Sunday in October; U.S. daylight saving time ends the first Sunday in November |
Source: EUR-Lex: Directive 2000/84/EC on summer-time arrangements / NIST: Local time FAQs
HOW TO
What you can do starting today
Find your overlap window and make one call a fixed ritualNo app needed
Write both clocks side by side and look for a time that is calm on both ends. If you are six hours ahead of Eastern Time, your kids' 6:30 p.m. dinner is the grandparents' 12:30 p.m. lunch, which is often the friendliest slot for both. Grandparents on Pacific Time are three hours further behind, so a 9 a.m. weekend start on their side lands in your early evening. Pick one slot a week and keep it, so the kids know "Sunday is Grandma's call."
Source: Military OneSource: Military Family Overseas PCS Moves
Fill the week with recorded messagesNo app needed
Live calls can't carry the whole relationship across six hours. Ask the grandparents to record short videos during their day, like reading a picture book or showing the garden, so your kids can watch them at breakfast. Have your kids record a reply after school. A message waiting in the morning keeps a voice familiar between calls.
Time mail to the military holiday datesNo app needed
Military OneSource encourages children to write letters, and a card in the mailbox is something a preschooler can hold. If you have an APO, FPO or DPO address, USPS's 2026 holiday dates ask relatives to send Ground Advantage packages by November 4 and First-Class Mail and Priority Mail by December 9. Share those dates with the grandparents every fall, and put next year's in your calendar now.
Source: USPS: Holiday Shipping Dates for 2026, including military mail
Talk about a visit earlyNo app needed
Military OneSource suggests discussing whether relatives could visit, noting that a familiar face can help a child feel at home. Even one visit in the first year gives your kids a memory of the grandparents in their new house, which makes later calls feel less like talking to a screen.
Source: Military OneSource: Military Family Overseas PCS Moves
Keep a holiday tradition with themNo app needed
Choose one tradition you always did together, like decorating cookies or a birthday song, and do it on a planned video call at a time that works on both clocks. Military OneSource notes that families can keep their traditions overseas and add new ones from the local culture, and the grandparents can enjoy those new ones with you.
Source: Military OneSource: Strategies for Living Overseas, or OCONUS
WITH SEENOW!
Doing it with seenow!
seenow! is a private family app where everyone shares a short clip, about 2 seconds a day, with only the people you invite. Because it doesn't need everyone online at once, it suits families split by a big time difference.
- You post a 2-second clip of your kids' day whenever it suits you, and the grandparents watch when it's daytime for them. Each week the clips are put together automatically into a recap video.
- The day's posts from the family stay blurred until you post your own clip for the day, so it works best when the grandparents post too. Then your kids get a small look at Grandpa's morning as well. Clips from earlier days can be watched any time.
- You can send the grandparents an invite link from the app before you move, while you can still help them set it up in person.
What seenow! can’t do
- seenow! has no calls or long videos, so it does not replace the weekly call or recorded bedtime stories.
- It doesn't handle mail or packages, and it can't change the time difference.
Core features are free.
POINT
Things to watch for in this situation
Start before the move, not after
The weeks after a PCS are full. Set up the call slot, the recorded-message habit and the grandparents' phone while you are still in the States, so the routine is already running when you land.
Don't judge it by the first few calls
Young kids are often quiet on calls right after a big move. Keep calls short, and let the grandparents show something, like a pet or a toy, rather than asking a lot of questions.
FAQ
Frequently asked questions
What if there's almost no good overlap, like 13 or 14 hours?
Lean on recorded messages during the week and save live calls for a weekend slot that is early morning on one side and evening on the other. Check both clocks again whenever either country changes its clocks.
Can the grandparents send packages to our APO address like any U.S. address?
Yes. Military OneSource says mail to an APO or FPO address uses standard domestic postage, but plan for longer delivery. For the 2026 holidays, USPS recommends sending Ground Advantage packages to APO, FPO and DPO addresses by November 4, much earlier than for addresses in the States.