One of the most important parts of supporting your service member as they serve our country is “holding down the fort” (See also: running a smooth, loving, and supportive home life for you and your family, while keeping all things going in your service member’s absence). Easy peasy, right? Sometimes, not so much.
With this category, we cover everything behind the scenes, such as organization, communication, marriage, parenting, overcoming trials, and just some good ole fashioned humor.
Join us as we embark on figuring out the home-life balance as a milspouse and find ways to thrive and excel! No matter what your life at home looks like, one of our Experience Bloggers or Command Team members has probably been in a similar situation and is here to share their triumphs, lessons, and laughs along the way.
There’s just something so special about this time of year. It’s true, fall is my favorite season, even when it’s slow to show up here in El Paso. I love the cooler temperatures, the beginning of the holidays, and the promise of fresh joy on the horizon.
This is a time of year that many of us press into generosity, hope, and gratitude.
Happy November! I wrote those two words before I had a fully-formed idea for writing this particular piece, as this sentiment is becoming my trademark for November writing. I thought a little bit about why November is happy and what I might share. The choices are as bountiful as a Thanksgiving feast—many of us don’t have to rack our brains too much to find a reason for November to be happy. We’re generally feeling pretty festive and thankful at this time of year and that often ties into happiness.
A few weeks ago, I painfully overheard three middle school moms discussing the mistreatment of one of their children being accused of bullying: horrified because the school had called the parents to report the incident, angry because their child had been reprimanded and called into the Vice Principal’s office, and reluctant to pause and reflect how discrimination could be classified as bullying.
My heart beat gained momentum, and I instantly felt a sadness for many reasons.
First, because the conversation was one-sided and lacked empathy.
Second, this is the 21st century where consequences for bad behavior have seemed to shift to a collaborative process which stunts growth.
And finally, because the nameless victim was my son, who has systemically received some form of bullying on and off during his entire student career.
I love a good debate, but when it comes to one topic, there seems to be a hard line drawn, and very few stand in the gray area and survive.
A huge pile of candy with skeletons and rubber spider rings sits in a bowl on the dining room table. The cobwebs are ripped from the bushes and tombstones pulled up from the ground to be replaced…but by what? Is there a cornucopia of gourds on the table or do you deck the halls with boughs of holly?
Are you a Thanksgiving die-hard or a Christmas whovillian?
In 2024, Vermont will recognize the 300th anniversary of the first continuous European settlement that was built in what would eventually become Vermont.*
During those 300 intervening years, many houses have been built with generations living and dying— sometimes dying within those actual houses. It is quite uncommon in Vermont for your home to only have two digits in its age. Saying your home is 100 years old makes your home the youngster on the block. When my wife and I bought our first home, long before deciding on a military life, we chose a two-story 125-year-old duplex. It was located in a small village, and many years previously had been a restaurant as well as an apothecary, among other things.
Oh, the history this home could tell if it could talk.
Happy autumn, AWN! Whether you spent the summer navigating the uncharted waters of a pandemic PCS or spent it having socially-distanced BBQs, we have finally crossed the threshold into autumn. Now is the time for cooler weather, pumpkin patches, and cozy chats around warm fires.
But as the ever-pragmatic Ned Stark used to say, “winter is coming.”
Under normal circumstances, winter brings to mind the joys of the holiday season and spending lots of time indoors living our best hygge lives. Unfortunately, 2020 has been anything but normal.
Mission: Milspouse is a
501(c)3 nonprofit organization.
EIN Number: 88-1604492
hello@missionmilspouse.org
P.O. Box 641341
El Paso, TX 79904