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.
This might actually surprise those of you that know me, because I’m a generally outgoing and funny gal, with a pretty positive attitude even in crappy situations.
But are you ready for a secret? Here goes…
During the course of a typical day, I will think about and plan for horrible scenarios that will likely never, ever happen.
No, no, no. Not like that!
In my previous blog, I mentioned that I cannot drive.
That’s a big deal in the over-16-year-old circles, yes, but it is even more so when you are a military spouse.
Your spouse deploys, goes to the field, or heads to a training school…
Okay. Now what?
I distinctly remember the first time my dad chose to use a moment as a teachable moment.
I’m sure there were others, but I vividly remember when I was 6 or 7 years old and had a piece of gum or a lollipop in the car. I took the wrapper, cranked down the window (it was all hand power in the old days) and flippantly tossed the wrapper out onto the street. I’m sure I didn’t know any better (it was the early ’80s after all), but my dad caught me.
I don’t know about you, but the weeks leading to the upcoming school year were stressful.
Somewhere between the mad dash of shopping for supplies with nothing but empty shelves at the stores, because “oh, school is actually happening,” and trying to prepare my 7-year-old for his new normal for school, it was a nightmare.
The whole house felt it—even the toddlers were oddly on edge, constantly fighting with each other and not getting along. When the madness within the house reached an all-time high, I soon realized that I can love my children with every single ounce of my being, but I do not have to like them.
Not even a little bit at that moment.
Done. With a sigh of relief and purse full of snacks and entertainment in hand, my four boys and I finally went back to mass this past Sunday for the first time since COVID-19 took over our lives this past March. Needless to say, I was anxious about attending an event with so many people concentrated in one place, but was assured by our padre, Father John, that every precaution was taken to ensure the health and safety of parishioners was at the forefront of newly implemented COVID protocols.
If there is one thing in this crazy new world norm that I miss the most, it’s the ability to hop on a plane, jump into my car (road trip!), or cruise across large bodies of water to discover somewhere new.
Anyone who knows me also knows that sitting in one place too long makes me jumpy. I like adventure and new experiences. I want to meet new people and discover weird facts. I’ve made it to four of the seven continents, and my travel bucket list is long enough to cover the next 30 years of my life!1.
Can you imagine that quarantine life has been hard?
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