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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.

Creating a Mom-Guilt-Free New Year

Creating a Mom-Guilt-Free New Year

by | Jan 2, 2020 | , , ,

The weary woman glanced around her house and sighed. With the holiday season officially over, she was at a loss for what to do with her family for the next couple of months. Christmas movies had been played and replayed and new toys had already become too familiar, but the kids were driving her crazy… so the woman wracked her brain for some kind of creative inspiration.

Limited options, however, made creativity hard. January meant no overspending because she and her husband had already agreed to stick to a strict budget and focus on saving. Sporadic trips to the movie theater, drives to the city, and visits to the children’s museum were supposed to be out of the question.

But while she stood there, feeling helpless and at a loss, Mom-Guilt reared its big, ugly head and nagged at her. You can’t just stay home, you need to give the kids experiences. You’ve got to push past your limit of too tired, you’ve got to spend money in order for your family to enjoy life. She could hear it, but she shook her head and ignored it for just a bit longer…

And that’s when she saw it. The pile of barely touched board games on the dining room table. Maybe, she thought.

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A Toast: To a New Year and You

A Toast: To a New Year and You

by | Jan 1, 2020 | , , ,

Today we all woke up with 365 new days ahead of us. Happy New Year!

I like to start each year off in my pajamas. I’m talking about a pj party all day long.

This party of mine includes lots of leftovers from the holidays that my family can munch on (so I don’t have to cook!), piles of cookies and treats, a fresh notebook with no writing in it, my favorite orange pen, a warm sherpa throw, crackling logs in the fireplace, and a lot of reflection on the past year.

2019.

I’ve heard from a number of people that they are looking forward to the end of last year. It’s almost like with the clash of pots and pans, the flash of fireworks in the sky, a glass of champagne, and a midnight kiss, all their troubles will end. All the negatives were left in the past and the future suddenly looks bright.

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Finding Joy in the Midst of a Holiday Deployment

by | Dec 27, 2019 | , , ,

I don’t know about you, but there’s something about Christmas that restores a child-like fun and excitement. I look forward to the smells of baked goods, the Christmas music, and myriad twinkling lights adorning homes and trees during the holidays. I love watching the wonder of Christmas through my children’s eyes.

It truly is a magical time of the year.

If I had my way, deployments and Christmas just wouldn’t go together. But they can and they do—unfortunately, for many of us. It’s a time of love, connection, giving, and family. But how can you maintain that feeling of love, joy, and connection when the person you love the most is not there?

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More Manageable New Year’s Resolutions

by | Dec 22, 2019 | , , ,

Looking forward to a New Year often includes making New Year’s resolutions. Mid-December, I get all optimistic and create lists of things I want to accomplish in the New Year. It’s so easy to dream big in the middle of all the holiday magic. Then, the New Year rolls around and without all the cheerful holiday décor, the gloomy winter days start to drain all that built up holiday magic. I don’t know about you, but it never seems to fail that by mid-January, I’ve already hit a slump for a good chunk of those goals and am spiraling toward defeat.

What if there was a way to help make those New Year’s resolutions more manageable?

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Making Space at the Table

by | Dec 21, 2019 | , ,

When I was in high school, I used to pride myself on how filled the calendar pages of December were—events and deadlines coordinated by color. Busy equaled success and accomplishment.

But now, as I look at my calendar for December, I realize just how quickly January and 2020 are approaching and 2019 slipped through my grasp. All of the events and deadlines on my calendar no longer fill me with pride, but rather with an unwanted desire for this season to be over so I can simply move on to the next (hopefully) less busy season (spoiler alert: it won’t be less busy).

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The Benefits of Family Traditions

by | Dec 19, 2019 | , ,

“We are what we celebrate,” Meg Cox writes.

Our traditions are an outward expression of our family identity. The traditions we observe and the meaning behind them communicator family values to our children and others. The types of traditions we teach our children, and that were taught to us as children, are one way our family values get passed down from one generation to the next. For example, a family that values community service may have a tradition of volunteering at a soup kitchen or food bank together.

The scary thing is we teach our children about our family identity all the time by the activities we engage in as a family. Worried about the message that gift-centric traditions might be communicating to your children? Start a gratitude tradition! That is why intentionality in observing traditions is so important; without it, you forfeit your power to forge your family’s own identity. However, what makes traditions effective is that they bring together the family, foster connection, and have a purpose, and you get to chose that purpose.

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