Dominique Gallo with Homefront Pumps is here to talk to us about what’s available to military moms with Tricare, including a breast pump and breastmilk storage!
military family
The Power of the Military Spouse Tribe
Seth Godin once said: “A group needs two things to be a tribe: a shared interest and a way to communicate.”
Which makes the United States military family perhaps the largest, most caring, and most diverse tribe in the world, particularly military spouses. Sure, the military may drop you hundreds or even thousands of miles away from your home and family, but they do a really great job of surrounding you with a new one.
This large, extended military family is your tribe, and I encourage you to love them fiercely. And
understand, they will love you back.
It’s Okay to Not Always Like Them
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.
Welcomed Ruckus
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.
Doubling Our Family Overnight
If you were to tell me five years ago that I would be a mother to not only four children, but that my last pregnancy would include triplets, I would have laughed in your face.
The truth is, I struggled to conceive with both pregnancies.
My oldest son, Aaron, was a total surprise. We had tried for nearly four years while I had gone through a variety of treatments for precancerous cells on my cervix, and we found out shortly after moving to Texas and closing on our first home.
SURPRISE!
AWTR Show #752: Military Family Readiness Council
Today we interview Jill Waters from the Military Family Readiness Council. The intent of the MFRC is to strategize and enhance military family readiness.
Finding the Balance: Working From Home with Kids
The pandemic forced a lot of capable people to move from working in an office to working from home. Although I’m grateful to still be getting a paycheck during this time, it has not been an easy transition. However, regardless of the pandemic, I was lucky enough to score a permanent work from home job!
I didn’t account for working from home with kids, but just like I was forced to transition, so were my kids. I went from a working mom and wife, to a working mom and wife plus homeschool teacher (thanks, COVD!).
It wasn’t easy at first.
My patience was tested daily.
But, once we figured out a routine, it was easy peasy moving forward.
Walking the Walk
So there I was, two Christmases ago, sitting at my in-laws’ table at the Iowa farmhouse, reading the local newspaper after the dishes had been washed and put away. All of a sudden, I saw it.
Tucked in among the tractors for sale, current corn and soybean selling rates, rain predictions for that week, and pictures of the prize-winning farm animals, was a small blurb about the Iowa section of the American Discovery Trail, or the ADT—a complete walking/hiking/bicycling trail that runs east to west across the entire United States, from one coast to the other.
Military Spouse Serves as Global Leader
Meet Jill Waters, recently sworn in Military and Family Readiness Council (MFRC) member who is positioned to collaborate, strategize, and meet quarterly in Washington, D.C. for the next two years.
The MFRC is comprised of spouses or parents of service members, higher officials, and service members from each branch of the armed forces to discuss policies, procedures, plans, and initiatives that globally support military families. Meetings are open to the public, and the last meeting of the year holds a vote on which council initiatives to put in place.
Mission: Milspouse is a
501(c)3 nonprofit organization.
EIN Number: 88-1604492
Contact:
hello@missionmilspouse.org
P.O. Box 641341
El Paso, TX 79904