This month we celebrated my son’s second birthday, as well as the soon-to-be new addition to our family.
We took advantage of the Martin Luther King, Jr. holiday weekend and celebrated both occasions the same day. Though they were both early celebrations, it’s tiring being eight months pregnant and traveling, along with planning a birthday party, while also getting ready for another newborn.
My firstborn and I have a special bond, although it isn’t an uncommon one in military life. He came into the world while my husband was at basic training; I became both a military spouse and a mom in a matter of weeks.
Join the AWN Core Team and featured guest, Jollytologist Allen Klein, as they discuss his book “The Secrets Kids Know That Adults Oughta Learn.”
Join the AWN Core Team and featured guest, Colleen O’Grady, as they discuss 7 ways to challenge your teenager’s brain. Colleen O’Grady is a licensed marriage and family therapist who will detail the two major processes that change a teenager’s brain, and how you can help your teenager develop his/her brain to its full potential.
It’s inevitable. At some point, the service member will deploy, embark on a temporary duty assignment, or leave to spend time in the field. It’s often difficult on our military kids, especially the younger ones who aren’t sure how to process the information. In addition, military children are often separated from extended family like grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins.
When my husband and I moved to Germany during our last PCS, it was a serious transition for our children. We had lived within two hours of my side of the family, and I think we all got used to that nearness.
We moved halfway across the world and now the children didn’t get to physically see our extended family in person nearly as often. To make matters worse, my husband was set up with a rotational training unit and often left for the field for extended periods.
Finding time for yourself, especially when you’re the parent of young children, can sometimes be difficult. There’s laundry to be done, messes to be cleaned, and blogs to be written. Even at the end of the day, when the kids are in bed and you might have an hour to enjoy your favorite late-night television show or play a game, the list of things that still need to be done may still be weighing on your mind. This is what has become known as “the mental load.”
Join Crystal Niehoff and Elizabeth Rains, along with special guest, Grey Zachary, as they discuss the challenges of being a blended family in the military.
We all want to leave positive footprints for our children to follow in, something they can carry forward with them in life. One footprint that seems to run through our military families is volunteering. Where there is a parent who volunteers, there tends to be a child who’s either in tow or volunteers themselves.
In a normal year, military installations will submit hundreds of thousands of volunteer hours. There are Volunteer of the Month, Quarter, and Year, and Service Member awards. Behind all of that, there are hours that are never submitted or recognized, but our children see them.
A little more than a year ago I had my son—my first child. Not only did I become a mother the moment he was born, he became a military child. I became the parent of a military child.
It isn’t always something you think about, but when the reality of your situation in a military family comes to the forefront of your daily life, it’s hard to ignore.
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