I started this blog to blog about us. To blog about what I like, what I don’t like and whatever else I felt like talking about. It was then I realized that I had gone so long without really talking about my military life, that when the time came to talk about it I wasn’t sure what to say. You start to feel disconnected from your Military Life when you don’t have a military community. We are going on 10 years in the military….wow, I can’t believe it….and I’ve never lived on our less than 2 hours away from a base, fort, post or anything else for that matter. Now I have done an occasional TDY where we lived on base for a couple months. I loved every second ot it. I loved the reveille in the morning (our TLC was near the barracks) and the National Anthem at night. I loved all the things that I didn’t have….the commissary, the exchange, the thrift store, the library and my list could go on and on. I wasn’t really on there long enough to make friends, and I was pregnant with our first child, so I didn’t a child to participate in any programs in or have an immediate connection to anyone…but nonetheless I loved it. I imagined what it would be like to do all those things. I imagined that I would love it.
Military life can be hard, it is a lot of the time. There are days when I’m over it. But it is also a great honor to serve my country by standing behind my husband and the rest of the men and women that protect us and keep us safe. I’m proud to be a Military Wife for sure. Now, being a National Guard wife is a special thing in and of itself. Then you add the fact that you are full-time National Guardsman’s wife…well, throw me for a loop! Its kind of like when talking to someone and you say that your husband is in the Air Force and they say, “Oh, what kind of plane does he fly?” Or, when you say your husband is in the Navy and they say, “oh does he go on a ship or a submarine all the time?” People say those things and I chuckle a little bit inside. I have a friend whose husband is in the Navy and he is in no way shape or form associated with a ship or submarine. And it wasn’t until recently that my husband was involved with planes. Oh, he’s gone a lot but no plane flying here. My husband gets up every day and goes to work in his uniform and twelve (if I’m lucky, lol) hours later comes home. You know those bumper stickers that say, “One weekend a month, two weeks in the summer my a**;” yeah, that’s my life. It has been for almost 10 years. I have a great series coming up in the next month talking about the usual lives of Military s/o’s and I’m so excited to talk about the less than ordinary in the already really unordinary. But the real purpose of this for now is to tie together with the Month of the Military Child. There are so many amazing things that the military does for children, and I mentioned them in another post that I made that you should check out here.
I think its been more hard form me then it is for them. They are pretty young still and have a minimal understanding of the “Military Life”. Their friends are whoever is at the playground,with a few exceptions of course. But like I said, its harder on me then it is them. No military kids to play with, no kids to experience deployment with, no family programs to put on events for us, no mommy’s night. I’m sure you can see that all these things can apply to me. But, like I said, harder for me then them. As a result I’ve become creative, but I’ve also been blessed with a great group of girlfriends at our last duty station. The girls at my church and my mom’s group were my Family Programs and my mommy’s night out. They were my shoulder to cry on. On top of that there are so many online resources. Our Military Kids provides amazing things for National Guard families in similar situations, with family members deployed. Sometimes I wish there was a little more available to us, especially within the Air National Guard. For some reason we just aren’t up on that kind of stuff like the Army National Guard, with the Yellow Ribbon Programs and stuff. They are available but you have to hunt for them more.
What are you experiences with your kids and the military? Are you on or near a base?
