Hey there! So as you know from the last post, assuming you read the last post (If you didn't... lie to me), James is gone for the week, and it's just me, Caylee and Chiquita. So James is off in Port Hueneme for a one week class that should have been taken last year when he was actually selected for promotion, but things don't always happen the way they're supposed to when deployment is a factor.
As any of you military spouses know, deployments have the worst possibly timing. It comes when you're least prepared for it, you know when life is so hectic that you aren't sure which way is up or down. Or in my case whether I need to take Caylee out to potty or the dog to school.
Even those of you who aren't military spouses know that life gets crazy, and when it does we all have to put our heads between our legs and breathe. Okay, maybe that's not the way some of you handle it. I myself handle it with a prozac and a drink. Just kidding! For those of you who have never been through a deployment or a military separation of any kind consider yourself lucky. Now, I'm not saying that your spouses or significant others don't have jobs that take them away for periods of time on occasion. There are lots of jobs that test our family lives.
Clearly, I'm having a hard time getting to the point here. I don't want to offend anyone, or make anyone think that military families have it harder than anyone else because that's not true. So from here on out, I'm getting to the point of this post so put on your big girl and big boy panties and toughen up!
So as I'm coming back in from taking the dog out to potty for the 200th time today while I'm fixing Caylee dinner, doing the laundry, etc.my husband calls and tells me that he's on his way back from a mandatory mixer at the Officer's Club. Are you kidding me? That is information that I would have kept locked up so tight that someone would need security clearance to get to it. Now, I'm not in denial. I know that the military has lots of mandatory social functions, but you NEVER want to tell your spouse this while they're back at home taking care of that end.
Sometimes, we tend to take what we have for granted. We also tend to take what our partners have given up for us for granted. We start thinking that they "owe" that to us. Let's be honest people, no one "owes" us anything. As an member of the military you know that you have to be up for anything at anytime. As a military spouse you have to be ready for the same anything at anytime because let's be realistic the saying is true, "if the military wanted you to have a family, they would have issued you one." The government doesn't care that your wife has been a single parent for the past year and that your kids only see you on skype or in pictures. They have a mission to accomplish to. What the government needs to realize is that without those men and women who make that sacrifice they would be up a creek. What military spouses need to realize is that without those men and women we wouldn't live in the kind of world that we live in. We wouldn't have the same freedoms. And without our spouses who are left behind, those active duty members wouldn't be able to have some of the normal things in life. Without them, life would just stop when deployment rears its ugly head. Okay, so it may not stop, but you would have a lot more to think about before they deploy. Things such as who will take care of your children while you're gone? How will the bills get paid? etc.
So before you take your spouse and their contributions to your family for granted, take a step back and realize that every family member has a purpose. Everyone makes a contribution in their own way, whether that means being the wife/husband that stays at home and takes care of the kids and house or being the spouse that goes off to work every day, etc. Everyone makes a contribution. So next time you think that you have it harder than your spouse, take out a sheet of paper and write down everything that your spouse takes on. You'll find in the end that if you take a step back you can put things into perspective. So appreciate the ones you love and realize that they were put on this earth if for no other reason than to love you that that's pretty awesome!
Stay tuned for more Misadventures of this Military Wife and Dis' Able Mommy!
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