It is that time again in my household, the dreaded "D" is in full force as my husband has departed for his third deployment in five years. It's never an easy thing to deal with and we all cope differently. I find as the wife of a reservist we have different struggles. My husband has yet to deploy with his unit, and is always cross-leveled out to a unit from another state. That leaves the camaraderie of a FRG (Family Readiness Group) pretty much out of the question. Since we are also geographically separated from many Army units, the closest people who can understand are Air Force wives. They thankfully have been very accepting of me, but I find they don't always understand either as their deployments are usually 4-6 months versus the year or longer that my husbands is. When it comes down to it though, every persons deployment challenges, length location are all different and all still a challenge for that person! When we were away at a Strong Bonds retreat last week (more to come on that later) another wife nailed it, I am pretty numb still in regards to this deployment. It's a fact of life, I can't change it so I am just getting through it!
When my husband leaves I always try and find something to keep myself busy. I usually end up leaving my job because the cost of daycare and the extra toll on my kids just isn't worth it. The first deployment I was working on my Bachelors Degree. The second deployment I decorated and renovated my house. This deployment I think I decided to work on me and getting into shape. Depending on his return (there is always talk about the dreaded extension word too) we may plan on renewing our vows, since we never had a real wedding. That definitely should keep me busy, it also goes hand in hand with the weight loss!
I also find that I tend to overcompensate with my children. We go out and do more to distract them from what is missing. I think if anything I do it to distract myself from what is missing. One of my favorite things to do is look for memberships to places on the deal websites like groupon, livingsocial, etc. My goal is to go out and do one special thing a week with the kids. The memberships (which were discounted) help offset the costs of all those activities!
I have lots of little tidbits coming soon on different programs available to deployed spouses, some I have used, some I haven't. So stay tuned for upcoming information to help you and yours!
If you ever have any questions find me on facebook and ask away!
No comments:
Post a Comment
Please keep all comments respectful!