Soldier's Wife, Crazy Life

deployments

When Your Daddy Is A Soldier

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When your Daddy is a soldier…things are a little different in your house.

When Your Daddy Is A Soldier

When your Daddy is a soldier. He is not always around when you need him to be. He could miss important events like your birth, your first steps, first words, first day of preschool, first day of kindergarten or anything that Fathers usually come to.

Soldier With his Son

When your Daddy is a soldier, he sometimes has to go away for a very long time. He has to go overseas and help defend our country. He has to do his job and sometimes that means going a long time without seeing him.

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When your Daddy is a soldier you might not always understand why he has to go. You might be too young to understand why Daddy isn’t coming home from work everynight or why it is just Mommy for a while. You might have to ask over and over about when you will see your Daddy again.

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When your Daddy is a soldier, your Mommy works hard to make things fun for you when he is gone. She might take you to get ice cream or the pool or to go see a movie. She has to do it all and she gets sad sometimes too.

When your Daddy is a soldier you have to give up something other kids don’t. You become a little hero because giving up your Daddy for a little bit is a very hard thing to do. It is okay to feel sad about that.

As we prepare for our 4th deployment, I can only think about my children and how it will be for them. They don’t truly understand and I need to be there for them. I will be there to hug them, cry with them and tell them it will be ok. I get to play Mommy and Daddy and step into his shoes when I can. It is hard thinking about it all. Thinking about what they little boys will have to go through.

But days will turn into weeks, weeks into months and it will finally be time for homecoming. My boys will see their Daddy, run into his arms and our family will be whole again.

Multiple Deployments Suck

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Multiple Deployments SuckI have been thinking about writing a post like this for a while. I want to try to put into words how I am feeling about our upcoming 4th deployment. Our 4th deployment since 2006. I have a lot of emotions when it comes to this deployment. It is interesting how different I feel this time. I felt a lot of fear right before our 3rd deployment. I just had such a horrible feeling about it. Luckily my husband went and came back without any injuries.

This upcoming deployment I don’t feel a lot of fear. Not the fear of him getting hurt or worse. I feel frustration and annoyance. I am worried that 9 months of solo parenting will change me. I know that might sound weird. All deployments change you. But this time I am just so worried that it will be so hard and frustrating that when he finally gets home, I will not be the happy Julie I once was. That I will be broken and way too burned out.

I have had people tell me after my husband gets back from a deployment that I look so much happier. That there is just something about my face that changes. I hate the thought of going through that dark period where I have a sad face.

I feel like I can’t give very much right now. I feel bad about that. I quit MOPS and I really don’t want to put myself out there for anything else. Last Wednesday was a very bad day. Very bad. My husband was in the field and my son got sent home from school early. All I could think about was that I would feel like that everyday for 9 months. Now that it is a week later, I can see that it was one bad day and not everyday will be like that. Still I hated that feeling and it just scares me to think that would be the norm for us.

Ever since my first deployment I have been praying for at least a two-year break. We still haven’t had that. When I thought my husband didn’t have to deploy, I was thinking we were finally going to get that. Nope. Not us. Not our family.

I guess I am just frustrated. Frustrated he has to go again.  Frustrated that it is our turn again. Frustrated that I have to handle a special needs kid all by myself. Frustrated with the way things are being handled.

And maybe once he leaves the frustration will lesson. Maybe it is just because we are in that horrible pre-deployment period of time.  It sucks you dry from all the different emotions you are feeling. Maybe once he leaves and we get into the routine of it, things will get better.

I remember when he left in February 2011. I needed to take the boys to get haircuts and it was the second day he had been gone. It was the first time I had ever taken all three out by myself. I was so scared. But after many days and then weeks and then months of doing that, it got a lot easier. What once seemed so scary to me was apart of my normal routine. I am hoping it will be the same way this time. That after he leaves and we get more used to it, it will feel better. That it won’t seem so frustrating and crazy. That is my hope.

The fact is, multiple deployments suck. And I can feel the weight of the last three pressing down on me. I need a break. I need a big long break from this.

And to be honest, writing all this out has been helpful.

Can anyone else relate?