This Life of Mine

I thought I could find one topic to write on, some great little story to tell. But, the last week has been so full that it’s hard to pinpoint one idea. We are at the 3 week mark before deployment. Clay is on leave this week so that we can tie up loose ends and finish projects. Not to mention that it’s great for him to get some “daddy” time in with the kids. But trying to cram a ton of things into a short amount of time ends up being stressful!
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Parenting kids that are away is tough! When they are upset or ill, it’s terrible! I think that anxiety is high because they won’t see Clay before he leaves. I hadn’t given it too much thought. His deployments have been a part of our married life from the start. But the comfort of knowing he’s here, at home, is shattered for the kids that are away and facing his leaving without being able to say good-bye. As a mom, I just want to make it better!
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I’ve been a stay-at-home mom for the last 15 years. I worked, full-time through Kateri and JJ. After crunching the numbers we decided that it wouldn’t pay for me to work with having 3 children. So, after Mariah arrived I stayed home and did child care for a neighbor and made other adjustments so we could live on one income. As the years moved forward, we grew more and more comfortable and eventually were able to put our kids into the schools that they now attend. Over this last year, I’ve spent a good portion of my thinking time, trying to come up with a good idea to be able to stay at home, raising the little ones AND make some $ to help support all this schooling that we have happening. I get frustrated when I think of what it was like when I was growing up and we just went to the local schools. Things have changed so much within schooling.
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On a higher note; a few nights ago Clay and I met a friend for a drink at a local restaurant. We LOVE this place because we’ve gotten to know the owner, love the food and it’s close by. Ok, the sangria doesn’t hurt in our decision making either. It was a great night! It was one of those times when you just feel content to live where you do and love that you see familiar faces when you go out. This is not always the case for military families! There have been plenty of places that we’ve lived that we don’t get to know much of anything. Granted, most people make the most of each duty-station, but when you have several small children and don’t know anyone who can pass along a reliable baby-sitter, you don’t do much. We’ve been fortunate to be here long enough to get to know local people! I love this place!
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Well, it’s a week full of many things and I hope we make the most of it. A lot of good is happening, but it’s mixed with a few trials. ~Sigh~ I suppose that’s life.
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I miss hearing from all of you! When I sit down to write it’s a great feeling to know that my words are read by each of you. It’s been so nice to use “big people” words on a daily basis and not just stick to the routine of the day which often feels like saying the same things over and over day in and day out. I’ve called it “my recording“. So, thank you for making this site a part of your day. It means a lot to know you’re out there!

Good night~

This entry was posted on February 26, 2008 at 2:28 am and is filed under children, encouragement, family life, kids, military, mom, sharing. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response or trackback from your own site.