Salute to Spouses Blog

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Deployment to do list: more than powers of attorney and tax documents

The deployment checklist is a real thing.

Of course, there’s many things we do before my husband deploys that one would expect. Practical stuff any military command would hope you do, like powers of attorney and getting our taxes filed.

But then there’s the things that you won’t find on any official list.

The things like, “Buy new undershirts and socks,” or “stock freezer with easy-to-defrost-and-reheat frozen meals.”

I always make a trip to the wholesale store with my husband, to load him and us up with snacks, so I’m not braving that grocery trip with my toddlers.

And then there’s the downright crazy, like “touch up paint on walls and doorframes where toddlers have smudged it.”

A few weeks ago, I literally made my poor husband spot-paint all the walls in the living areas from the waist down because if I have to spend four months staring at those smudges only toddlers can leave that no sponge and soap can scrub off - I will go insane.

And trying to paint it myself with those same toddlers’ “helpful” hands?

Yeah, right.  Not happening.

Some other things on that less-than-normal deployment checklist include “shopping for a secret chocolate stash” and “making sure we have our Amazon Subscribe-and-Save set up so we don’t run out of toilet paper, dog food, and popcorn.”

I make sure we have clothes in the next size and season for me and the girls.  We get dresses for any weddings, parties and big family events we are expected to attend.  I refuse to go swimsuit shopping with toddlers in tow, or, really anybody.

I stock up on at-home workout videos.  We record greetings from Daddy he can play when he misses holidays, birthdays, and dance recitals.

I buy an emergency stash of cold medicine, cough syrup, probiotics, ibuprofen, and vitamins, so I’m not running to the drug store with a vomiting child or a migraine.

I make sure I know all the passwords to his e-mail and Facebook profile, as he won’t have access to them while he’s underwater.

And I find silly little joke gifts to shove in his pack – silly putty that comes in a neon-colored plastic toilet, tablets that turn water into bacon-flavored soda, toilet-spray that blocks the bathroom smells and makes it smell of an old-lady perfume – to keep him grinning in the rough months of no contact with us.

It’s funny how important it all becomes.

Silly.  Crazy, even.

But important.

Right up there with the powers of attorney and taxes, in fact.

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