Winter on the East Coast has not been kind to our family.
In the last two months we have been hit with the flu, stomach bugs and every respiratory illness in the book. This is my first cold and flu season with two kids and I am now officially a pro at getting a puking kid to the bathroom while simultaneously using one hand to give a squirmy baby a breathing treatment.
As much as it stinks to not have family nearby to help, I do count my blessings. One perk of my husband being at this school and not in the fleet is that he comes home every night. The days may be long but I am lucky to have him for relief at the end of the day. No matter what kind of day I have, it always seems better knowing he will be home at the end of it.
As anxious as I am for our PCS, I also know these types of days, faced together, will come to an end.
We will be back to combat training, work ups and (gulp) deployment. Late dinners, solo bedtime and loneliness will be my new reality. I have been there before but after a year, it feels foreign to me.
As much as I have joked and complained about the school my husband has been in for the last year, it’s been refreshing to have him home every night and for so long. I am not sure I could have survived the switch from having one kid to two without him here every day.
We had been looking forward to a week of vacation between his graduation and arriving at his new command so we could visit family and settle in at our new home.
However, his new command wants him to start work right away. So our lengthy break has turned into a weekend drive to the new duty station.
What does that mean for my boys and me? We get to sit in an empty house while we wait a week or so for our belongings to arrive. I already have nightmares of the movers showing up while I chase the kids by myself and try to keep track of inventory and conditions of all of our belongings.
My imagination is running wild as I write this. Can you feel my panic yet?
Before I allow myself to go any further, I close my eyes and tell myself to stop. I haven’t even thought of what is for dinner tonight (it’s 4:30pm) and I am worried about things two months away that I have no control over.
I know better than this - I can only focus one day at a time.
Tonight my husband will be home for dinner, he will get to play cars with his boys and help with our nighttime routine. Tonight, I am not alone.
I have to remember to stay in the moment. I have no idea what changes this new move will bring but I do know what the next few weeks will be like: I have my family together each night.
Moving is stressful, military or not. But I can’t stress yet. I need to focus on right now. At the end of the day, and all the challenges that arise, we will get through it. We always do.
