Hurry Up and Wait

My favorite saying as a military wife is "Typical Military, Hurry Up and Wait"

For OPSEC reasons (Operation Security) we can't go into much detail, but we are down to counting on our fingers the days until Daddy gets home. Of course that date has changed SEVERAL times and I always say to my in-laws, "I am telling you the date your son is coming home and now that I have told you, expect it to change." Ah... breathe in, breathe out. There is nothing you can do about, so no use fretting over it.

We are busy cleaning, shopping, making signs and picking out our "Welcome Home" dresses. The girls are getting antsy and our minds are busy thinking about Daddy so we can't sleep. I think we are all walking around with a little more spring in our step. I pray adrenaline will get us through.

This weekend the girls and I had a great opportunity to get together with other Air Force families going through this deployment too. We all expressed the pain of the "Hurry Up and Wait" syndrome.

These get togethers are much needed. Many times people think connecting virtually is great, but face time with each other is so beneficial for military families and specifically children. I think it is amazing how there are always kids my daughters ages for them to connect with and there is so much useful information about coping that us adults share with each other. I have been a military wife for 10+ years and I still learn something from my peers every time we get together.

I want to suggest to anyone who knows of a military family who is going through a deployment and they feel alone to encourage them to get involved with their FRG or with another military family in their community. To those in the military, encourage and support military families to get together and build relationships with each other.