Surviving deployment.
It is a skill that we, the military spouse, are always trying to master, it seems. We asked our amazing Facebook community for their tips for getting through the next one… and you all had some really great advice!
Here is a list of the different ways you can survive your next deployment… what would you add to the list?
1) Get organized… and get into a routine quickly!
2) Be strong, do what you have to do on the home front and make your spouse proud just as they make us proud.
3) Don’t watch the news!
4) Don’t overbook yourself, it will free you up to do spontaneous fun things by yourself or with your kids!
5) Pray, and pray some more.
6) Do what makes life easy for you and the kids and know that it’s OK. You have plenty of time to transition slowly back to “order” later. Give yourself permission for a little organized chaos once in a while!
7) Do not compare your relationship or service members to the others. Just because another service member calls home every day and yours doesn’t means nothing. Your spouse may be busy, may be resting or may not know what to say to you. The lack of talking to you does not mean they do not love you.
8) Count down by weeks not days! Makes it go by faster.
9) Get up, get dressed and go to the gym! The exercise is great for stress and depression.
10) I chose one exciting thing to do every month my husband was gone. That way I had something to look forward to that had a shorter timeline than his return home. It also gave me something fun to share with my husband about that wasn’t related to bills, repairs, work, etc. When my husband returned, I had done 12 fun things for myself.
11) As hard as it is, don’t wish away time too much. Try to make the moment you’re in matter.
12) I dedicate deployment time as a time to reflect and make new goals and finish old goals for myself.
13) Shower and get ready for the day no matter how you lonely or sad you may feel.
14) Keep busy!
15) Doing fun stuff with my kids. Keeping them busy takes all our minds off where he is.
16) We had Sunday night dinners with our battle buddies. It allowed us moms another adult to talk to and it gave our kids a good distraction from dads not being at dinner.
17) Have an emergency fund.
18) Care packages. I would get so lost in making them and decorating the boxes. I enjoyed it and it helped pass the time.
19) Communicate and stay connected with your spouse. It’s a must; you go through it together and not as a single entity.
