Wake Up Call: My Volunteer Work Is At Home

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When I was making lists of what I would do to help this deployment year go by quickly, one thing I really wanted to do was get involved in some military volunteer organizations. I imagined myself at our local airport USO caring for traveling military members and families, or the VA hospital just up the road from our home. I wanted to adopt a soldier, send care packages to soldiers, do whatever I could to support the troops.

I learned fairly quickly that taking care of our deployed family was going to be all I could handle and more and that I needed to learn to be okay with that. Like so many things on my list of things I would do during deployment to help pass the months, I realized I already had my hands full taking care of myself and our little one and most importantly our Daddy. I had no idea the additional stresses we would face as a family and that I would face as a wife, how I would be sick more often than normal and what caring for our little one full-time alone would be like.

I hadn't thought about that fact that not only would she be growing taller while Dad was gone, but she would go through all sorts of changes in behavior, knowledge and more that I would have to learn to adapt to and parent for. I didn't account enough for how much more of me she would need with Daddy gone. I realized recently that all the discipline tools that her Dad and I have used so effectively over the past three or four years are suddenly obsolete because she has suddenly gone from little kid, to big kid. Major quick learning curve for me to hurdle.

So while dreams of serving the military masses have melted away, I am much more realistic about life and what's required of me right now. There are many more people who can help the troops and I am the only one who can be the best mommy and wife for our house right now. I'll have time to do more things outside our home later, but for now, my best and brightest volunteer service is to my own family.