It's a small world after all...

If you have read my previous post about Facebook you will know that I am unashamedly an addict. I love being able to chat with friends and family and I am totally addicted to the Defence support groups/pages. One of the best things to come from those pages is the awesome friends I have made. We have just arrived in a new city and before we even got here I had already met new people through Facebook (and I am looking forward to meeting them all ‘in real life’ very soon).

But unfortunately there are a few wives out there who are not making many ‘Facebook friends’. I know I’ve probably said this before and I’m sure I’ll say it again in the future – the Defence Community is very small. If you are continually picking fights and making bitchy comments you are going to get a reputation. Women are a gossipy bunch and it only takes a ‘cut & paste’ here and a quick ‘screen dump’ there and things can spread like wildfire. It’s not just bitchiness that will get you a reputation. Repeated behavior like that from my little list of Types of Army Wives on Facebook can also get you known for all the wrong reasons. For example, there are probably not many of you who haven’t heard about a certain woman whose rise to infamy came in the second half of last year after she became Admin of a certain group (which was already well known due to the previous Admin’s antics). I am not going to detail all her craziness but let’s just say she didn’t win many fans and her name is now pretty well known (even if she has tried to change it a few times!).

Now I’m not saying that everyone should get along and that we should all just agree each others opinions. That would be boring. I would just like to remind us all that outside of these Defence support groups there is a very real world. And you are not going to make it easy for yourself when it comes to meeting new people if your online ‘alter-ego’ has a bad reputation. Just think of how much trouble my above example is going to have when she meets new people! This lifestyle can be tough sometimes so we need all the friends we can get!

So I’ll get off my soapbox now and leave it at that :-P

Until next time,

C.

UPDATE: It has come to my attention that some people are incorrectly guessing who my 'example' may be. Because I don't want any innocent parties to get hurt, I'll just say that the person I am talking about is based in Brisbane and that is the only other info I'll give out at the moment.

Are we there yet?

I used to love road trips. I was quite happy to sit in the car for hours on end, eat crappy food from dodgy servos and sing along to the radio at the top of my lungs. Sadly, the things I used to love about road trips are now the reasons why I dread traveling long distances in the car. And those of you who have traveled with kids will understand why.

Now, instead of listening to the radio, I am listening to Master 4 sing along to 'Champagne Showers' with his headphones on and Master 2 saying "Mummy?" every few seconds followed by some unintelligible question or comment to which I can only respond with "mmmm yes." Then in between those sounds I have my husband asking me to clean his sunglasses or pass him a drink.

Suitable snacks for a road trip are now an issue. Gone are the days of quickly grabbing a chicko roll and jumping back in the car. Now we have to stop somewhere with suitable food and appropriate baby changing facilities. And there is no such thing as a quick pit stop with young kids. Just getting them out of the car is an ordeal. Someone always manages to have lost at least one of their shoes since getting in (I honestly don't know how that happens!) and you have to make sure you take in enough nappies/wipes/bottles etc. It becomes a major operation!

Now instead of sitting back and enjoying the scenery, I am breaking up fights, twisting my body in abnormal directions to pick up dropped toys and trying to determine whether the sounds/smells coming from Miss 8 months' nappy is just wind or a number 2. So is it any wonder that I am the one who ends up asking "are we there yet?"

Until next time,

C.

Deployment Survival Guide

If you have been following my blog so far, you will know that my other half has recently returned from a deployment. It has been very busy since he got back with Christmas and New Years and our upcoming move, but last night I finally had a few minutes to myself to relax and pat myself on the back for 'surviving' another deployment. As I sat there, I thought about the things that helped keep me (somewhat) sane during the last 7 months and decided that I would attempt to write them all down in some sort of intelligible list. And this is what I have come up with - my Deployment Survival Guide!

1. Always have a good supply of chocolate and wine at home and it is perfectly ok if that is all you have for dinner some nights. Except if you have children. Probably best not to feed them chocolate and wine for dinner.
2. You will need plenty of patience but not just to wait for your other half to return home. You will need it when dealing with the dozens of civies you are bound to encounter who will say things like "I don't know how you do it" and "my husband couldn't stand to be away from us for that long". And after you have heard it a hundred times you will need patience (and self control) to not give them a high five. To the face.
3. Guilty pleasures are essential. Whether it be watching a Gossip Girl marathon, getting a massage or eating a batch of uncooked cookie dough, it is great treat yourself every now and then.
4. Get familiar with the locations of all the post offices in your city. Because once you've lined up with 3 cranky, impatient and tantrum-throwing kids, all while trying to juggle the parcels you are trying to send, you will be so embarrassed by your children's behaviour (and your subsequent angry tirade at them) that you won't want to show your face in the same post office twice.
5. A good (and by good I mean slightly crazy) sense of humor is a must. There are times when your car has broken down in the rain or you have been vomited on for the 3rd time in one night, and all you can do is laugh. You know that one day in the future it will be a funny story, so what not make it funny now?
6. It is great to have a friend whose shoulder you can cry on. It is even better to have a friend who will tell you to "dry your eyes princess" and "harden up love" when you have spent a couple of days being a sooky-la-la and won't get out of your pajamas.
7. Remind yourself of this daily - YOU ARE NOT THE FIRST ARMY WIFE TO EXPERIENCE A DEPLOYMENT! Thousands of strong women have gone before you, a lot of which only had letters as a way of communicating with their loved one. In this age of skype and email etc, we have it pretty good.

So that is how I manage to stay sane (although those close to me might debate that!) during deployments. I sometimes wish I could travel back in time and pass on these tips to my younger self before my husband's first deployment. But I think if you would have told me back then that by 2012 I would have 3 kids under 5, I probably would have died of shock!

Sharing is caring ladies so please feel free to add your survival tips in the comments section!

Until next time,

C.