Transient Tuesdays: The Adventures of the Modern Day Nomads- A view point on change by a Military Family
Airport selfie! This was our “we just arrived to Hawaii” memento.
Photo taken at the Diamond Head Crater.
My husband is currently serving in the Military, I am a Veteran, and my children are what people call “Military Brats.” We live as a nomad, moving from one place to another just long enough to meet good friends and say goodbye to them. Change is something that we are familiar with, we see it, experience it, love it, and hate it. Change is something that causes happiness, frustration, and anxiousness in our household, but it never causes fear.
The one thing I’ve learned during our journey is that fearing change is like fearing the night. It’s always there, it’s always going to happen, and there is nothing we can do about it, so why worry? Sure it’s hard to always start over. There are many things that gets old pretty fast are finding a new job, the right school, house, and meeting new people (potential friends). So how do you deal with so many changes? To be honest, I don’t, I just go with the flow. Oh you are going to be working late? Okay, dinner will be in the oven just heat it up (or don’t). You have duty this weekend? Okay, I guess we can watch the movie next weekend.
We both knew when we signed the contract and raised our right hand that change is going to be part of our lives. What we can do to make the transition easier is to work with it, instead of fighting against it. It’s not to say that constant change doesn’t have a negative effect in our family or to each of us individually. We deal with changes as best we can and the best way we know how. What makes life interesting is the experiences and knowledge we’ve gained from the different opportunities we’ve had living in the different places we’ve been to.
So what’s the best part about change? It’s always an adventure. I’ve lived in places many of my friends have never been to or only visited. My children are exposed to new cultures, traditions, and environment that schools cannot teach. They learn about other kids, how they are raised, the expectations from the different cultures, and are more accepting of the differences in other people. There are many people that ask us how we deal with the constant traveling and change. Ask us how the children deal with the different changes. I tell them the truth, some changes are harder than others to deal with, but we move forward and keep on going.
ABOUT AUTHOR:
Cindy is a Counselor during the day, Seamstress, blogger, and jack of all trades (or so she would like to think) at night. She is a proud Military Veteran and Military Spouse, and mother of two amazing kids. In her spare time she enjoys spending time with her family, photography, and experience life wherever the Military takes her. Her blog www.CindyParrett.com chronicles their adventures, experiences, and completed DIY and sewing projects.
A big thanks to our proud Veteran, for joining us in Transient Tuesdays! Next week, on Transient Tuesdays, we have Alex. Stay tuned to read more, scribblers!
What a great attitude to have :) Loved this piece
ReplyDeleteReally great to hear a bit more about you Cindy ;)
ReplyDeleteI love change too! I love to embrace it as a new adventure every time. I can never sit still for long!
ReplyDeleteI love this post! We are not in the military, but do move a lot and have learned how to deal with the challenges and adapt to the changes. 3 of my 4 kids do so well with all the new adventures and locations, and we're learning how to make it less traumatic for the 4th one. What amazing experiences you are providing your children!
ReplyDeleteI Like this! At some point I can relate to you, since my husband also has to move around the country for his job, we have to live in different places and adapt to them. It's always a challenge, everything is new, new people, new local settings. But people can adapt to things and kids are especially adapt easily. I think for kids it's even more fun. This year my husband applied to work for a military, we were prepared for a fact that he might be deployed and we could live in different countries, but they didn't accept him.)
ReplyDeleteGreat post! I live near a military base and many of my friends had this same experience.
ReplyDeleteThank you Lori. It's definitely a different experience.
ReplyDeleteThank you for saying so. It's been a challenge with for our youngest. We are trying to always expose them to new things. Hopefully these experiences will help them grow and use these experience in the future.
ReplyDeleteAh yes! That is me through and through. I cannot sit still for too long either.
ReplyDeleteThank you Lindsay. :)
ReplyDeleteThank you Donna, it would be really hard if we didn't have a positive outlook. I'm always talking to my kids about being positive and think positive.
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