When my children were infants and toddlers, I had the benefit of having a military family surrounding me. We often hear of the struggles of a military spouse but we don’t always hear about the wonderful gifts that military spouses are blessed with.
When my children were young, the ladies that lived near me were from my husband’s squadron, neighbors, friends, and play date partners. It created a circle of sisterhood for me. We learned how to parent from each other, given an outlet when it seemed parenting was too hard, shared meals when one of us was overwhelmed and just overall created a feeling of a team.
I remember learning from my friend Jackie that it was okay to lose your cool and it was okay to feel like it was all over whelming. She shared that although she made it look easy to me, it was not and she too struggled. Her kind words and compassion stay with me today. I still find myself wondering how she would handle certain situations and use that to guide me.
It was a blessing to have these ladies in my life. Now that we are no longer living a military life, I still call on those ladies to help me walk through the newest stages of parenting but I have also built a new group a long the way. Without these women in my life to just sit and pray, talk, support and encourage, I am not sure what kind of parent I would be.
I have to be honest, I miss the days when we could all sit outside and watch the children play as we laughed, talked and sometimes cried. My kids are teens now and it seems the stakes are so much higher at this point in their lives and I find myself wishing there was time in the day to sit outside and talk while I knew my children were safe and right in front of me.
Not everyone is as blessed as I was or still am to have women in my life to help me be a mother. Now, I try to make sure and pass on what was given to me as a gift and support other mothers. I still need support and often even need the insight of a younger mother to give me perspective. We all have something to offer.
I am hoping this blog will encourage mothers to reach out to one another. Send a quick text, call or send a note to a mom that you know that might need some encouragement. Sometimes, just knowing someone is on the other end of the phone that cares and is willing to listen is all that we need to change the day.