You know you've been an NCO wife too long when you have a quickly growing list of rules for your husband's soldiers. Here is the start to my list, I'm sure as the years continue to roll by, there will be more!
1. DON'T DRINK AND DRIVE! This may be a duh rule but it has to be said. I would rather my husband get a call in the middle of the night to come pick your drunk butt up than lose him to days of paperwork at the other sad alternatives you might end up in!
2. DON'T DRINK UNDER AGE!! OK, again duh. I know you are soldiers and while I agree its not right that you should be allowed to fight and die for our country, but not be able to legally drink alcohol, it is still against the law! So, do yourself a favor, and stay in your room or at a buddy's house to do it! Don't go out and be drunk in public when you are obviously only 19 years old!! I'm not saying breaking the law is right, but I'm realistic enough to know you're going to do it anyway, so be responsible!!
3. ENCOURAGE YOUR WIVES TO LEARN ABOUT THE ARMY! I am so sick of young wives who know nothing about their husband's job, or the benefits the entire family receives as an incentive for said job. There are literally tons of resources for you to learn about being a part of the military, whether soldier or spouse- use them!!
4. DON'T LET YOUR WIFE SCREW YOUR CAREER! Again, this involves knowing the benefits. If you and your spouse get in a fight and she becomes vindictive and crazy enough to call the cops, its your career on the line. Make sure she understands that if she gets you kicked out of the Army, she receives NOTHING!!!
5. USE YOUR EDUCATION BENEFITS! Even when you are deployed you can be taking FREE college classes. Do you know how stupid you sound when you say, "no, I want to wait and use my GI Bill." You don't lose your GI Bill by taking classes while still in the service. There are plenty of opportunities out there, even for those who haven't decided what to do when they 'grow up.' Don't let these go to waste!
6. DON'T TREAT THE DEPENDANTS AT THE PX LIKE CRAP! If you see a mom (or dad) struggling with her two kids while trying to pick up a mess the 3 year old just accidentally made, don't just sit there and watch. Chances are her husband is deployed and how would you feel if it were your wife and children being ignored when you could easily help. Use your manners and some common sense!
7. TEACH YOUR SPOUSE THAT THEY DO NOT WEAR YOUR RANK. Fraternization happens between the ranks, not the spouses. Your spouse can, and in the modern world of computers, will make friends with other spouses outside your immediate rank. This is actually OK, as long as its not with your immediate Chain of Command. The likelihood that your spouses new playgroup buddy happens to be the spouse of your CO is minuscule on most posts. Even if it happens, their playground friendship isn't likely to expand to the soldiers!
8. IF YOU DON'T LOVE YOUR JOB, FIND A NEW ONE! The military is not the place for disgruntled employees. My husband's life may depend on how well you know and do your job. Unhappy employees usually don't do very good on the job! I would prefer him not be killed because you were too busy hating the Army to watch his back!
9. TALK TO YOUR COC IF YOU HAVE A PROBLEM! By not telling your CoC you have a problem at home, you are inviting them to not care. Many good soldiers 'go bad' because they think their Command doesn't care. That isn't always true! If you have an issue tell someone, it might save your career!
10. BE PROUD OF YOUR JOB! It is often a monotonous and thankless job, but it is an important one. Be proud of it, I am!
Friday, August 31, 2012
Monday, August 20, 2012
I'm Back... with a gun post!
Well, after all, I do have an excess amount of boys in my life! And as we found out last month that Baby #3 is another boy, I just better get use to it! So, with that in mind, and a 3 year old who has a definite love of guns, I thought I'd do the big gun post!!
The past couple weeks has been crazy with hubby at Gunnery, but we did have a couple family events that allowed us to go out and visit him. A week ago we had a family BBQ and the boys loved seeing Daddy, "Daddy's soldiers," and "real guns." They were especially thrilled that the guys let them see the real guns and both boys got to hold Daddy's sidearm.
This past Saturday was family Day for the squadron, and we got to go out and not only let the boys play on the vehicles, but my husband's platoon was out on the range that day, so we got to actually watch them do a live fire. Though the firing point was a little bit away from us, we were at the base of the range tower and had an up front seat as the vehicles went out and came back in. The boys really liked watching the Bradleys drive past! So, that was the boys' fun for the week.
I've been struggling to find a good reference about how to teach such little guys about gun safety. Everything seemed geared to older children, but I don't want to wait. With an arsenal in our family, I want them to start learning now. Finally, this weekend my Mom found the perfect site. I like that the mom who made the website is a mom of multiple boys herself and therefore has the knowledge and humor that I can connect with. So, we'll be working with the boys on this starting immediately.
Next week hubby has leave so we'll be buckling down on the potty training for Keirnan, and maybe a trip to the gun range will be just the incentive he needs to finally get this! He turned 3 in May and has no interest in using the potty at all. Tomorrow he starts a 2 day a week preschool program and while they allow diapers, I'd like to get him out of them as soon as possible! (Plus, with baby 3 coming in under 4 months, I really don't want 3 in diapers!!!) So, I still need to talk to Will about it, but I am thinking it sounds like just the thing to get him motivated!
Well, its been a pretty good summer, and hopefully, I'll get back to the blogging thing. I'll try to remember to give an update in a couple weeks on how the potty training goes! And maybe later this week, a quickie on how the first 25 weeks of this pregnancy have gone. Here's a heads up: Owen likes to tease the OBs and has a very powerful kick!
The past couple weeks has been crazy with hubby at Gunnery, but we did have a couple family events that allowed us to go out and visit him. A week ago we had a family BBQ and the boys loved seeing Daddy, "Daddy's soldiers," and "real guns." They were especially thrilled that the guys let them see the real guns and both boys got to hold Daddy's sidearm.
This past Saturday was family Day for the squadron, and we got to go out and not only let the boys play on the vehicles, but my husband's platoon was out on the range that day, so we got to actually watch them do a live fire. Though the firing point was a little bit away from us, we were at the base of the range tower and had an up front seat as the vehicles went out and came back in. The boys really liked watching the Bradleys drive past! So, that was the boys' fun for the week.
I've been struggling to find a good reference about how to teach such little guys about gun safety. Everything seemed geared to older children, but I don't want to wait. With an arsenal in our family, I want them to start learning now. Finally, this weekend my Mom found the perfect site. I like that the mom who made the website is a mom of multiple boys herself and therefore has the knowledge and humor that I can connect with. So, we'll be working with the boys on this starting immediately.
Next week hubby has leave so we'll be buckling down on the potty training for Keirnan, and maybe a trip to the gun range will be just the incentive he needs to finally get this! He turned 3 in May and has no interest in using the potty at all. Tomorrow he starts a 2 day a week preschool program and while they allow diapers, I'd like to get him out of them as soon as possible! (Plus, with baby 3 coming in under 4 months, I really don't want 3 in diapers!!!) So, I still need to talk to Will about it, but I am thinking it sounds like just the thing to get him motivated!
Well, its been a pretty good summer, and hopefully, I'll get back to the blogging thing. I'll try to remember to give an update in a couple weeks on how the potty training goes! And maybe later this week, a quickie on how the first 25 weeks of this pregnancy have gone. Here's a heads up: Owen likes to tease the OBs and has a very powerful kick!
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