What I've Learned Being A Military Spouse

Most people know I'm a military spouse. My husband is in the Air Force. My Mom was in the Air Force. So I'm used to this lifestyle. Some people don't understand what it's like to be a military spouse so I decided to share my views.

So here we go....

--You'll Be Told "We have to move in two months," at any given moment. This happened when we were stationed in Nebraska. I was all settled in, especially because they had just opened a Target right by our house, and then Tom came home and was like, "I got orders. To England."

--The other military spouses might not like you. For ridiculous reasons. We moved here and I met the other wives of the people my husband worked with. One kept giving me the stink eye for no reason! I later found out from another wife that it's because she thought I was weird. Well, hello, I am weird. What's also amusing is she goes around saying she doesn't like drama--yet she's usually in the middle of it.

--If you live on base housing, you'll be in charge of plants in the front yard even if you've explained to housing that you kill all plants. If the plants look bad, you'll get a citation for it. If you get so many citations, you'll be kicked off of base housing. I'm surprised this hasn't happened to me yet. I think we came close in Wyoming. It seemed I got a new citation every week. "Sir!" I'd plead on the phone, "I don't like plants!" I guess he took pity on me.

--Your spouse will come and say, "I have orders to deploy. I'll be gone for most of the year." Or the entire year. It doesn't matter if you had vacation plans or if someone is graduating/doing a recital/starting Kindergarten. Your spouse will probably miss a lot of key moments. It'll just be you, taking care of the kids/the house/the angry cat.

--Oh and when your spouse goes? Everything will break. You'll feel like you're at your breaking point many times.

--Sometimes you won't be able to even leave the military base because of an exercise. See, the base will sometimes shut down the gates to practice what would happen if a crazy person/terrorist/Tara Reid got in. Or they'll go over what would happen if a bomb was left or some other explosive device. Sometimes the base closes down because a vehicle DID run the gate and they have to find said vehicle. Sometimes there's a missing kid. This means if you have an appointment off base, it's too bad. I was supposed to meet a friend for dinner and couldn't leave the base. I was an hour late. She understood since she's also a military wife, but it still can get frustrating.

---You'll probably embarrass yourself in front of your spouse's superiors at least once. Tom is enlisted, which means all officers are technically above him, even if Tom has been in longer. And no, I don't appreciate the officer jokes that they sit behind a desk because it's not true. My Mom retired as a Colonel and worked her butt off. She wasn't behind a desk all the time. Anyway. At the Christmas party I did trip on my high heels. In front of a Lt. Colonel who probably thought I was drunk.

So, be honest? Want to be a military spouse?

And if you are one, have you experienced any of these?