How to take care of yourself


YOU HAVE TO DO THIS

In order to be the best Mama you can be, you need to take care of yourself first. On your first deployment you'll most likely learn a lot more about yourself and what keeps you happy and entertained. There may be a lot of quiet or down time that you may not have noticed before when your spouse was home. I found that finding new shows to binge was a great way to waste away the time ๐Ÿ˜‚

But for real, to keep on functioning as a healthy family you are a priority to yourself. Don't get me wrong, taking care of the kids and your deployed spouse is just as important, if not actually more, but you can't do that without taking care of yourself. 

You need to find your niche, your piece of pie, your way to get by. Mine are my in laws. They have been there at every moment during deployments whenever I needed them. Whether it be that they made a trip out to our house, or they housed my family and our giant dogs for months at a time, or they split up visits so that I would have something to look forward to.


Establish a routine: this will help everything feel more like normal. Even if your routine is only waking up, showering, and starting breakfast for the fam, then finding stuff to do after that...that will work.
Find someone that you can trust and lean on them: Usually this person is your spouse, but there will be times that they can't answer the phone when you call. Whether this be a close friend or family, you need people who understand exactly what you are going through. Otherwise, people will just give you the "Oh I'm sorry you're going through that" and you won't be able to truly depend on them.

Take time away from the kids: Sometimes you need a break, everyone gets that. Make sure you do this ever so often before you hit your breaking point. I have found that even if it going to get your hair done, a massage, a pedicure, or even just a grocery trip by yourself, this helps you recharge. If you feel like you can't leave the kids with anyone around you (since you are most likely in a state with no family), a lot of the bases have days specified to where you can bring your kids in to the CDC to give you a break.

Visit your spouse: What? Who would think you could do this on a deployment? Well, some locations you can, so see if this is an option for you guys. My sister in law and I took my son when he was 6 months old on a 14 hour flight to Japan. I know, we're crazy. But I wanted to help break up the deployment (and it was the first deployment since our son was born and my husband would be spending his first Father's Day and his birthday away from us). This trip was worth making the 14 hour plane ride with a 6mo old! We had so much fun and were able to see parts of the world we might not normally go and visit.  Below you'll see some pics from when we visited him in Japan!
๐ŸŒธ๐ŸŒด๐Ÿ ๐Ÿก๐ŸŸ๐ŸŒŠ⛱๐Ÿ๐Ÿฃ๐Ÿ™๐Ÿ—พ





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