When I arrived at base last week, I was given some advice to head to the family readiness center as well as the family advocacy group. The family readiness center gave me 20 free hours of babysitting while we PCS (permanent change of station)... I haven't used any as of yet, because I didn't want Teddy to have another unfamiliar situation to adjust to, but I have 60 days to use them, so I will save them for later.
The family readiness center was a great help. They gave me two nice books about parenting, and then had me fill out a rather intimidating questionnaire about my beliefs on parenting, etc. However, I went to two playgroups last week, and I found them to both be full of fun toys and games for the kids as well as nice conversation for the mothers ( and some fathers). This was a huge help for me because I found that many women are experiencing/have experienced all that I have in the chaos that is moving with the Air Force. One woman just arrived from Japan. Another woman is here while her husband trains. She leaves in August for Japan with him. They are living in temporary housing and all of their belongings have already been sent to Japan. Another woman thought she would only be here for 2 months while her husband trained. Two months has turned into 3, and 3 into 4, and 4 into 5. Needless to say, she is very tired of living with a baby in a hotel room.
All of the shared experiences don't make our situations any different. I mean, we are all women with little children living without our belongings in hotel rooms, but at least we are not alone it. There is a strength that comes from our collective discomfort... a discomfort that all who have served in the military become uncomfortably comfortable with after awhile... I hope.
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