Life without a husband and daddy

As a military wife (meaning husband gone for extended periods of time), I often get comments along the lines of "how do you do it?" or "I don't know how you do it" or "I could never do that". My gut reaction is to think "that's so silly, of course you could do it if you had to, just like I'm doing it". But, I know they mean well, and I take it as a compliment. I definitely still have bad days and feel overwhelmed at times, but here are some things that help me cope:

Knowing that Heavenly Father loves me and knows my trials and will give me what I need to endure and even grow from this experience.

Moving furniture, or at least thinking about how I'd like to re-arrange or even re-furnish a room. I think its just a project to distract me.

Self-medicate with chocolate.

Staying up too late watching TV or movies or blog-surfing. This isn't good, and I've done better so far during this TDY- I've only stayed up past midnight once (I finally started on the Twilight series!), and most nights I've been in bed by 10:30.

Knowing that others have done it before me and are doing it now. I look up to all my friends more than they could ever know. Can you imagine living during the Revolution when men went away to war or to England's Parliament and you didn't have any idea when they might return?

Believing in what Scott is doing as part of the military.

Exercise, especially running.

Fake it 'till you make it. Sometimes you just have to decide that you are happy and everything is fine.

(Since the kids can't tell time yet) Sending the kids to bed early because I am ready for bed.

(Since the older ones don't take naps anymore) Putting on a movie or tv show for the kids and taking a nap or at least having a quiet rest.

Playing with Jake, I'm not sure what it is about babies that just makes everything OK. I think it has to do with how innocent and forgiving they are. Unlike the older kids, Jacob doesn't stay mad at me (once I figure out what he wants) and he never talks back at me like Eden & Andrew (who sometimes tell me I'm "the meanest mom in Rapid City").

Copying others for ideas for having fun. (This can be a hard thing for me to remember, especially when Scott is gone.) I had a friend in Hawaii that had girls night at her house after the kids were in bed. I haven't tried that yet, but I plan to once Jake is more predictable on sleeping and I figure out how to keep my house decent by the end of the day. Just this week I decided to give the kids pancakes and waffles for dinner on Friday (thanks for the idea Tera!) I also got our pizza and movie night idea from someone else.

Letting people help me! This can be hard to do, but I really do believe that not only does Mom need a break once in a while, other people need you to let them help. We all need to serve each other.

Find things to be grateful for, it can be hard to get started, but I truly do have so many blessings and counting them helps me be happy. Just making this list helped me to realize just how much I can do even with Scott away. Sometimes I forget and get feeling sorry for myself.