YAY!....... :-(

Hey everyone,

Just thought I would write in and tell everyone that for the past two nights
my 2 month old daughter has slept 8 hours!!! I'm in HEAVEN! Hehehe. I put
her down at about 9 and she sleeps until 5 in the morning...I am hoping that
we are starting a new pattern...

But then I go to an all time low and need advice on how to cope with my
newest situation.
I have two kids, my 3 year old son and my 2 m/o daughter, my partner has
been working as a mechanic for the past 6 years but now is joining the
Australian Army which means in 6 weeks time he is leaving our home and going
quite far away for training. I wont see him and will hardly hear from him
for 3 MONTHS! I am really worried about how I will cope with EVERYTHING by
myself, the kids, housework, lonliness, his mother, lol.
But anyway if anyone knows how to deal with this in the best possible way I
need to know PLEASE!

I am going to miss him so much and i don't know if I can cope with our son
without him to relieve me outside of work hours, ( my son is very active and
looks for ways to press your buttons, very frustrating ).

Thanks and sorry for the winge ;-)

Ebony

In the US, there is great support amongst the military wives and families.
Can you ask and see if something similar exists for Australian military
wives/families? Perhaps do a search on Yahoo Groups?

I don't have any real advice for you, as my hubby isn't a military man. All
I can say is that it takes a special kind of woman to be a warrior's wife.
--

Jamie
Earth Angels:
Taylor Marlys -- 01/03/03
Addison Grace -- 09/30/04


"Ebony Stares" wrote in message
news
Hey everyone,

Just thought I would write in and tell everyone that for the past two
nights my 2 month old daughter has slept 8 hours!!! I'm in HEAVEN! Hehehe.
I put her down at about 9 and she sleeps until 5 in the morning...I am
hoping that we are starting a new pattern...

But then I go to an all time low and need advice on how to cope with my
newest situation.
I have two kids, my 3 year old son and my 2 m/o daughter, my partner has
been working as a mechanic for the past 6 years but now is joining the
Australian Army which means in 6 weeks time he is leaving our home and
going quite far away for training. I wont see him and will hardly hear
from him for 3 MONTHS! I am really worried about how I will cope with
EVERYTHING by myself, the kids, housework, lonliness, his mother, lol.
But anyway if anyone knows how to deal with this in the best possible way
I need to know PLEASE!

I am going to miss him so much and i don't know if I can cope with our son
without him to relieve me outside of work hours, ( my son is very active
and looks for ways to press your buttons, very frustrating ).

Thanks and sorry for the winge ;-)

Ebony

"Ebony Stares" wrote in message
news
I have two kids, my 3 year old son and my 2 m/o daughter, my partner has
been working as a mechanic for the past 6 years but now is joining the
Australian Army which means in 6 weeks time he is leaving our home and
going
quite far away for training. I wont see him and will hardly hear from him
for 3 MONTHS! I am really worried about how I will cope with EVERYTHING by
myself, the kids, housework, lonliness, his mother, lol.
But anyway if anyone knows how to deal with this in the best possible way
I
need to know PLEASE!

Try posting your question at aus.family - there's at least 1 family with 4
kids and who's Dad / DH is in the Australian military.

Amanda

Ebony Stares wrote:

But then I go to an all time low and need advice on how to cope with my
newest situation.
I have two kids, my 3 year old son and my 2 m/o daughter, my partner has
been working as a mechanic for the past 6 years but now is joining the
Australian Army which means in 6 weeks time he is leaving our home and going
quite far away for training. I wont see him and will hardly hear from him
for 3 MONTHS! I am really worried about how I will cope with EVERYTHING by
myself, the kids, housework, lonliness, his mother, lol.
But anyway if anyone knows how to deal with this in the best possible way I
need to know PLEASE!

I am going to miss him so much and i don't know if I can cope with our son
without him to relieve me outside of work hours, ( my son is very active and
looks for ways to press your buttons, very frustrating ).

Being a military spouse is hard, but doable if
you keep your chin up and make it through day by day.
Tips:

1) Routines, routines, routines. Your family needs them,
especially with the non-routine nature of military duty
and deployments. Also, you need them to keep everything
on track.

2) Plug into the military community. There will be many
other military spouses in your situation. I doubt it's
all that much different in Australia than it is in the
US. There are often services on base that can help
(drop in daycare, etc.), and the other military families
often band together to help each other out.

3) Don't go it alone. Reach out to family, friends, community.
Let them help you sometimes. Look into preschool for the
3yo, if possible. He'll have fun, you'll have a break, and
he'll come home ready for some quiet time.

Best wishes,
Ericka

Oh Ebony

It's not a winge at all and I can completly understand your worries. If my
hubby decided to join the army of any sort I would too be going out of my
head and I think your really brave for allowing him to do it because selfish
or not I wouldnt be able to do it. I'm sure you'll be fine with the kiddies,
my husband doesnt work away as such but he does work very long hours and i'm
lucky to see him for 5 mins during his working days. I usually just get to
see him on a day of during the week and every other fortnight when he has a
weekend off otherwise i'm pretty much a single parent to Joanna if you see
what I mean. I never thought I would cope with him working and me looking
care of Joanna who is quite a handful, even my support workers mention how
she can be some work even at 18 months. You just do it natrually though
without thinking. If it gets to the point where you are loosing it with any
of the kids then place them in a seperate room say put your son in is
bedroom and baby in his cot or whereever and just take, 5, 10, 15 minutes
out whatever it takes for you to calm down. If they scream let them scream.
Joanna had a tiffy this morning because I wouldnt hold her cheese for her as
in my eyes she's old enough to do it herself now she stood at my leg crying
and crying and I explained that I wasnt holding it for her and placed it in
her hands to which she lobbed it on the floor so I let her get on with it
but soon got sick of her constance winging so I put her in the hallway which
isnt far for timeout for both her and me then after a minute or two I
brought her back in again and sat her on the sofa where she continued
moaning for about 2 minutes then she came over to me and got her cheese as
she knew she wasnt getting anywhere fast. Don't underestimate the young
babies and toddlers.

april
"Ebony Stares" wrote in message
news
Hey everyone,

Just thought I would write in and tell everyone that for the past two
nights my 2 month old daughter has slept 8 hours!!! I'm in HEAVEN! Hehehe.
I put her down at about 9 and she sleeps until 5 in the morning...I am
hoping that we are starting a new pattern...

But then I go to an all time low and need advice on how to cope with my
newest situation.
I have two kids, my 3 year old son and my 2 m/o daughter, my partner has
been working as a mechanic for the past 6 years but now is joining the
Australian Army which means in 6 weeks time he is leaving our home and
going quite far away for training. I wont see him and will hardly hear
from him for 3 MONTHS! I am really worried about how I will cope with
EVERYTHING by myself, the kids, housework, lonliness, his mother, lol.
But anyway if anyone knows how to deal with this in the best possible way
I need to know PLEASE!

I am going to miss him so much and i don't know if I can cope with our son
without him to relieve me outside of work hours, ( my son is very active
and looks for ways to press your buttons, very frustrating ).

Thanks and sorry for the winge ;-)

Ebony

Hi Ebony

First of all, big hugs to you hun x This cannot be an easy time (wins prize
for understatement of the year).

I've never been in your position really, but I don't tend to see my husband
from one week to the next as we won't have childminders, so all of our
shifts are opposite - at the moment he's on 9-5 Monday to Friday, and I'm
working Nights Mon-Thursday and from Sat morning through to Sun night.

I think the biggest thing to do is to establish a strong routine. That way
things won't pile up, such as the washing etc. Before long, you'll know what
you're doing next, and it will become your household. At the moment, I bet
you do as I do, and spend the last half an hour thinking "he'll be back
soon, I can rest!". Well, that will change to "They'll be in bed soon, I can
rest. Your mindset will change, and you'll be absolutely fine. Make sure you
can get someone to have the kids just once in a while so that you can have
some time for yourself.

They're going to miss Daddy, and at some point, your DS will probably have a
strop about one of your rules, and say he wishes Daddy was there instead,
but that's because he's a kid - he'd say that if Daddy was at work for the
day. Don't take it to heart.

Things will be odd when your partner returns. You'll have your household
sorted. and he'll have to adapt to fit into your new routines. That's ok
too - he'll have to realise that things had to change in his absence,

As for his mother, be strong, it's your house and family, but use her to
your advantage - No one likes to babysit more than Grandma.

Take care honey

Lucy x
"Ebony Stares" wrote in message
news
Hey everyone,

Just thought I would write in and tell everyone that for the past two
nights my 2 month old daughter has slept 8 hours!!! I'm in HEAVEN! Hehehe.
I put her down at about 9 and she sleeps until 5 in the morning...I am
hoping that we are starting a new pattern...

But then I go to an all time low and need advice on how to cope with my
newest situation.
I have two kids, my 3 year old son and my 2 m/o daughter, my partner has
been working as a mechanic for the past 6 years but now is joining the
Australian Army which means in 6 weeks time he is leaving our home and
going quite far away for training. I wont see him and will hardly hear
from him for 3 MONTHS! I am really worried about how I will cope with
EVERYTHING by myself, the kids, housework, lonliness, his mother, lol.
But anyway if anyone knows how to deal with this in the best possible way
I need to know PLEASE!

I am going to miss him so much and i don't know if I can cope with our son
without him to relieve me outside of work hours, ( my son is very active
and looks for ways to press your buttons, very frustrating ).

Thanks and sorry for the winge ;-)

Ebony

Thank-you all for the advice and reasurance...
I hope things go smoothly...I guess i'll find out soon

Ebony


"Lucy-lu" wrote in message
...
Hi Ebony

First of all, big hugs to you hun x This cannot be an easy time (wins
prize for understatement of the year).

I've never been in your position really, but I don't tend to see my
husband from one week to the next as we won't have childminders, so all of
our shifts are opposite - at the moment he's on 9-5 Monday to Friday, and
I'm working Nights Mon-Thursday and from Sat morning through to Sun night.

I think the biggest thing to do is to establish a strong routine. That way
things won't pile up, such as the washing etc. Before long, you'll know
what you're doing next, and it will become your household. At the moment,
I bet you do as I do, and spend the last half an hour thinking "he'll be
back soon, I can rest!". Well, that will change to "They'll be in bed
soon, I can rest. Your mindset will change, and you'll be absolutely fine.
Make sure you can get someone to have the kids just once in a while so
that you can have some time for yourself.

They're going to miss Daddy, and at some point, your DS will probably have
a strop about one of your rules, and say he wishes Daddy was there
instead, but that's because he's a kid - he'd say that if Daddy was at
work for the day. Don't take it to heart.

Things will be odd when your partner returns. You'll have your household
sorted. and he'll have to adapt to fit into your new routines. That's ok
too - he'll have to realise that things had to change in his absence,

As for his mother, be strong, it's your house and family, but use her to
your advantage - No one likes to babysit more than Grandma.

Take care honey

Lucy x
"Ebony Stares" wrote in message
news
Hey everyone,

Just thought I would write in and tell everyone that for the past two
nights my 2 month old daughter has slept 8 hours!!! I'm in HEAVEN!
Hehehe. I put her down at about 9 and she sleeps until 5 in the
morning...I am hoping that we are starting a new pattern...

But then I go to an all time low and need advice on how to cope with my
newest situation.
I have two kids, my 3 year old son and my 2 m/o daughter, my partner has
been working as a mechanic for the past 6 years but now is joining the
Australian Army which means in 6 weeks time he is leaving our home and
going quite far away for training. I wont see him and will hardly hear
from him for 3 MONTHS! I am really worried about how I will cope with
EVERYTHING by myself, the kids, housework, lonliness, his mother, lol.
But anyway if anyone knows how to deal with this in the best possible way
I need to know PLEASE!

I am going to miss him so much and i don't know if I can cope with our
son without him to relieve me outside of work hours, ( my son is very
active and looks for ways to press your buttons, very frustrating ).

Thanks and sorry for the winge ;-)

Ebony