Holidays in a Military Home

With Thanksgiving and Christmas coming up, I thought I would explain a little about what it is like to experience a holiday in a military family. 

One thing that I have to clarify is that not all military families are the same. Yes, we all share some common attributes and habits, but every family has their own way of life that they practice. This is one of the aspects that make up the military lifestyle. We are a widely diverse, and very different from one another, yet we still stand united under the same cause for freedom. 

So with that understood…

Let me explain four attributes to holidays in a military family.

1. Differing Locations

Being in the military, the most we’ve ever spent at one assignment was about three years. (And that was quite a long time) So naturally, we spent almost every other Christmas in a different home, all over the world.

Now some would hear this a cringe, but there are others who would love it. There are ups and downs. 

The ups are that we’ve been able to spend our special days of the year in very amazing places. 

I can remember one Christmas in particular - we walked through an old town square of a small village in Germany. The snow lightly fell as we explored the many different christmas stands that were set up around the square, and sipped from steaming mugs of cider and hot chocolate. Christmas music filled the air, and they had fires set up randomly throughout the square. It was practically storybook beautiful. 

But one down is that we don’t get the opportunity to spend too many holidays with extended family. Every once and a while we get the chance to visit, but most often we don’t get that experience. 

2. Traditions

In order to combat the changing environments, my family has created many traditions that we practice, especially during the Thanksgiving and Christmas time of year. 

These include small things like always inviting friends over for thanksgiving dinner, or opening a present on Christmas eve.

These small things are what we know to look forward to, and they make our holidays so much more fun.

3. Meeting People (again, and again, and again)

The military is a small place. It’s not uncommon to be stationed with one family on one base, and then turn around three years later and be stationed with them again on a different base. There’s a constant circular door in the military and its great. 

So it’s not uncommon to spend the holiday with someone at one base, and then spend that same holiday with that same person at a completely different base. It’s a revolving door of friends. 

4. Care Packages

So many times in military life active duty members are sent overseas to fight for our country. And on many occasions, these deployments happen over the holidays. So to make due, families will send care packages filled with presents, letters, treats, and love from home to these soldiers, airmen, and sailors. It's one way that we cope. 

In closing:

Think about what YOU do for your holidays. Are there things that you do with your family and friends that are different than most other people? What are the things that you love to do, or would want to do?

And then why not make some new memories this year? Go out and do something different, and maybe you’ll find a new tradition for your holidays. 

It’s just another day in the life of a military kid. 

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Vacations As a Military Kid

Do military folk even get vacations?

Very simply put, yes we do.
Active duty personnel work hard and long - just like civilians - and also get vacation time - just like civilians. We are given a set amount of days off, and we try to make every moment of those days count.

So then what do we do?

Often times, military families take their vacations wherever they are stationed. Growing up in a different country or state every two years gives you many different options to choose from. So it is not uncommon to visit amazing places like the Eiffel Tower, or the Great Wall of China. 

But there's nothing like our family camp.

I know this might sound cliché, but despite how awesome and amazing all these new sights can be, there's no place like home. 

Somehow, in spite of all our traveling, my family was able to visit one camp all through my high school. This military-focused retreat center, White Sulphur Springs, gave us a concrete place that we would be able to go to for rest, relaxation, and fun for the family. 

I can't explain all the incredible memories I have of this place, and hopefully I'll be able to continue to visit for the rest of my life.

In conclusion:

 I am including a quick video of this camp to give you an idea of what I am talking about. It is incredible the things that this center does for military folk, and I hope they never stop.

(p.s. It looks awesome in HD)

It's just another day in the life of a military kid.

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What To Do On a Military Base

I mean, is there really anything to do?

A lot of people think that military bases are just official compounds surrounded by barbwire with guys in uniforms running around with guns. However, most bases are a quite different than that.

Yes, there is barbwire surrounding the bases, and yes, there are military police who carry guns, but those aren't the only things there. This following presentation will give you a very brief overview on what is available for you to do while living on base. 

Queue the presentation:

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Experiencing A Deployment from the Home Front

How We Survived

Almost every military family will experience a deployment at some point in their military experience. 

Obviously this is not universal, but it is very common to see families around base that are temporarily missing a family member due to a deployment.

I have personally experienced my Dad deploying on two separate occasions, and interestingly, both times were very different. Granted, his deployments were several years apart from each other, so there was a large age difference between the events. But this life of deployment is something that most civilian families don’t understand. 

So today, I would like to explain to you a short version of what it is like to experience a deployment from the home front. 

It starts with the orders for deployment. 

Sometimes they will give this order with much breathing room to prepare, but other times they only give you a few days or weeks heads-up. Either way, it is always hard to receive the news. 

In fact, both times that my Dad received his orders, my parents kept the news to themselves for the first few days, just to prepare themselves to tell us kids. But no matter how carefully they worded it, it was still a shock to hear, and extremely tough to accept. 

We receive the orders, and Dad goes through the training and lectures in preparation for the few months, weeks, or days before the actual day comes, and then…

 

The tough part is goodbye. 

Before he would leave, we would take about a week long vacation away with him. This is a common tradition for military families - to take some time with their loved ones before their deployment.

So the day came, and we would drive him to the airport, and tearfully wait for him to board the plane. 

Above most everything else in the deployment process, this part is probably the hardest, especially for my Mom. The few agonizingly short minutes before he left were filled with tears, hugs, and “I love you"s. 

And then he was gone.

The word I would use to describe the time that he was away would probably be “endless”. The days upon days living with him away seemed to go on forever.

We were able to maintain our sanity by keeping in touch through letters, care packages, phone calls, and even a few Skype sessions, which we all looked forward to with great expectancy. 

But still, time passed very, very slowly. 

And finally, he’s coming home.

Excitement grows the closer the day gets. Mom would get more and more thrilled as the time came close, and us kids would become rowdy and hyper. There was an underlying tone of happiness that would never fail to increase. 

And then the day would come. We would drive the same rout to the airport that we did many months back when we were dropping him off, but on these times the mood of the car would be completely different. The excitement was static. 

At the airport, we would stand together as a group, holding our “welcome home!” signs high, and wearing our red, white, and blue, proudly. 

And then he would walk through the gate, and nothing could hold us back. 

The months of waiting finally paid off during those few moments of reunion, and I cannot express the joy we all experienced during those embraces.  

In conclusion:

These experiences are one of the elements that define the military family life. They’re hard, yes, but still needed. I am proud that my Dad has served our good nation on many different occasions, and I wouldn’t ask him anything different. 

So next time you see someone wearing a yellow ribbon or a service star, please thank them for their sacrifice. For they are serving our country as well. 

It’s just another day in the life of a military kid. 

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