For those of you with a military move on the horizon, here’s 54 quick and easy steps to get you on your way. Listen to spouse spend 1-11 months talking with certainty about things the Chain of Command or Career Manager have told him regarding his posting. Resign yourself that a move this year is likely. Start half-ass ‘decluttering’. Plan for a garage sale you won’t have time to ever put on. Come up with smart ass response to the questions “where are you moving?” and “when are you moving?” before they drive you insane. Realize you never did put back the baseboards you took when you put in the floors. Hastily put them on. Realize your walls need painting first. Paint all the walls. Realize you probably only need 6 hours sleep a night. Start to panic early March – Mid April when no Posting Message has been received. Listen to spouse spend 1-6 weeks talking with certainty about things the Chain of Command or Career Manager have told him regarding the ‘for sure coming any day now’ message. Say goodbye to spouse for deployment/course/exercise. Receive posting message next day. For entirely different location than discussed. Register with Brookfield. Get lulled into a false sense of hope that it was not that hard to log in online. Contact Realtor. Find Power of Attorney at the bottom of a drawer. Find a price point somewhere between “I need this to sell quickly” and “I need to afford to buy a house when I sell this“. List the house. Meet with Brookfield. Check off everything you want them to tell you about like you know how this is going…
As I prepard to move across the country, the fact my kids will have to start school one month late, and that Monster will have one less month to familiarize himself with his educational assistant, with a new school, with new rules and environment, has certainly reminded me that there is always the one extra little complicated factor and for some of us, it’s our Special Needs kids at posting season. So today, I have Meg from Milkids Education Consulting to give us some insight on how you can make the most of education for your special needs child. Moving is challenging under the best of circumstances, but add in moving with a child with special needs and things can be complicated. And moving with the military AND a kiddo with special education services…woooo boy! Before you move The first thing that you should do is to contact your current school office to let them know about the upcoming move. It is best to contact them several ways: phone, email, and in person. This way they have lots of notice about the change in educational placement, and you are making sure that your concerns are not overlooked. The end, or beginning, of a school year is especially busy and stressful with new enrollments and disenrollments occurring daily. When you contact the school, you should request copies of the following items: ● IEP/IPP, current and updated ● all formal evaluations, including district, provincial, and national assessments ● all report cards/progress reports for the last academic year ● all medical records, if any exist You might also want to contact your child’s team of teachers and specialists. Let them know how much they have helped you over the last year(s), and that you will be sad to leave…
Usually when I’m asked to speak somewhere or write something, it’s to give insight into the lives of Canadian Forces families to a culture that doesn’t know a whole lot about them. Or what they do know, they see on the news or on Lifetime, a jaded, spun and less than realistic portrayal of a life. Many many days, the military plays very little role in my day to day activities. I get up, I go to a gym in my (civilian) community. I get my kids off to (a civilian run) school. I go to work. I happen to work on the base part time, so that part is a little skewed. But then I come home. I take my kids to Jiu Jitsu at another off base gym. I clean up and watch Netflix. I start over. So while the undertones of my life have been set by my spouse’s employment (I live where we were told, not where we choose. I sleep alone though I’ve been married 14 years), for those mundane daily activities we’re not any different. We’re average. My spouse, though in a combat trade and on his 4th deployment, has never been wounded, emotionally or physically. We walk through life like everyone else. Except we don’t. Not always. And there are times of year where the military stops being one of those quiet sideline participants and starts screaming for center stage like a tantrum throwing toddler. That’s the season of life we are in now. And I could yell from the rooftops that the military is ‘just a…
Today’s post can be found over at Soldier’s Wife Crazy Life. Because fall is like Christmas, but without the stress over gifts or obsession with decorations. I love it! And on a year when everything changed, I love that fall looks the same. And still tastes like Pumpkin Spice Lattes! So go over to Julie’s blog and check it out, and leave me a comment while you are at it, I LOVE those…
Sometimes, it’s hard to put into words what something meant to you. And for that reason, people like me who suck at emotion just leave somewhere they lived for 9 years, the friends they had and the church they were a part of…. without giving a real goodbye. Because goodbyes are hard. What’s less hard? Just ignoring them. But now that I’ve had the chance to sit and I’m not ‘there’ where people are going to see me get all annoyingly weepy, I think I do have some words. Have you watched The Princess Bride? If you have lived under a rock your ENTIRE LIFE and have not, stop reading this and right this very instant go and watch it. Right now. Go. If you (like the rest of the free world who have seen any move, ever) have, you will remember that Wesley says this: “This is true love. Do you think that happens every day?” imbd.com This past year, a friend of mine had his closer-than-a-father grandpa pass away suddenly. And during the hospital visits and funeral preparations, my friend gave me a call. She wasn’t going to make it home when her kids got off the bus. So I drove to her house and did her dishes while I waited for her kids got off the bus. When they did, the looked at me in their kitchen and they said: “Hi Auntie Kim” Then they walked downstairs. When I called them up and told them to pack a bag to stay with me a few days, they said ok and we left. And…
Last night I looked over at DH and said “I have nothing to write on my blog. Possibly ever again.” He said “I’m sure you’ll learn something from this”. I said “Screw you I will not. There’s nothing to learn. Just shut up.” Which is what I do when he says things that are true. Since the last time I wrote, we moved across the country. There’s plenty I am sure I will write about the amusing anecdotes of our driving across Canada and the northern US on the way to our new home. Our fifth night after leaving the house, I was annoyed with Freckles. He wasn’t eating his meals. Now, my kids are picky, obnoxious eaters who eat next to nothing. I am judged everywhere I go (mostly by myself) for their lack of eating. So as we start on our trip, my one child who has almost started to eat like a normal person, won’t eat. Then, one night looking at him while visiting on our trip with my parents, I realize something. He’s trying so hard to act okay, he’s such a happy kid, I didn’t even think. He’s hidden every other symptom but the truth is, well… He’s sad. Sad enough that he hasn’t realized it, but he doesn’t feel like eating because of it. And two things hit me. The first is that when you realize that what your child is doing is not defiant or obnoxious or spiteful or lazy but a symptom of his overwhelming sadness….. It’s…
– One who rarely drinks should not take an ativan before an early morning flight, eat nothing all day then grab a couple glasses of wine and questionable calamari unless one would like to be vomiting in the bushes outside the Eastside Mario’s at 11pm. Happy 11th Anniversary, babe, I thought for good measure I’d make you hold my hair like we were 17 again. – Living in a city on a lake means beautiful views, amazing weather and absolutely no chance of me having a good hair day for the next 3 years. 12 hours in the city and my hair sprung out in curls no chi iron will ever hold down. – This was the first time since Freckles was born almost 10 years ago that DH and I have been alone for more than one night. All the good intentions in the world aren’t getting me up in the morning to run during that. The alarm went off each morning and every single time finding DH in the super huge king-size bed and cuddling back for a few more minutes sleep next to him seemed infinitely more appealing. At the time I felt guilty. I got over it. Now that we are back to life I am so glad I did. – I have been spoiled by rental cars, heated seats and climate control. My 2002 Winstar with the broken key fob and the back gate that only occasionally unlocks just isn’t stacking up anymore. – I am completely and hopelessly in love with the man who still opens my car door, holds my hair back when I’m sick in public and instinctively takes the side of…
