We worry about what a child will become tomorrow, yet we forget that he is someone today.
~Stacia Tauscher

It’s Month of the Military Child and this week, I have a guest post from the fabulous Stacy of Raising Chaos. She’s the wife to Mr. Chaos and they’ve been married for six years. She’s also the mother to three incredibly adorable kids… Little Miss, Little Man, and Baby Chaos. They’ve been through five deployments together and are about to go through number six. After you read her post here, please make sure you stop over at her blog and check it out.  And without further ado, here’s her post:

April. Month of the military child. It took me a long time to figure out what to write for this post. There are so many aspects of the military and many children don’t understand, at least not until they are older. I realized that I have no idea what my children think of their Dad being in the military. I had no idea if they even knew what it meant to be a military family, to be a military child. So I asked one of them. Since my oldest is 6, I thought it would be interesting to see exactly what she thought of her Daddy’s job. So I sat her down with a list of questions and asked away.

Me-So Little Miss. You know that we’re a military family, meaning your Dad serves as a member of the military.

The three adorable Chaos Children.

Little Miss- Yes. Dad’s in the Army right?

Me-That’s right. What do you think your Daddy does in the military?

Little Miss-Well, I think he has to practice a lot.

Me-Practice what?

Little Miss- He has to practice getting the bad guys for when he has real missions. He has to learn so he can protect people.

Me-Do you like when he has to go do his real missions (aka deployments)?

Little Miss- No because then I don’t get to see him for a long time.

Me-What do you miss most while he’s gone?

Little Miss-I miss playing with him and him tucking me in to bed and saying goodnight. And I don’t like that you are sad more often when he’s gone.

I had more questions but my daughter, my 6 year old, had put tears in my eyes. It was all I could do not to cry. Not to hug her. Not to tell her that she won’t have to deal with Mommy being said while her Daddy’s gone anymore.

When our husbands deploy or go on training missions or schools we think about how our home life will change. I have to think about the kid’s schedules and figure out how to do everything on my own without getting physically and mentally drained. When he’s gone, I have to think about who’s going to help me make all the phone calls to random strangers about who knows what (I hate talking on the phone to random strangers) and I have to figure out how to step out of my comfort zone. But most of all, when he’s gone, I have to figure out how it’s going to affect each of my children because no two children react the same to him being gone.

I have always felt that when he leaves for his deployments I have been the strong one, the one to help my children through but I realize, while watching my children play in the sandbox, that they are the strong ones. They are the ones that get me through each and every deployment. Without them, I’d be lost. Without their laughter and love and innocence, I would be lost.

My children are the strong ones. My children are the ones who hug me when they see me crying because I haven’t talked to my husband that day. My children are the ones that make me laugh when the internet connection was spotty and I couldn’t understand a word my husband was saying.  My children are the ones who get me through the bad times and who make those bad times good. My children are my strength. My children are warriors just like their Daddy. My children, my military children are everything to me and are the strongest little warriors I have ever known.

Now that you’ve read her awesome blog post, go check her out at Raising Chaos!