Christmas from Asia

The last couple weeks have been a whole bunch of crazy. There have been ups and downs... as is life, isn't it? Since I am a woman, I like to blame the vast majority of my madness on my lady business. I mean, men think we're crazy, why not use it to our advantage? Am I right? Even though I think I am entitled to a little crazy now and then, I think a lot of people are giving me much more credit than I deserve.

A lady in my neighborhood, whom I'm told is dealing with her own demons anyway, has been overheard telling people how horribly I'm doing. I've spent a grand total of maybe ten minutes with this woman, but she knows me well... or at least she thinks she does. A friend of mine, whom this lady told I was doing so badly, assured her that I am fine. I'm more than fine... I'm doing pretty well considering the circumstances. She was insistent that I am not. 

So, yeah, Husband is deployed and this is our first Christmas apart. We've been married almost seven years so it's actually kind of a miracle we've skated it this long. Birthdays and anniversaries have been missed as well as a few less important (to me) holidays over the course of our marriage. This might be my first Husband-less Christmas, but it's not my first rodeo.

Luckily because Husband is in Asia instead of the desert, we can FaceTime everyday. We DO FaceTime everyday. The kids get to see him often enough that we don't really miss too much. Husband also got to watch our entire Christmas present-opening extravaganza this morning as you can see above (while I tried to get as many pictures amidst the chaos as possible). I had to stick The Wee in his high chair to save him from attacking Daddy until the big boys were done and then I opened all his presents for him because he didn't give a crap. Husband wasn't there physically, but he was there. He saw everything. He laughed at Bean's reactions and tried to get Cakes' attention when he started wandering or spacing out. He sent me a few things that I opened with just he and I alone in my bedroom, too. One of which was this...

It's a bracelet with puzzle pieces (signifying Cakes' autism, as does the autism awareness bracelet below it) that says "Warrior Mom". I opened it and I cried. He told me that I deserved it and that I was an amazing mom... which is something that, honestly, I long to hear most days when I'm running on empty. Even though I do run on empty sometimes, it doesn't mean I'm incapable. It doesn't mean I'm simply enduring instead of living. Sometimes I'm just exhausted being both mom and dad, but I really wish people would stop assuming that I'm doing so horribly.

There have been people who've lifted my spirits in small ways and I appreciate them more than they can know. I've had a couple people insist on taking my kids so I could have a night off. I've had the snow shoveled from my driveway. I've had treats delivered to my door on several occasions and every single one of them was both needed and appreciated. These little acts of kindness are what keep my spirits up and, in fact, keep me doing better than just "okay". Did I scream into my couch cushion a couple mornings ago when Bean was stressing me out? Absolutely. Twice. But sometimes, something like that is all I need to feel better.

I'm still human; I still need to complain sometimes or cuss at bad drivers or scream into my couch cushions, but I will persevere every single time. I might be a little bit crazy (I think most military spouses are to some degree), but I'm still kicking ass and taking names. What I'm trying to say is, don't underestimate me. Don't underestimate people like me. I'm doing better than you may think (or even more than my late night facebook statuses portray me to be) and even though I miss Husband more than I can even put into words, I will still run over a stroller any day of the week if I have to, to show you who's boss. Run and tell that.

Boys, dude. Boys.

Look how adorable my kids are, dude. I have to give a shout out to FotoFly for the super rad pictures and The Hippie Chick Boutique (who is also my rad friend and fellow military wife) for the super cute shirts that say "All I want for Christmas is Daddy home!". So much rad is wrapped up into this one little picture. And do I even have to mention the miracle that all three of them are not only smiling, but looking at the camera?! Amazing doesn't begin to describe it.

There is a HUGE part of me that is not only excited to have these, but relieved as well. Relieved, you ask? Well, let me tell you a little story.

A couple years ago, Bean (my oldest) fell and knocked his two front teeth on our kitchen floor. We didn't really think much of it. He got a bit of a bloody lip out of it and we hugged him and told him to walk it off and that was that. Sometime later (I'm not sure how much, really), his two front teeth started changing color. I just started brushing the crap out of them thinking it was bad brushing habits. His homies at school were pointing out the odd color of his teeth and I told him his friends were just jealous they weren't as awesome as he was... because that makes the most sense, right? Right.

Fast forward to a few days ago. I sent Bean off to kindergarten as usual. He is walked home by two older boys in the neighborhood from the bus stop everyday, but this particular day I hear a TON of kids at my door as I'm walking up the stairs from the basement to greet him. He's standing over the railing looking at me and 5 or 6 kids are frantically yelling unintelligibly over each other from my door. I look at Bean and notice a black spot in his mouth. As I get closer, I see one of his two front teeth (which were NOT loose, by the way - yes, I've been checking!) is MISSING. Not only is one of them missing, the other one looks like this...

That junk is hanging out, root and all. I yell, "WHERE IS YOUR TOOTH?! WHAT HAPPENED TO YOUR TEETH?!?!"

He calmly replies, "It got knocked out" as though it was an everyday occurrence. I finally get all the kids to take turns telling me what happened and from what I gathered, he was standing on the bus and got told by the driver to sit down. In the process of trying sit down, he slips and smacks his mouth on the seat in front of him and knocks the tooth out. No one knows where the first one went, but apparently it was pretty bloody and the bus driver stopped to clean him up.

I'm now faced with trying to figure out what to do about that wonky tooth. It was REALLY loose and the root was out on the one side. Ironically, I was in the process of getting our dental insurance in order. Since Husband is deployed, I have to fax in my Power of Attorney along with a bunch of paperwork, but haven't had anything finalized yet. Even so, I needed to see a dentist. I wanted to make sure his jaw was okay and see what needed to be done about all this.

I call a local pediatric dentist and of course, they're closed. Barely. The dentist's cell phone number was listed on the voice mail for emergencies, so I called him in a panic. He only answers "Hello?" and I had forgotten his name and had forgotten to write it down so I reply ridiculously, "Hi... umm... are you a dentist? Because I forgot your name already if you are.". Luckily he was cool and he laughed. I told him our story and he had us come in an hour later to check it out.

After some x-rays, laughing gas and an episode of Phineas and Ferb, Bean had his tooth pulled. Come to find out, the first smack he incurred on our tile when he was two or three had cracked both his teeth in half and the odd color they'd become was because they were dead. Yes, it's true. So, because of them being dead, they popped out easily during this exciting school bus adventure. Bean is only five and his adult teeth are nowhere near ready to come out, so the dentist guessed he'd be toothless for the next two years.

So, I guess he's going to be wanting his two front teeth for another couple of Christmases. He's pumped because his friend said he looks like a pirate... at least he's a cute pirate.

One Uppers

I don't know if you've ever met a military spouse, but we're a bunch of one uppers (most of us, anyway). I'm totally guilty of this nonsense, by the way. I've learned to take it down a notch over the last year or two, but I find myself regularly wanting to one up my very own friends when I sift through my facebook news feed.

It's not even on facebook that I have to bite my tongue. There are a bunch of very well-meaning ladies in my currently civilian-only neighborhood that try to sympathize with me and I find myself having an inner battle to keep my mouth shut. It usually has to do with how long our husbands have been away from us. Now, let me just clarify before I go offending people I know and love... If your husband travels regularly, I know you have an idea what I'm going through. Having no husband around when you actually like the dude is not the funnest junk ever. What I hate is the "Oh, my husband left for ten days once, so I TOTALLY know what you're going through!" type stuff. I have learned to not say it out loud, but here in the anonymity of the interwebs, let me just say... No. No, you don't.

Husband has been gone three months with nine months remaining on his stupid deployment to Asia. I knew this would come eventually. In his career field, it's inevitable. I just had hoped that after him being gone 200+ days a year for the last three years with the air demo team, that they'd let me see his face for longer than a few days before sending him off. In fact, we planned The Wee's pregnancy specifically around him leaving the air demo team so that he could actually watch one of our kids grow up. THANKS UNCLE SAM! YOU DOUCHE!

I just really wish I could stop even having these ultra lame thoughts of wanting... nay... needing to one up people. It's almost like all the hormonal rage I didn't explode all over people in my 29 years wants to come tumbling out of my mouth in one moment. It was at it's all time worst while I was pregnant with The Wee. My best friend's husband was deployed to Afghanistan (also while she was pregnant) and Husband was on a six week tour to Europe at the tail end of our three years of his never-ending travels. I had posted something like "Three weeks down, three to go" and she and I then had a super fun battle of one-upsmanship via my facebook wall. We worked through it, of course. We always do. I just look back and think, why was I arguing with a woman who was about to have her third child without her husband being present while he was in the middle of the desert? Husband was in EUROPE, but I was arguing that I'd had it worse because Husband was gone cumulatively longer than hers. What?! In hindsight, I am really dumb.

So, let's turn my idiocy into a public service announcement, shall we? If you ever run into a military spouse (or you are one who is dealing with another who is like me), just know that she probably doesn't intend on one upping you. If she has even the smallest conscience, she probably also feels bad while doing so or perhaps even after the fact. Sometimes we crave a pat on the back for doing hard stuff alone and go to great (and stupid) lengths to get it. So, pat a military wife on the back sometime. Instead of saying "Oh man, that must be hard for you", say "You are rad. Seriously." and you'll have made her day. Bring her some cookies. Take her kids for a couple hours. Invite her to a girls night out. Just don't give her an opportunity to one up you if you like her even a little bit because chances are, she will take it.