(Recap:
Papa Fox is deploying.)
D-day is on the horizon. Surprisingly sneaky is it. Last night, while in a cut throat game of Wii bowling, I was mentally planning Papa Fox's going away party for his APD shift. I pulled out the calendar and picked a weekend. Then it clicked. "Dangit, that's only 2 days before you leave!"
I knew it was there yet it still surprised me. Only a few weeks left. Not really enough time to do what we wanted to do, say what we need to say, prepare the boys for this separation. We face the very real possibility of Papa Fox being gone forever, not just a year. It's enough to fry my nerves again, oh what I go through for the love of this man, but I worry most about our children.
(Papa Fox is reading over my shoulder, muttering about torturing myself and something about banning me from the computer for the rest of the time. Yeah like that will keep me from thinking about this.)
So we are creating new memories, going camera happy, relaxing and enjoying life. I want our boys to remember this time, a happy time. We talked about going away on a short vacation but decided to stay at home and plan some local day trips, spending more time just hanging around the house together. We're watching movies, going to the park, reading books, playing Wii. We have a birthday coming up and we'll spend some time at the children's museum. We're talking about going to San Antonio to see the River Walk. Trying to cram as much as we can yet still have chill time is all about balance.
We have always tried to live life to its fullest but nothing like facing a good bye to make that kick into overdrive. It just doesn't seem like we have enough time but I would probably think that no matter the time we had left.
If you only had a few weeks left with your family before a long separation, what would you like to do to spend that time?
Recommend
Comments (8)
Philip and I went camping about two-three weeks before he deployed. It was nice (but really hot.) Maybe have a picnic day at the park one afternoon. Maybe a few days before he leaves, ya'll can get together and get all the pictures you've taken and pick out pictures to put in a photo book for him to take with him. I did one for Philip, just a little travel album, he took it everywhere with him. :)
I think your boys might enjoy one on one time too, they could each have their own special "daddy day".
If you come to San Antonio, the Witte Museum is free on Tuesdays after 2pm. They have an AWESOME children's area. (HEB Treehouse!). I would tell you to go to Sea World (one free day a year for military families) but, they are closed till mid-February.
I'll be praying for ya'll! :)
My husband and I are facing a deployment soon, and since its just the two of us, we're spending time around our apartment, just enjoying our time, and then going on 2 weeks worth of leave to visit his family. We're going to stop in the middle, and have a weekend to ourselves in Savannah. Good luck to you and your family!
Sadly, we had very little notice that Matt was deploying. We did what we could - we went to the mall and walked around, we watched a lot of movies. He made a couple of 1 minute videos for the kids to watch while he's away.
I would probably go out with them and eat a lot of ice cream and cuddle.
My exH played computer games non-stop, while I tried to organize family activities and such... then of course while he was deployed he'd have "epiphanies" and say all will be different when he came home. It never changed... and by the 3rd deployment I was over it. He's now my ex.
LOL sorry that wasn't the happy warm fuzzy story I wish it could've been. I wanted so badly for us to go to the zoo, park days, special family time playing games, take pictures.. get on some date nights as our marriage needed some major TLC.
But that's life, and now I'm married to the family man I always yearned for :)
@Nina1981@xanga - I'm glad that you got your happy ending.
You are a way stronger person than I could ever hope to be. I can't imagine what you must be feeling right now. Enjoy the time you have with your husband and just think about all of the great stuff you can all do when he comes home!
Lots of fun activities and picture taking, some quiet close activities, maybe record some story reading for my baby.. stuff like that.