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Nope. I made that point earlier. I was in a 2 week orientation (that I couldn't miss a second of). His dad was still in class so more often than not his cell was off and he was a good 40 minutes away. So I had my mom, brother and a girlfriend play emergency contact. During those 2 weeks my grandfather died so my mom was off during funeral stuff, my girlfriend's daughter was sent home from school with lice and my brother's car got towed because he didn't park in a visitors spot and he couldn't get it out of impound for 3 days
Like I said, you can prepare and plan all you want to but life happens. It may sound neglectful but if the school had called me unless he needed to be rushed to the E.R he would have had to wait on his dad because I wouldn't have left.
Right! I'm referring to a totally unexpected call from school. Now, if I had sent my child to school knowing he or she was a little "iffy" (had a MINOR cold/sniffly nose but no fever or something like that), I would tell my clients in advance, "Just FYI: I've got my phone on vibrate just in case the school calls." In other words, I'd have a little knowledge ahead of time that they might call. That's different than getting a call completely out of the blue when the child appeared fine that morning before school. It's just unrealistic to think that all parents can drop everything at all times to immediately get to the school in a case like that. We all do the best we can!
We are military. When you live on base, there is more of a 'I know what it is like" thing. When you live off base you are surrounded by people who may have extended family nearby or a spouse who works 8-5 and never goes out of town......Its not that those people are uncaring, its just that they can have no clue the logistical issues military families can face when one spouse is unavailable and something happens.
There is also a subculture of military spouses that are competitive about who is the toughest. You automatically lose if your spouse gets deployed for 6 mos and you decide to go home and live with family for a while. If you show weakness, you get told "suck it up" and get to hear the "walked up hill both ways for 10 miles in the snow with no shoes" type story. Don't go asking these women for help.
There is no official mechanism to help families PCSing in that I know of, besides the 20 free hours of childcare the family center offers so you can get some official business done (if there is a family care home that has openings).
If you show up and your husband's unit is full of single guys, there may be no person who can even fathom that you need anything. Conversely, you could arrive to find a wonderfully organized spouse has put together a schedule of hot meals for you, or there are monthly coffees where you can meet people. It depends on the people entirely and there is no requirement for the spouses to be helpful or even nice.
When I PCSd from Korea to Fort Hood, TX, I was placed in 2 different divisions, 3 different battalions & 4 different companies over a 3 day period. I knew not a soul there & I was single at the time. I can only imagine the flexibility military families must have even when they get TO the duty station & how overwhelming it can be. If there is not a decent family readiness group (which there usually isn't), moms are completely on their own. It takes a lot of courage at times!!
When I PCSd from Korea to Fort Hood, TX, I was placed in 2 different divisions, 3 different battalions & 4 different companies over a 3 day period. I knew not a soul there & I was single at the time. I can only imagine the flexibility military families must have even when they get TO the duty station & how overwhelming it can be. If there is not a decent family readiness group (which there usually isn't), moms are completely on their own. It takes a lot of courage at times!!
or dads.
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