Stay at home mom :(

[Lms_sms]

Hello ladies, I am a stay at home mom at the moment. My husband advised me not to work at all at the moment . We have a 3 month old daughter and he left for boot camp on Jan 26th. I know the whole stay busy and the weeks will go by faster thing. But really for me I have nothing to do.! I'm home with our little one , and basically stuck in my mother in laws house all day! :( i have written so many letters to my husband . I cry so much . It's depressing . I just can't bring myself to tell him in the letters how sad I am bc I want him to focus and graduate. So I just send lots of love and encouraging letters . This really is my only place to vent and I am so happy I found this site! I still hate feeling so depressed though .. It will all work it's self out ! I know it will.! Just trying to patiently wait .

[Bronco14]

I'm sorry to hear you're having such a hard time! But hey you are about half way through! Yay! I was a full time student and worked 40 hours a week while my boyfriend was at bootcamp so it is hard for me to relate entirely. I knew I would be miserable if I didn't keep myself sooo busy, so I focused on school, making money, and took many trips to see family so I would always have something to look forward too. One thing that really helped me was to create a countdown until PIR. it was so exciting to change that calendar every day and think I was one day closer to seeing him. Do you have your own family in the area? Do you have a local gym where you could join a workout class and make some friends? I know everyone says it but doing something new and having a hobby helps SO much. Take up yoga, join a mommy exercising c1ass, read a new book, ANYTHING!! Regardless, you do have this website and all of us to chat with which is so helpful.

[Allison]

One thing that kept me pretty busy for a couple was hand making an address book for my fiancé. They are allowed to have them even at basic training, but they have to be pocket sized, if I remember correctly, mine was 4x4 and just under an inch thick. I created pocket pages to put photos of family and friends, included everyone's contact info, and short messages of encouragement from everyone. To take up more time and make it more special, I printed starting letters for a page and first letters of names just lighter than the color of my paper and hand painted over it with a metallic paint. There's lots of great sites to help you learn how to sew pages together, and Michaels makes a great cheap faux leather sheet that's more than enough to trim and glue the pages into. Stamp his name or a design on the cover and add paint/stain. Wrap some pericord or something similar around it, add a charm if you want, and bam, three or four days have flown by, your future sailor will have something to help him get through the harder days of basic, he'll have everyone's address if he wants to write, and you have a great keepsake when he gets out. My fiancé is graduating next week, and he's read that address book every night since he got it. I'm not super artsy, so it was far from beautiful, but he loved it anyway.

Crafts are a great way to keep yourself busy and channel your feelings into something constructive. You don't have to be born an artist to learn how to make some really cool stuff, and even if you mess up your project a few times and have to start over, it helps take up more time while your husband is away. It'll be a great way to handle deployments later on too. You can do small paper crafts or draw pictures to send to your future sailor. Maybe paint your daughters hands, stamp them on some paper, and send it. You can also think about ways you can decorate your home from big photo collages or upcycling all the way down to painting some fun baby dishes or printing photos on coasters. Going back and forth between Pinterest and Michaels has made a lot of these basic training days fly by for me, and once you have some basic supplies stocked up, like stamps, nice pens, a sewing machine, whatever specific supplies you need for your crafts, it's actually not that expensive to keep going. I hope this helps give you more to do now and during future deployments :).

[Ladybug613]

I'm so sorry you're having such a hard time but know you're not alone!! My husband just left on feb 10 and I'm having a hard time too. I do work but only on weekends so I have 5 days a week where I have nothing to do. For me, the nights are the hardest. If you're having a particularly hard day and want to talk just message me!!

[alab610]

I can relate! My husband is leaving next wk. We have a 4 year old and a 3 month old. We are excited yet horrified. I feel as if he will be so busy and exhausted that the days will fly by. Yet for me, I'll be busy but reminded of him at home everyday. I know our toddler will ask for him daily even though we've been trying to prepare him for months. That'll be heartbreaking. I know I have to keep it together for the kids. I just want the next few months to be over already! Add me as a friend. It'd be nice to message someone throughout this tough time.

[alegal]

Hi :) I'm also a stay at home mama! My husband (he left in Jan)  and I have two sons - one will be three in March, and our youngest just turned one this month. If you ever just need to vent and let it out, you can send me a message any time. I totally get it. No judgement, just loving.