This afternoon I smiled sweetly at my neighbor and asked him to change two burned out light bulbs. He and his wife both laughed. If I have to, of course, I'll change them myself, but when there's a guy in the building for a few days I don't mind humbling myself to ask for help.
Things change so much when the Sergeant is gone. When he was deployed for a year in 2005-2006 I did things I never knew I was capable of. I put a new shower head in the shower. I put air in my tires. I put antifreeze in the car. I used the grill. I fixed my computer (with the help of the guy on the help desk phone, of course). I bought a dvd burner and hooked it up to the tv and figured out how to use it.
It's not that I didn't think I could do these things, but these are all things the Sergeant would normally do. When he left I had to take care of everything. It was overwhelming at first, but it felt really good to know I could handle things. And the Sergeant worried a little less, I think, when I told him about the new feats I accomplished.
At the moment the Sergeant is in the field for training. And a few days ago two light bulbs burned out. As much as I don't trust stepladders, I could have done it myself...but I was thankful for a neighbor to help me out. Being "in charge" at home has taught me two things: I can do a lot more than I ever thought...but it's okay to ask for help.
This post was partly inspired by this post by Rose Daughter; I have the "I can do it myself" Army wife mentality...but time has taught me that sometimes I do need to ask for help!
Things change so much when the Sergeant is gone. When he was deployed for a year in 2005-2006 I did things I never knew I was capable of. I put a new shower head in the shower. I put air in my tires. I put antifreeze in the car. I used the grill. I fixed my computer (with the help of the guy on the help desk phone, of course). I bought a dvd burner and hooked it up to the tv and figured out how to use it.
It's not that I didn't think I could do these things, but these are all things the Sergeant would normally do. When he left I had to take care of everything. It was overwhelming at first, but it felt really good to know I could handle things. And the Sergeant worried a little less, I think, when I told him about the new feats I accomplished.
At the moment the Sergeant is in the field for training. And a few days ago two light bulbs burned out. As much as I don't trust stepladders, I could have done it myself...but I was thankful for a neighbor to help me out. Being "in charge" at home has taught me two things: I can do a lot more than I ever thought...but it's okay to ask for help.
This post was partly inspired by this post by Rose Daughter; I have the "I can do it myself" Army wife mentality...but time has taught me that sometimes I do need to ask for help!
It is amazing what you can accomplish, simply because you have to....but it is nice to have help.
ReplyDeleteYou did so well on your own!
ReplyDeleteI'm bad at asking for help...except from my husband. He'd probably tell you I ask him for help TOO often :)
But I'm sure, on a base, that everyone's happy to lend a hand. Which is nice, when family is so far away!
Heidi
You're amazing - having endured a remote was not something I ever had to do. Five months was my longest. So hats off!
ReplyDeleteThanks for the comment today - I wasn't trying to incite a debate about military wives....just talking about my personal experience with it all those years ago. Anyway, thanks for commenting!
I have all the respect in the world for you. I just don't know how military wives do it. We owe as much to military wives (families) as we do to our soldiers. So thank you for your service. :)
ReplyDeleteha ha. this reminds me of myself and my motto of "sure, I could carry that heavy thing, but if there's a man around, I'd rather ask him to do it!"
ReplyDeleteOnce again, I wish us medical wives could join you military wives because our lives are so similar and you all seem to have a better network of support---especially if you live on base. There's no bases for medical families. Bummer! :-)
ReplyDeleteI too have learned that if I wait around for dh to be home to do some of the things that need doing around here, that I will be waiting a long time! so most of the time, I just do it myself.
Oh for my hubby to have a "normal" schedule. That would be heaven. Sigh.