I have a love/hate relationship with being a military spouse and for a long time - I struggled with that. Any time I felt angry at having to juggle the emotions of grieving children, or navigate the struggles of solo parenting, or sit with my own loneliness and loss of opportunities - I thought I was being disloyal to my husband and unpatriotic toward my country. But you know what? When we signed up to serve out country - (that's right, I said “we” … because behind every married soldier is a brave and noble woman who is working equally as hard to serve her country by making a borrowed house into a home and raising capable, resilient, emotionally adjusted children - all without the support of her spouse) we didn't abdicate our human nature. We don't become the military equivalent of Stepford wives; service with a smile at any expense. 

We all chose our hard in life and we get to be human and feel the full effect of that choice. We get to say out loud: it's hard and sometimes I hate it - without anyone shutting us down with “but you chose it”. 

I've been an Australian army wife for five years now … still a newbie - I know! … but having completed three military relocations in just five years - I've been forced to learn a thing or two! I thought I'd compile a list of my top tips for a smooth defence move and spare you a little of my military wife heartache! These are the things I wish we'd known before posting with the defence force:

Dear military mama living with chronic pain,

My hat goes off and my heart goes out to you. I know how brave you've had to be: so much braver than anyone will ever know.

Are you the owner of a “busy brain"? Do you have constant internal chatter and thoughts that race at a million miles an hour while you're trying to fall asleep? - Me too!

As a Military wife of 5 years now - I have seriously had to up my game! I solo parent my four children for anywhere from 5 to 10 months every year; living in chaos is just NOT an option anymore.

Here is the list of 10 crazy swaps I've made in the last couple of years to try and tame my busy brain and get a handle on semi-organised living (because let's face it, we can tame the busy … but it's always going to be crowded in there ;) )

Are you like me and desperate for some military wife solidarity? Is your life utter chaos when your loved one isn't home? … Me too! Our lives turn upside down each time our soldier walks out the door and we're left to juggle the house, yard and a million other things, along with our grieving babies …. let's be kind to ourselves and normalise the chaos.

Is there a Soldier in your life? Check out these top Christmas gift ideas for the new recruit heading into basic training!

The final week at any Army Post is nothing short of hectic! Here’s how we tackle all the last minute ‘to do’s’ and the checklist that saves my sanity - grab your own copy today!

“We’re no strangers to farewells, it’s a part of the life, but of all the many goodbyes we say as a Defence family; this is always the longest.” 

Posting Time is here; It’s time for the longest goodbye.

My Top Ten “I had no idea” moments as a brand new Military Wife; are any a surprise to you?

Military life in the Australian Bush is not for the faint of heart! How would you fare?

Here are our top ten go-to ideas for date nights as a busy military couple; for when life takes over and date nights out become couple nights in!