It’s something that I do not talk about much on my blog is that I grew up as an Army Brat (and my parents would probably say that I fit the term “Brat” to a T). April is month of the Military Child to recognize the courage of these children who face challenges that are beyond what normal children should experience.
Every military child’s life and experiences are different. For me the first 16 years of my life was spent moving every 18 months-3 years all over the world. I moved 9 times (not counting the times we had to move into temporary quarters). I have lived in the East, West, Midwest and South of the US and in Germany (twice). I attended almost as many schools as years I was in school (10 schools in 12 years). My dad missed out on birthdays and holidays due to training and going to the field, and was sent overseas on an unaccompanied tour for a year.
I never know how to answer the question ‘Where are you from?’ Is the person asking where I live, where I moved from or where I was born? I usually preface with I live in Baton Rouge, but my dad was in the Army so I have lived all over the world. Don’t even try to place my accent because I am sure it’s a combination of the different places I have lived.
There were difficult times growing up. I always wished that I could live in one spot and have the same friends since Kindergarten. However, I would not change my childhood for anything. I got to spend weekends skiing in the Alps, live on West Point and pick berries on Mt. St. Helen. It definitely made me the person I am today: hard working, honest, resilient, and stubborn. And it inspired my love of travel!
Thank you to our military! But an extra special appreciation to the children and spouses that are along for the ride!
*Thanks to my mom for digging through old photos to find these treasures!
Photo by Eye Wander Photo
You may find me linking up with the following: Mon: Magic Moments; How Do You Do It? Parenting Linkup; Made by You Mondays; Creative Mondays; Click and Chat Social Media Link Up; Merry Monday Linky Party; Motivational Monday; Weekend Wanderlust;Tue: Treasure Box Tuesday; Turn it Up Tuesday; Good Tip Tuesdays; Project Life Tuesday; Lou Lou Girls Link Party; Delicious Dish Tuesday; SoMe2; Wed: The Wednesday Roundup; The Super Mommy Club Party; Centerpiece Wednesday; Whatever Wednesday; Retro Repin Party; Wake up Wednesday; Creative Spark; A Little Bird Told Me; Thur: Weekly Kids Co-Op; The Pin Junkie Pin Party; Thrify Thursday; On Display Thursday; Fri: Pretty Pintastic Party; Foodie Friends Friday; That’s Fresh Friday; Family Fun Friday; For the Kids Fridays; Craft Frenzy Friday; Product Review; Friday Favorites; Weekends: Show and Share Saturday; Country Kids with Coombe Mill; The Weekend Social; Snickerdoodle Sunday; Show Me Saturday; Ultimate Link Party; Coast to Coast Blog Post Party
Moving isnt fun. I didn’t move as much as you did as a military child, but boy did I hate changing schools!
Yes it was always difficult!
Military families are heroes in my book….every single member of the family!
I agree Kristin!
Wow! Military families are amazing and I look up to them. Yes you can have some adventures in new places but that’s not what life is all about…it has to be hard moving around so often
Thanks Erin!
It must be hard to move so frequently and I can see how it makes answering the question “Where are you from?” a very difficult one to answer but having all those different experiences of living in different areas can be a positive thing too. I have a lot of respect for military families having to cope with a parent being away on active duty and the frequent moving.
I’m a veterans wife and our daughter was born in Korea. We have moved quite a bit. But once PTSD started to manifest we settled down. I am glad that “we” are out of the military it would have been really hard on my daughter moving so much She used to have really bad separation anxiety.
I hope y’all are enjoying life out of the military and being together as a family!
BIG thanks to you and your family for the many, many sacrifices made over decades serving our nation! I went to 7 schools K-12 and I think it may’ve helped me make friends pretty easily. But then again, I probably would’ve been a chatterbox anyway! 🙂
Thanks Michelle! I think the schools that I attended helped since the majority of them were either DoDDs (schools on post) or near post and the other students were in the same situation.