Being a military child is rough I’m sure you’ve heard. Both of my parents were in the air force, my mom still is and my dad is retired. As a kid I thought it was a lot tougher than it actually is. Maybe it’s because my family doesn’t move as much and my parents don’t get deployed either.

But since there are four kids in my family (not counting my oldest brother) things weren’t so bad.  When I was a baby my dad was always deployed, and as I grew older (like ages 5-10) it was my mom. I can’t remember what it was like when my dad was gone, but I definitely remember when my mom was.

Dealing with my mom being gone was something that I hate about my childhood. Sometimes I would just sit there and cry because she wasn’t there. I missed her so much.

One thing I remember is watching this one TV show and in the episode it was recognizing all the military kids whose parents were or are deployed and how hard it is. I just related so much, I was also very appreciative that a TV show acknowledged this.

Something that I also didn’t like at all about my mom being gone was that my dad had to take me and sisters to all of our events. Such as gymnastics, parent-teacher conferences, hair appointments, and sometimes he would even do our hair, not saying it was bad, but it would hurt a lot.

Being in a military family means that you have to be strong, and you can’t get too attached to people. I’ve moved a total of two to three times. Where I was born was actually where my mom was stationed, I only lived there for about 4 years, then I moved to Nebraska, where I learned that you can’t keep being so attached to people. I learned that within my friend groups, and with my mom being away all the time.

I had one teacher who was super nice about being a military child, she related to it a lot and even helped me and my sisters make a Christmas card for my mom while she was gone. I was really glad to have someone like her as one of my teachers, it really showed she cared. I also was glad to be in that school because even if there were people who were mean, there were people like that teacher who were always willing to help.

But when I thought I had my life ahead figured out, I was moving again, and honestly I’m glad that I did. My mom isn’t gone much, and I feel like I have a bunch more opportunities available.

Being in a military family makes me feel very strong because I can deal with my mom being gone. Every time she would go away I realized that I cried a lot less than the last time until eventually I just stopped crying in general. I also realized that I can’t keep crying forever and eventually they will come back. Hopefully at least.

It also helped me learn that I shouldn’t be so attached to people. I should know who’ll stick with me in the end, and will help me with these sort of issues.