You know you are an Army Mom when:

You Know your a Military Mom when...
*You keep you phone at arms reach so you can pick it up right away when your son or daughter calls home.
*Not having any contact with your Soldier even for a few days is enough to drive you crazy.
*You know you have raised one of America's best.
*You are always waiting for a phone call or e-mail and when you do you're over the moon.
*You spend each day with a pit in your stomach but try to stay tough.
*Sometimes you find yourself crying in the oddest of places in a supermarket aisle, a church pew, or just walking down the street.
*You didn't ask for this job but you accepted it anyway.(Can I get an AMEN & HOOAH)
*Your heart is bursting with pride, but at the same time frozen with fear.
*You get a lump in your throat and tears in your eyes when ever you hear the National Anthem and other patriotic songs.(every time)
*You know what BCT, AIT, BDU, PTSD, and other Military acronyms stand for.
*You belong to an Military mom support group or Military online forum, or Facebook group.(And Thank God for Them)
*Your last good nights sleep was before your son or daughter left for boot camp.
*You tear up whenever you see someone in uniform.
*You can pick out a Military person out of uniform.
*My son is my Hero!!!.

College vs War

Ok I am going to go out on a limb here but I have to have my say. I have been seeing so many people writing how depressed they are because they are having to send their child off to college. Here are my thoughts on that:

Yes I am sure it is hard to send you child off to college but saying that it is the same as sending your child off to war is way off base and these people do not have a clue.

You send your child to college but the professor does not come to class with IED's or weapons. Professors are not out to kill your child. Your child can come home any time they want to. Your child can call home or txt you anytime they want to. You child does not have to sleep in the mud or go days or weeks without a shower. Your child is able to eat 3 square meals a day. Your child's hardest assignment is writing a paper to get a grade. Your child is not being mortared while in the classroom. Your child is not watching their friends getting blown up on the battle field. Again I repeat no one is trying to kill your child. That is just a few things that I can come up with off the top of my head. So please don't say that sending your child off to college is like sending them to war. There is no way to compare the two.

I may be way off base because I have never sent my child to college but I have sent my child off to a war zone and it is a living hell.

OUR KIDS GO TO WAR SO YOURS CAN GO TO COLLEGE!!!

That is my opinion and I am entitled to it...

A Mother's Journey

Where do I begin. With the numerous deployments you would think that I would be used to this by now. Guess what? I'm not used to it. As a matter of fact I think I am more of a wreck this time than any of the previous deployments. But today, I am not feeling anything. I am not happy, I am not sad, I am not worried, I am not anything. I just feel empty inside. Someone said its the perpetual roller coaster of ups and downs, uncomfortably numbed by all the chaos. Maybe that's it, I don't know.

I don't want to play "war" anymore. I want my son home. I want all of our troops home. It makes me physically ill when I hear of one of our troops dying in those hell holes that they are in. I support my son and all our troops and I stand behind them 100 percent. But when is this going to end? How many more of our brave warriors have to die or come home broken?

I am so tired. Sleep is not something that comes easily. When it does come the nightmares come along with it. The nightmares of the knock on the door or the phone call in the middle of the night saying something has happened to my son. My son tells me not to worry and says that he will be fine but that is not something that is easily done. I keep telling him that it's a mothers job to worry and I must say that I am good at my job.

I have not heard from my son in over a week. I know that no news is good news but I still worry. Then he told me that the internet will be going down shortly at the FOB so I have no idea how long it will be before I hear from him. Due to OPSEC I can't say what's going on but I do so miss that contact with my son. I spend so much time on the facebook looking for the incredible green dot. My phone is always at my side just in case he calls. I check Skype to see if he is online. I actually go into panic mode if I have to be away from the computer for more than a few minutes. I stepped away from the computer for a few minutes the other day to take care of the dogs and I missed him. He left me a message but the time I got back he was gone and I was heart broken.

I don't remember the last time I watched a movie and actually seen it. My mind wonders to my Soldier and I wonder what he is doing and if he is safe. I don't just have my son in the sandbox but also his girlfriend who I consider my daughter so I have double the worry. I get to chat with her more often than my son because she is a medic and is on the FOB but my son goes out on missions and doesn't get to the computer that often. So yes missing a chance to chat with him is heart breaking.

I know that I am not alone in this journey. There are lots of moms going through the same thing. I have a lot of Army mom friends. We are all at different stages of this Army thing but we are there for one another. When one hurts we all hurt.