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My Military Kids

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Earlier this year when I shared that our family would be moving to Kansas this summer, I got a whole lot of questions. There was one question in particular, that seemed to pop up in my inbox and comment sections time and time again.

How do the girls handle all the moves?

I planned on publishing this wayyy back when we got PCS (permanent[ish] change of station) orders, but being that April is the Month of the Military Child, I wanted to save this post for this month. Well, the month has come and gone, and with another military move on the horizon, this blog has once again been set on the back burner. Before the month completely gets away from me, I wanted to share. 

Military child blowing a dandelion-the flower of the military child

First and foremost, I am SO thankful that the girls manage to handle these moves so well! They are truly little rockstars when it comes to hopping right back into regular life and adjusting to new friends in a new environment. It was such a relief to arrive in Newport last summer and see kids running around everywhere. The girls made great friends in the back courtyard area on day 0. 

One of the main reasons that I’ve come to love living on base, is that the kids have the familiarity of having the same friends around all the time. Between the neighborhood playground, the bus stop, classes, and extracurricular activities, they get to see the same faces everywhere. Any extra little bit of familiarity that we can get makes the constant transitions so much easier. As the girls get older, I lean more towards wanting to live on base because of this. And we always swore we’d never live on base!  

Veronica will enter 4th grade next year, she’ll be heading into her 4th elementary school. She actually attended a 5th school upon moving to Kentucky, but that was only for a day. Thank goodness she’s pretty good at rolling with the punches. Adri will be going into 2nd grade in the fall and this will be her 3rd elementary school.

We don’t see family nearly as much as many civilian families do, but the military community has become somewhat of a family to us. The grandparents visit when they can, and since this is the only way of life the girls know, they really don’t think twice about it. It’s kinda funny–my girls don’t know how to actually hold a phone, because they’re so used to FaceTime! 

Still, I’m thankful for this crazy life and love that my girls get to experience it as well. They may not have a hometown, but so far they’ve been able to call five different towns home.

They’ve seen parts of the country that some adults will never get to see! They’ve gone swimming in the Atlantic and Pacific and plenty of muddy lakes in between. They’ve learned the Hawaiian language and how to make Kentucky straight bourbon. They’ve collected more sea glass than I’ve ever seen in my life! And most importantly, they’ve collected a boatload of memories.

Military life has been a learning experience, but I wouldn’t have it any other way! And the girls. They handle the moves just fine! They’re military brats–brave, strong, and resilient.