There is nothing easy about Defence Life. For the partners of serving members, it takes every ounce of strength, determination, creativity and resilience we have to navigate this world for ourselves, much less guide our families through too!
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My heart is to make this a community where we can learn from each other, because no one should be doing this life alone!
From a Defence Wife who learned everything the hard way: I hope you’ll recognise my struggles and achievements in your own journey and know that you’re not alone! From long separations, to household management, Army culture-shock, new postings, Defence housing and everything in-between: here you’ll find my honest thoughts on the experience of being a military spouse, along with any tips and techniques I've learned along the way which might help simplify your life as an Army wife and help you feel a little more at home in the world of Defence.
Jessica xo
Life as an Army wife CAN be a struggle, but together; maybe it can be a life where we thrive, instead of just survive…
Why I hate being a military spouse sometimes (and it's okay if you do too!)
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: