Sometimes I wonder who my audience is for this blog. For the most part it is family and friends. I also keep in mind that people interested in Del Mar Academy and Nosara might come across this blog. And, I think of other military spouses...
My first reason to come here was to offer my kids a wonderful place while their dad is away training and deployed. I share the good times on the blog and the beach is a wonderful outlet. The kids flourish here. I can’t let this go on without mentioning how hard it is also. It would be an injustice to other families who go through similar separations.
Yes, we are in paradise but it is so hard to raise 3 kids alone in a place where you know nobody and you don’t speak the language. This place is beautiful but it is not without its struggles and those are 10 fold with 3 young kids. I am not writing this to complain. I am writing this to be truthful and not make it appear that in unique circumstances, military deployment is a breeze. It is not easy anywhere. I am only here because I have outlets for my kids more than any other place; but nonetheless, I miss a simple, familiar home. I have never been good at making that when my husband is away. I am bad about birthdays and holidays when I am alone and I know those are so important for my kids, even more so in this situation.
And so, in a true testament to our experience here, I admit that I struggle and I am not the mom I want to be most of the time. I keep waiting for the day I wake up and I have endless patience and the routine rolls out the day, unforced. As many days that have fallen into place, there are so many moments that are left solemnly unshared.
I miss shared experience, shared joy.
I think of my husband and I 30 years down the road, on a porch, reflecting on two very different lives that occurred at the same time.
I worry that for all of my work, my kids won’t remember this time or worse, maybe they will remember my struggle and not our joy.
I call to the Wonder-woman within
Wonder Woman Wikipedia (don't these sound like traits for a military Mom in Costa Rica):
Wonder Woman is a warrior Princess of the Amazons (based on the Amazons of Greek mythology) and was created as a "distinctly feminist role model whose mission was to bring the Amazon ideals of love, peace, and sexual equality to a world torn by the hatred of men."[2] Known in her homeland as Diana of Themyscira, her powers include superhuman strength, flight, super-speed, super-stamina, and super-agility. She is highly proficient in hand-to-hand combat and in the art of tactical warfare. She also possesses an animal-like cunning and a natural rapport with animals, which has in the past been presented as an actual ability to communicate with the animal kingdom. She uses her Lasso of Truth, which forces those bound by it to tell the truth, a pair of indestructible bracelets, a tiara which serves as a projectile, and, in some stories, an invisible airplane.
