Being Military Around the Holidays

by Eliza Ferree | More from this Blogger

02 Jan 2007 08:06 PM

Being in the military can mean being away from family, not just your immediate family but you your parents, sister, brother, etc. How do you handle this? I've grown up military so for me this isn't too big a deal but there are times that I become really homesick for mom and dad, especially around the holidays.

I don't remember many holidays but I do know that my family had HUGE family get-togethers, which means during the holidays I can grow very lonely when I'm hearing about all the family excitement. Yes, I do have my own but it is nothing compared to the HUGE family teasing and of course the meals served. There'd be no way you'd catch me cooking 9 different types of pies, 3 hams, 2 turkeys and many other sides. So you tell me, would you miss this? How would you deal with being hundreds of miles away from others?

For us, living near family always meant driving down 9 hours or more to visit everyone's house for Christmas or some other holiday. However, this would soon change when we were moved from one side of the states to the other. Too many miles to travel, three kids and knowing it would just cost too much money for a plane ticket for us to visit. Instead boxes would come a week or two prior to the holiday, showing the kids that they were never forgotten and of course we'd always get those phone calls before, during and after the get-togethers. This helped me feel like I was still being included in the family gatherings and that I wasn't miles away.

Granted for some, choosing to save up those dollars for a plane ticket would be easy. Save up the money and buy the tickets in the summer, however I've already learned that in the military it isn't always easy to do this. Things change, spouses might have to have duty during the break or have to be at an important meeting, not to mention there is schooling they might need to attend. So, making plans early on may not happen in the end.

Of course you may end up living near your family and find out at the last minute everyone is planning on coming to your house for the holidays. You'd better be prepared, you might not find out until the guests start showing up at the gate.

A few more stories for you to read:

Travel Memories

Car Travel Tips for Kids

Learn more about Eliza Ferree

Eliza Ferree is a military wife and mother to three children and currently pregnant with #4. Growing up as a "Military Brat" and marrying into the Marine Corps she's known no other life.

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Lisa P (24013) 03 Jan 2007 12:35 PM

More often than not, we've had to postpone our holidays due to deployments, TDYs and schools. My family (not military) never really understood it. Having been active duty myself, it made total sense to postpone holidays when I married a military man.

As for travel, well nobody seems to understand that at all. Everybody wants us to go to them on the holidays but they just don't understand the logistical and financial nightmare involved. You don't know if you'll have leave until about 3 days prior to the date you're scheduled to go and NOBODY can afford a plane ticket purchased three days before Christmas! Do you send your kids' Christmas presents ahead and hope that you'll get the leave? What if leave is canceled and all the children's presents have already been shipped to Florida? What do you do with the plane tickets?

Then you just might have the sort of family that tries to guilt you into taking the kids to them and leaving dad at home to work through the holidays. Yeah, Merry Christmas...NOT!

Thanks for bringing this up - I wish more people understood what it is like to be a military family!

Eliza Ferree (725) 03 Jan 2007 05:10 PM

I hear that, I had one relative tell me why don't you and the kids just all fly out here. I returned the question. Why don't you, it is just you compared to the four of us. Cheaper that way. Other family understand but tend to get aggravated that we don't come down. No pleasing all the time though.