Active Duty Moms

MrsMoody2006

Did you enlist before or after you had children? If after, what age were your children and how did you do it? 

 I'm asking because I've always wanted to enlist, since 7th grade, and right now it's at it's strongest ever. I'm not in already because both times I was about to sign the papers I found out I was pregnant. I can't stop thinking about leaving my babies though. 

1momma

I enlisted before I was pg. or married. But from what I understand from the others that were there with me, your DH will have to be home, to take responibility. And they always said that leaving them was hard, but managable.  Wrote A LOT of letters, and got a lot of picture updates from them. 

Get in the hideout and we can talk more about it

 

Indiechixor

Joined before baby or marriage, but as PP said, you can enlist as long as A) your within the right age DH is there to watch the kid should you have to deploy.
There is a large possibility that I'm getting deployed come next spring, and I'm having to mentally prepare myself now.

c.behrscout

When I joined I was single &  never planned on kids. Now  Im married & have a kid. I cant imagine  joining & leaving my family.

Depending on what kind of unit you get, it can really really really suck. Some units are not family friendly, whatsoever! Like the one I was in for 4 years. The only ones w/kids were the males whos wives stayed home. The few females that did have kids, usually let their family have custody cause they couldnt have time to take care of them. While assigned there my day started at 430 and I didnt get home till 7pm. I cant count how many times I had to hear all the guys getting yelled at by their wives on the phone, cause they had to work late. Not to mention having to deploy every other year..

 

danolitafawn

Your DH doesn't have to be home as long as you have a "Family Plan" which gives responsibility to a family member if you both were to pass..You can even stay on the same base..My DH didn't agree with this since if our base was hit our kids would lose both parents and have to be raised my family members..It would be a tough decision..

dmkjbw

I joined after DD was born. She was about 8 months old. I had the same feeling I always wanted to join. Its not easy being away and she grew up so much in just boot camp. It gets stressfull. DH is almost a single parent bc i can't be there all the time. I've talked to some ladies serving that haven't seen their kids for up to a year at a time. One I talked to said that she'd been deployed 4 out of the 6 years she's had her children. I don't know how she did it but on the other hand she didn't have much of a choice when they told her to go. But good luck.

Fergie+1

I joined before I got married and almost 7 years after being in, am having my first child. Deployments are always going to be rough, but if you're choosy about what branch you enlist in, it can make a world of difference. My job at home station is a little unexciting and very taken for granted, but deployed- a lot of fun and usually so busy that you don't have much time to mope. To me, it is a very rewarding job and the benefits are great. I've deployed 4 times as well, but my deployments are never more than 6 months at a time. By the time you settle in you're counting down to fly home.

It will be stressful when I deploy again after the baby's born, but knowing that the hubbs is going to be home makes a world of difference. I really hope you do your research about the different branches and what their family involvement is like, as well as the deployment cycles. Feel free to message me if you'd like to hear about my branch and what you'll look forward to if you do join.

Good luck!