We are on our way home from Oracle, and the Triangle Y YMCA Camp. This month, in Arizona, is the Month of the Military Child. Today was a partnership event where the youth do fun activities aimed at building teamwork, leadership and cooperation, and the whole family saw demonstrations and went through a room with available resources.
We learned about ACT and SAT prep available from Military One Source. We learned about some short camps coming up locally, and listened to the Army military youth of the year talk about volunteerism and staying positive and on goal. The afternoon LRC (leadership reaction course) was for the kids, but we parents were invited to follow along. It was proctored by the drug and gang task force members of the local military. There were seven different stations, including the carpet walk across the hot lava with the goblin stealing the carpets, a BDU relay, a challenge of using wood planks to get youth across an imaginary pond of water between concrete pylons, and more. Each task was designed to highlight a leadership skill or quality, an when they broke each skill down afterward to what worked and what didn’t, they related the youth back to the adaptations of life when their military family member deploys or returns.
There was one challenge with plastic pieces and a marble. The man in charge asked for a leader, and by now Wyatt knew to volunteer fast. They were to create an aqueduct of sorts to get the marble from the start area to the bucket several feet away. The man in charge said there needed to me more people (the group ours were in had two sets of two siblings), and had the mothers join in. I later found out why. We took several tries, though had a hard time communicating what changes needed to be made in order to improve our outcomes. Had we had one more try, I think we could have adjusted enough to complete the task. In the after breakdown, the man in charge asked what skill they were supposed to be working on- the kids figured out about communication pretty quickly.
The man in charge set about to remind the youth about how important communication is among the family members when hey family member leaves or returns. He had them talk about the roles they take on when their father is gone, and how they have to communicate with both their parents as well as their siblings before, during and after deployment. Then he set about to very pointedly remind the moms he had recruited that it is also our duty to lead by example in the communication structure and not leave out our husbands when they return or make them feel less a part of the family structure. It was VERY pointed. Kind of hit home, too.
As we all climbed the steps up to the main area where the youth would build a puzzle from the pieces collected as reward for completing tasks, I mentioned it to Charlie, and how pointed it was. He said he hoped I learned it. It was odd to hear from this man I didn’t know. I often read about how military wives feel frustrated and alone, and are tired of having to be strong, smile, and never have a day off. I often wonder why, if we all go through the same feelings, we are still in this place. It was kind of funny to hear that so many of the husbands all feel left out when they come home, too.
Just food for thought that led me to this blog piece. Hope you remember to take the time to communicate with and appreciate those around you.
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