Personal Narrative: Growing Up In A Single Parent Military Home

Growing up in a single parent military family I spent a lot of time away from my mom. When she would have to go away, my sister and I would stay with our mom’s friends or co-workers for weeks at a time. So when my husband came home, and told me that he thought joining the military would be a good move for our family, it was a difficult decision for me. However, we were struggling in our current situation. We were young parents without high school diplomas trying to make it on our own with our two daughters, and it was becoming harder and harder to find a steady job to support ourselves. I knew that we needed to do something to better ourselves, and provide our children with a fair opportunity to choose a direction for their lives. We made the

She had two girls who were around the same ages as my daughters. She had noticed that I was setting up my home for family child care and approached me about having her daughters come to my home. She explained to me how hard it was for her as a single parent soldier living so far away from her family support system. She mentioned that she was under constant stress, and worried about where her daughters would stay during her next field exercise. I told her about my childhood growing up in a single parent military home, and explained that that was exactly the reason I wanted to open a family child care home, and that I would love to care for her girls while she was away, and she wouldn’t have to worry about where they would stay anymore. I explained to her that if she needed to stay late at work she could just give me a call and it would not be a problem. If I had something to do after normal working hours, I would take the girls with me if it was alright with her. I remember seeing a look of hope on her face. She wasn’t sure if it would work out yet, but I knew that it would. Our families became very close. Her daughters stayed with my family for weeks at a time on multiple occasions. I provided care for the family for three years before they moved to a different base. It felt good to be helping, and to know that the parent was no longer stressed about where her children were going to go if and when field exercises came up, or if she was required to stay later at work. She already knew they had a safe, loving place to go. Providing this comfort for her and her children was what going into the family child care business was all