I am one of those wives that has had anxiety around reunion, and I have also had trouble with reintegration.
I have also been lucky enough to note, (thanks to SpouseBuzz)I am not ALONE here.
When some wives, are jumping up and down, teeth whitened, tanned,
hair did and smiling, I have noted anxiety. While my DH was away,
slaying dragons, and fighting evil, and helping those in need. I never
seemed to get to EVERYTHING on THE LIST. Or, that last few poundages lost, or the last of the dust bunnies removed. I was very disappointed in myself. And for some reason, I had created this
monster called perfectionism, that will never be achieved. And the fact that I thought it was even possible, and then later knowing better created an interesting dichotomy. I had created the monster, and then was beating myself up for not holding my end of the deal, I had made with "my crazy self".
Heck, the last deployment, my DH had left a 22 month old, and a
pregnant wife, and returned home to find a tired wife, a 3 year old,
and an 18 month old standing at the elevator staring at him. Which had
to be almost twilight zone for DH. I was worried about that as well. A NEW family.
There can be a lot of anxiety upon reuniting. "Is the same man
returning?" "Have our roles changed?" "How long will it take the
family to be functioning symbiotically again?"
After going to a Life Guard Workshop
here in Little Rock given by the VA. I noted, that the returning men
and women have anxieties as well. The staff present at the Life Guard
workshop, gave useful, and important tips in communicating these
anxieties with one another.
I hope this is a topic, you are ready to talk about, because it has to
be one of my favorite topics. (Now that I no longer think I am insane)
I am pleased to announce Dr. Roca from the Little Rock Veterans Administration will be a special guest on SpouseBuzz Talk Radio this July 12th, 6pm EST.
Please join us, by calling in 646.478.5665 LIVE, or join us in the Yahoo chat room. I hope to see you Thursday night!
UPDATE: The show will ACTUALLY be 7pm EST.
I slotted the show for 6pm, thinking it would be at 5pm CST. Imagine my surprise when I see the show scheduled for 6pm CST. So Unfortunately, I lost DR. Roca....but he is a dear, and is willing to reschedule. I will be sure and do this ASAP, and apologize for any inconvenience.
Thanks to Guard Wife for Co Hosting, it was so nice to get to talk to you.
(due to AWTM error!)
