"No Really, HOW Do You Do It?"

I had the funniest thing happen to me.

All in one day, I had several (read:6-8) people ask me HOW I was doing this. Husband gone, newborn twins transitioning into crawlers, a high-maintenance 4 year old.

This woman asked me, "No, really, HOW are you doing this?" then she proceeded to get really close (like close-talker close) and peer into my eyes as if my pupils had the answer.

Well, close-talker lady, here's my answer.

1: The best piece of advice I got pre-deployment was from my Mom. She told me that my number one priority was to BE CALM. Be calm for your children. If you aren't feeling calm, fake it. They need it. Funny thing is, I got accustomed to this facade of calmness until I actually started to feel it. I AM calm thanks to faking it 'til I made it.

2: I Don't do ANYTHING for myself. I am last on priority list. But, for now, that's how it has to be. If I cursed every day that went by where I didn't get to read a book for 15 minutes, write, paint, swim, whatever, I'd be one pissy momma. This is temporary, but for now, I'm dead last. You know what? I've never been happier.

3: There's a routine, I stick to it. The kids have a plastic-firm schedule. This way, they know what to expect, and they go to bed every night like clockwork. Kids need repetition, they need routine.

4: I compartmentalize EVERYTHING. I don't think about the dangers of this deployment. Alex jokingly calls this Daddy's time in a cabin in the mountains, and that's how I'm seeing it. That goes for many things.

5: I find as many mundane things humorous as possible. It makes life more livable, and laughing just plain feels good.

I know there's more, but that's it for now. I got a baby crying....