A Modern Woman’s (Non-FRG) Guide to Life + Love // Family

Hi. I’m Chantal and I have a military family.

I think I’m one of the only ones blogging in this series that has a child. As such, I was asked to write about being a military family. It was difficult for me at first to think of what to write, because I feel like we’re still so new as a “military family.” But my daughter is nearly two years old, so I guess I should have something to say, right?

A little about me, first. I blog at Scattered Seashells. My blog is about our life, including the military, our adventures, parenting advice and thought, and about raising my daughter, who is a busy girl and who keeps me on my toes. I’m also a crunchy mom, into all sorts of natural things, and a birth advocate training to be a doula. I’m a whole lot of things! First and foremost, I am a wife to my husband, an Army pilot, and a mother to our daughter.

We knew, going into this Army game, that one day we would be raising a family in it. Honestly, it never crossed my mind to do anything else. My husband always had plans to do 20 years, and we always had plans to have a couple kids. I knew the military life, while full of hardships, would be wonderful for our kids. Just think of all the places they would see and new people they would meet!

I always called myself a gypsy, and I feel called to this military life. I spent the first 12 years of my life in Canada, and then we moved to Colorado. My family also spent some time in England. The travel bug grew and grew in me. Since my husband and I married, we’ve lived in Georgia, Hawaii, and Alabama, and are headed to Korea next. We’ve also traveled to many places, including Australia!

Anyway, I wanted to give our kids the same opportunities to move around as I did. I feel like it made me a better person.

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Chantal shares some of the positive advantages to being a military family.
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1. You meet new people all the time! I’m a social person. While it’s hard at first to make new friends when you move, once you do, your whole world is opened up to new ideas and relationships. It’s even better for the kids — they can usually make friends so easily. Imagine all the connections and lifelong friendships they can form!

2. You get to see new places every few years! My daughter was born two years ago in Hawaii, spent the majority of her life thus far in Alabama, and will be spending her second birthday in Korea, where we’ll live for two years. Can you say you’ve done the same? We have chances to visit places all over the world that others dream about!

3. There’s always something to do! Check your bases activities list and you’ll be overwhelmed with all the choices you have. Playdates, gymnastics, festivals, trips, meetings… everything. You should never be bored. The military really does try to take care of the soldiers’ families.

4. There’s an instant community! This is my favorite part of military life, the community. If your spouse is deployed, you still have a family around you of others in the same situation. This goes for child-free people too. The military community embraces each other.

Being a military family is worth it. Worth every second. I’m proud to say we’re raising our daughter in this life!