Blogger Biography: Melody identifies herself as an adult third culture kid having been raised in the United Kingdom as a missionary kid. She maintains a pretty good grasp of French and German, some Spanish and a word or two of Hungarian from her past life as a teacher of languages and a traveler of Europe. Her present life as a stay-at-home military spouse is beautifully rewarding as she raises her sons to be military angels. Melody enjoys blogging about a variety of interests from controversial topics such as religion to more light-hearted topics like what to feed her toddler, recipes for special occasions or how preciously sweet children are. She enjoys reading other military spouses’ blogs and enjoys writing about her own experience of this unique life.
I had a few bad days and nights with the little one recently, and with the heat of Vegas, it was getting to be too much. I feel like I’ve hit a wall in the deployment stages; I miss my husband, and I can’t see the end of it all.
I clear my schedule whenever I feel like this, and today I was going to have a lazy day in the house doing very little, when I saw that the Bellagio Art Gallery had its discount for locals tonight. My son could do with things to keep him busy too, and this would be a treat and education for both of us.
So when he ate a cooked lunch and fell asleep for his nap early, I rejoiced and packed his supper, so we could go enjoy the fountains and walk around a bit. When he woke early, we played a bit at home, I had a coffee, then I packed us in the truck and left to leisurely drive down Las Vegas Boulevard towards the Bellagio. We parked, did the bathroom break, walked around the seasonal display and I took some photos. Then I pushed the stroller out to the big fountains, taking time to let little one run around the smaller fountain in front of the hotel.
Oh my, he loved that! With my help he stood on the rim around the fountain and poked his finger in the little stream coming out of a shell made out of stone, discovering that stopping the flow makes one wet. So he tried again a few times and giggled every time; he was surprised to get wet in the face.
We watched the Bellagio fountains to some Italian opera, walked back through the casino to the art gallery, and once inside, little guy was beautifully behaved for the most part, laying his head on my shoulder and letting me and other adults enjoy the Impressionist paintings.
My son was honestly more interested in my phone-thing than the paintings, and did eventually discover that the acoustics were great for small shrieks, so we left about the time he livened up, with some chuckles from other patrons. After letting him run around at the entrance to the pool area and explore a bit, I took us to the Paris Casino to get some food for myself. Then after some good walking, we headed home.
What could have been another evening in the house watching television and letting my son play on his own became an exciting memory that will never be forgotten (by me at least).
Not everyone in the military has the option of going downtown in a famous city, but there is always something unique about the regions in which we are placed. Somehow, it makes a difference to me and is healing to explore the areas in which I find myself living. My child will have a unique experience and a different life from me, and I want to encourage his uniqueness too.
Today, I explored my cultural side, listened to French and German music and conversation, and reminded myself that deployment is not all there is. Maybe tomorrow will be another mundane, even boring, endless day just waiting for my hubby to return safely. But today was a vacation from a lot of the stress and frustration, and I needed that.
Spending Too Much Time Together Can Actually Ruin Your Relationship. … While for some, falling in love and being in a relationship gives you the comfort of never having to be alone, for others, it begins a cycle of unhealthy emotional attachments and dependencies, without them even noticing.