Navy nurse, wife and mother....

The Little Greek · Jan 12, 2008

To all of you women who are a nurse, wife, and mother- How do you do it? In the civilian world, you take off 6 weeks, 6 months, 1 year, 2 years...whatever you can afford and handle. I know in the military it is not that flexible. Who takes care of the children? Do you have another option besides daycare (i.e. nannies?) Does it require a lot of extra help from the husband? What if his job is demanding and can't be home? Do you find that you have enough time to be at home with your family? What are you experiences? Do you suggest not joining the Navy Nurse Corp if I am about to get married and ...I'm sure...children on the way shortly after that (1-2 years)?
Thank you for any input you can provide.:)

Okay, no one has answered this yet and I feel a bit like an intruder because I'm not in the Navy, nor am I AD yet, BUT I am a nurse and mother of 2 young boys. Somehow I managed to make it through nursing school pregnant, breastfeeding, and making time to be a mom. All that said, my husband is amazing and helps a bunch...couldn't have done it without him. All that said, let me touch on a few of your questions:

It's true, many civilian nurses take time off when needed to be with their kids. That's certainly not an option for me. School has left me tremendously in debt so I MUST work a 40 hour week--or more. When I'm AD I don't see how it will be different from what I'm doing now.

I use daycare for my kids. One is in Kindergarten so he only needs after school care. I posed this same question to others on this site some time ago. See the thread titled "Child care for active duty dependents" maybe that will help some.

Does it require a lot of help from my husband? YES! In my house it's 100% a team effort. No one does more work than the other. We sometimes feel like we are playing tag--I'm leaving for work when he's getting home and we report off about the kids then go about our business. His job is also a little wacky (he's a service tech so it's never 9-5) so we do the best we can. Luckily we don't have to use a nanny, but I bet when I'm AD that is going to be a real possibility.

My two cents--any working parents are going to be affected by the strain of parenting and work. AD military is different only in that you can't just call-in to work or take a summer off just to watch the kids. Stressful? Yes, but parenting is stressful! All that said, I'm 34 years old, a mother of two, happily married, and very eager to make a career in the Air Force. I assure you that it can be done. You just need to decide if it's the career choice for YOU. Make sure that you talk it out with your SO and be sure he's on board too. If he's not 100% supportive, you might be setting yourself up for a hard time. If you know anyone who is/was in the military, make sure you talk to them about it and get the goods and bads. My husband was (is) a Marine, his father retired from the AF so he knows all about the way the military works. I'd be wary to join if I wasn't sure he was totally supportive.

Best of luck!

catchingcatherineg · Jan 29, 2008

Yeah, you have other options other than daycare. You can have a Nanny come to base (if you sponsor them- aka- you or your husband picks up the nanny everyday) Or you can drive the children off base to the nanny or another daycare. As for balancing schedules and family- it just depends on your immediate supervisor... your duty station, as clinics aren't 24 hours like hospitals. Congratulations on the wedding and good luck! :)