I’m a firm believer that children thrive when they are in an environment that is well-defined by rules. However, sometimes parents just want to say “Yes.”

No matter how much you plan and prepare, something always gets lost, stolen or broken when you pack up all your possessions and move.

Military life has taught me that new friendships are not an entitlement. In the school of milspouse hard knocks, you have to work at it.

The emotions, associations and experiences conjured by the onset of summer are different for children and their parents.

With more than three acres of grass to cut, my father had two workers at the ready: My older brother and me. In the summertime, while our friends were gallivanting off to the community pool in flip-flops and terry cloth, my brother and I were doing forced labor.

Some of the best treasures found at flea markets are the people.

Although we never seem to forget the hot dogs, pickle relish and cold beer for our Memorial Day cookouts, we tend to forget the underlying reason we get the day off to begin with. 

Regardless of age, military retirees love military discounts. No matter where we go — hardware stores, movie theaters, diners, golf courses, bookstores, my husband asks THAT question: “Do you have a military discount?”

A National State of Emergency in children’s mental health has been declared. And it only gets worse when you consider military dependents and the disruption that frequent moves and an unpredictable lifestyle causes.

I’ve learned over the years that true appreciation for motherhood is best felt, not described in words on a store-bought Mother’s Day card. The best way to fully comprehend the instinctual and emotional feelings of motherhood is to experience parenthood for oneself.

Being stationed in far-flung places can make for a beautiful mix of friendships of different nationalities and ages. Some of those bonds might even last a lifetime.

Loneliness is an important subject because it affects everyone, especially those in the military community who change locations regularly. How we deal with it is important.

Preparing for Easter — and more to the point, Lenten deprivation — makes us all a little crazy.

There’s nothing to regulate service members’ nutrition after retirement. Here’s what it might look like if a former service member made his own nutrition wheel.

What if, just what if, I sustained some kind of non-life-threatening injury or illness that would require me to be in the hospital, or at least in bed, for a couple of weeks?

Even though the Blue Star Families Military Family Lifestyle surveys always cover financial challenges such as military pay concerns, lack of affordable childcare and chronic military spouse under- and unemployment, the most recent report revealed some surprising new money-related statistics.

Children in military families grow up in a unique context that makes their experiences different from other peers. We need to take extra time to listen to and reassure them.

Coffee is my lifestyle, my culture, my manifesto, my identity. Tea is a poor substitute.