I am a well seasoned military spouse but with that said there is something that no one ever told me about when it comes to military life. It is best known as Murphy’s Law of Military Spouses. This is basically when your spouse is away anything will and can happen and I mean anything. If it can break, it will break. If you or your child are going to get sick and/or injured, you will get sick and/or injured. If it can go wrong, it will go wrong. Murphy doesn’t care if your spouse is in the field for a week, TDY for a month or deployed. Murphy doesn’t discriminate. Murphy doesn’t care what your spouses rank is. Murphy just knows when your spouse is gone and invites themselves over for a vacation.
So now that I have explained what Murphy’s Law of Military Spouses is let me give you some examples of Murphy’s handy work. Over the last 15 years I have experienced it all. During my husband’s last deployment friends and I were going through similar problems at the same time. It was oddly coincidental when a group of us all had broken washing machines or were driving rental cars all at the same time. Dear Murphy… Why must you be so mean?
Here are probably the top ways that Murphy likes to make it’s presence known in no particular order:
1. Major Appliances and Home Issues
Murphy likes appliances. Washer’s, Dryers, Dishwashers, Ovens and more. Air conditioning and heating systems are always a fun things that Murphy likes to break. Appliances will all of the sudden start making weird noises, blow up, leak or just all out quit working. Pipes start leaking, and toilets have all sorts of issues. Murphy really likes to do his best to make things go awry at home. Leaving you to fix the problem (Google and Youtube are your friends) while other times you need to call a repair person or just replace the appliance.
2. Illness
Somebody will get sick especially if you have kids and because you have taught your kid’s to share, they will share their germs. If Murphy is really nice he will bring the stomach flu to your house and it will hit in the middle of the night. They will get sick in their bed, then on the carpet on the way to the bathroom and once you think they are better and asleep in your bed. They will throw up in your bed. The next morning they will be better but you will now be sick. Be warned if Murphy really likes you he will have multiple children getting sick at the same time. Trust me it is so much fun, yes that is sarcasm.
3. Emergency Room
I have joked that when my husband is away that I needed a frequent customer card when it comes to emergency room visits. I am thankful for Tricare in this department. Somehow someone always ends up in the emergency room. Whether it is a kid getting hurt somehow,appendicitis or something else. At one point or another somehow you will probably end up here.
4. Family Emergencies
Extended family emergencies are not out of the spectrum of things that Murphy dabbles in. From an extended family member getting severely ill to passing away. These type of emergencies are common.
5. Spiders, Bugs and Rodent’s, Oh My!
Murphy loves little critters! Especially little or not so little critters that make you want to scream. While your spouse is away you will deal with the biggest spiders you have ever seen. Fire ant’s will take over your yard and no amount of Amdro will get rid of them. You may have a pest person or use Ortho Home Defense religiously but bugs seem to keep finding their way in. Let us not forget about slithering things and little mice. Ugh, the hairs on my neck are sticking up just thinking about it.
6. Technology Problems
When your spouse goes away Murphy likes to play with all your gadgets that connect you to the world and your spouse. Your cable or satellite will go out. Your phone will decide to quit working, even if it is only a couple days old. Your hard drive will crash and your computer will give you the blue screen of death.
7. Natural Disasters
While your spouse is away the weather may get a bit crazy. There may be really bad storms that bring tornado’s, lightning strikes and floods. In the summertime there may be a hurricane. In the winter unusually cold weather and snowstorms. Sandstorm’s that bring brown out conditions. Murphy may shake things up and there will be an earthquake. Weather happens and when it happens it can bring along with it it’s own weather related problems from frozen pipes to leaking roofs.
8. Pet Emergencies
If you have pets know they are not immune from the wrath of Murphy. They will get sick or your never has an accident dog will have an accident. They may eat things that they shouldn’t, like that cute new pair of shoes, when they have never chewed up a thing in the past.
9. Car Problems
Murphy loves cars! Murphy loves messing with cars in a wide variety of ways. Murphy likes making cars break in many different ways from a flat tire to leaving you stuck with an empty tank on the side of the road even though the gas gauge said you had a quarter tank still. When Murphy doesn’t surprise you with the check engine light he may surprise you in other ways. You may find yourself in your first car accident from a simple fender bender to worse.
10. Financial and Legal Problems
Last but not least Murphy likes to monkey with financial and legal issues. There may be problems with paychecks to credit card numbers being stolen. Then again there is the part where you are emptying your wallet to pay for all the things that go wrongThen there are a whole slew of legal issues that may come up. For me I was actually being sued by an old doctor I had not seen in like 4 years due to a Tricare mistake. Odd stuff happens.
These things along with others just happen as soon as your spouse leaves. You can try to prevent them but that doesn’t usually help. If something is going to happen it will, that’s life. There is no telling how many times Murphy is going to bother you and interfere with your normal life. It can be annoyances all day long, something new every day of the week or a new problem every month. I have yet to decide which type of annoyance is the best and/or worse. All you can really say is Dear Murphy… You suck! While it does suck you need to know Murphy is also helping you! When Murphy strikes you have two options, break down or put on your big girl panties and deal with it. Life happens and it continues to keep going and your problem will still be there if you break down. So while breaking down is understandable and venting is good for you, the problem will still be there and you need to deal with it. Dealing with all the problems that Murphy brings you teaches you to learn how to adapt and helps build your resilience! So, Dear Murphy… Thank you for making me a stronger person!