Earlier this week, I read chapter 30 of the Army Wife Handbook {it was given to me as a gift, I figured I might as well read part of it}. Today I attended a 6 hour class at ACS. Anyone want to take a guess what is about to happen?!?!?
Almost 2 years after my husband graduated from CCC {Captains Career Course}, it's almost time for him to take company command. In less than 2 weeks, I will be the proud wife of the ICORP FWD HHC company commander. Along with his new job title comes the responsibility of maintaining the company FRG {Family Readiness Group}. What that really means is, since no spouse has stepped up to lead said group {it's usually led by a spouse of someone in the unit under the supervision of the CC}, that it falls on Jason's plate. This leaves me with 2 options. 1. Let him do it which in turn means more work for him which leads to less time to spend with me. or 2. Step up and volunteer to lead the group myself. Since I actually enjoy spending time with my husband, I have chosen option 2. The only problem with this is that until recently, I have never even attended an FRG meeting {we've been through a string of unusual units/circumstances}. I basically have NO clue what I'm doing but if it makes my husbands life easier, I'm going to do my best to figure it out! I pray that a more experienced wife steps up and offers to help me but for now I'm trying to suck up as much information as possible. {Any advice/resources/thoughts/comments/experiences would be appreciated}
Just when I thought my schedule was going to calm down a bit, I've realized it's probably going to do quite the opposite. I picked up an English teaching gig as a sub for one of my friends, at least once a month. PWOC has started back up again. I was elected secretary of the photography club on base. {I wasn't even around for that one, I received an email the morning after the meeting I missed saying "Congratulations!...." lol}. The spouses group here has kicked off a new year. I'm still teaching my regular students. I started taking Japanese lessons. My volunteer projects. This blog. Holiday season. Now the role of FRG leader?!?! Thank God for my Lilly planner or I might just lose my head! I really need to schedule in time to go to the gym too before the pounds creep up on me. I wanted to start taking some classes and get to work on finishing my undergrad degree but that is going to have to wait until I see exactly how much time these commitments are going to take up.
I have always thought my time management skills were above par but I guess we are going to find out here in the next couple months!
And because I can't post without a photo, here is a shot of me and some of the awesome girls I met through All Hands hanging out in Tokyo
Oh, I always thought the CC's wife was by default supposed to be the FRG leader. I'm doing it because our CC is single. I *highly* recommend taking any and all FRG related classes they offer on post. They helped so much more than the dumb online ones.
ReplyDeleteMost of all, find a senior spouse and ask her to have coffee and if she'd be willing to give you some tips. Your BC's wife will (hopefully) be a great resource. Ours is. Also, ideally you'll be taking over an existing FRG, so the outgoing leader may be able to help you transition, as well as the other existing officer positions. That will help a lot. When we came here, SoldierMan was put in a brand new unit, meaning no existing FRG (technically, we still don't really exist because I can't seem to get everyone's paperwork rounded up!) so we are literally starting from scratch. That's unusual, though.
I'm sure you will ace it. Maybe you don't have much FRG experience, but you've got great people skills and Army experience and that will help carry you until you know all the ins and outs. I really don't know much, but I've got a lot of resources if you have questions when the time comes.
Welcome to the club! lol :P I'm Aaron's FRG leader too. Sometimes it's a pain in the ass but other times it feels so rewording. :) Good luck to you and congrats to Jason on command!
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