Change is hard for everyone

As long as I can remember, I have bought my french fried onions in this can.

So this past Thanksgiving, when I was checking things off my list for the fantastic feast I had planned with three other amazing women, I went up and down the aisles for a good 10 minutes LOOKING for them.

Where could they be?
HOW can we have THANKSGIVING without the traditional GREEN BEAN CASSEROLE?
I simply MUST FIND the FRENCH FRIED ONIONS!!!!!

So I asked one of the wonderful people who work at my Commissary.
“So are French Fried Onions a seasonal product like Pumpkin?”

Note: for those of you who have never lived overseas, some products are only carried seasonally so this comment made him laugh because in the months leading up to Thanksgiving, there are quite a few people (myself included!) who ask about the status of the first pumpkin shipment.

“Uh no Ma’am,” he chuckled, “I’m pretty sure we have them! Have you checked the end cap displays?”

Sure enough…
I found what I was looking for…
or rather, what I wasn’t looking for…

They CHANGED the CONTAINER? WHY? WHY would they DO that?

I stood there shaking my head, looking at the end cap display.

And THEN I noticed there were also a few NEW fangled containers in a DIFFERENT color…

Ok ok ok – so you CHANGE the container AND you add a new flavor and no one saw fit to inform me?
This is really not something I was prepared for.

I was supposed to come to the store,
buy my goodies for Thanksgiving,
and continue on my merry way.

Military Life as a family has created quite a few of these perplexing moments for us.
And Redeployment or Reintegration after Deployments seems to be the biggest container change of them all.

When you’ve been apart from your spouse for such a long time,
it’s completely natural to develop new goals, new perspectives, new interests,
and even change your mind completely about things you once thought were set in stone.

The most important thing we’ve learned to do, is just keep communicating.
And if you make a mistake or need to make a big decision without them, be reassuring -
then include them with finding a compromise you can agree on.

For example – we absolutely love Mac n Cheese.
And when THEY changed their container – I felt reassured by their message…

“the same gooey, cheesy taste in a fancy new box.  you’re probably feeling a lot of emotions right now. shocked. amazed. hungry. but don’t feel worried, because inside this box you’ll find the same deliciously gooey macaroni & cheese dinner you know and love. it’s just got a new grown-up look. so go ahead and hold your head high for loving that classic cheesy goodness. in fact, raise our new box above your head and announce to the whole store that you love it. because you know you do.”

The same thing goes with marriage and family – especially in the Military.

Growth is good.
Growth is change.
Change can also be scary.

Just keep communicating. And maybe learn something new – like how AWESOME those Cheddar Fried Onions taste!

So raise your head high for embracing your military life
and all the cheesy goodness that goes along with loving a man in uniform.

Because for all the craziness and challenges that are part of marriage and having children – you know you love it.

I know I do… most of the time… just don’t change my containers…

What changes are you facing with your family?

Does anyone else freak out when their groceries change containers?