Summer has begun and I have to say, in the last several days, it’s been hard to get on the computer! I NEED to get on the computer but we’ve been having too much fun doing summer stuff.
Actually, I guess that depends on who you ask. Our son has loved playing outside with his friends and doing our Friday Fun days but he’s not so crazy about the school stuff I’m having him do each day (an hour or so in the mornings – reading, math and writing worksheets). I keep telling myself I may be the bad guy today but he’ll thank me when he graduates with honors his senior year! 
Anyway, we found him a cheap little desk light for his desk which is in the corner of our home office that he really needed and as I went to get a light bulb out of our laundry room, I was reminded of our Light Bulb List.
The Light Bulb List was something my husband put together for me before he deployed in 2007. He was usually the one who changed out the light bulbs when it was needed, and as a favor to me, he made a list of EVERY light we had in our house and what type of lightbulb it used. THEN he went out and bought a few boxes of each light so I would never have to worry about it while he was gone! The list is taped inside one of the cabinet doors where the lightbulbs are stored, and it was extremely handy to me (and still is!).
This idea may sound a little silly to some of you but I bet there are other things in your homes and your yards you might benefit from having your spouse make a list for (and even thinking ahead, buying extra supplies of something) before he or she leaves on a deployment. Do you know how to run the lawnmower? Do you know how to fill it up with gas and oil and all that fun stuff? What about the car? If you’re not going to have someone else take care of it while your husband’s gone, then you might want a lawnmower list, or a garage list, or a car list.
If you’re a male spouse and your wife is leaving and she’s the one who normally pays the bills, you might want her to create a Bill List, with online account info, usernames, passwords and bill due dates for each month. Or a Phone List, with all of her contact numbers and emails for the kids schools, coaches, teachers, private lessons, etc.
As a military couple, each person plays an important role in the marriage and the family. It’s important to think ahead so you can be as prepared as possible during the deployment. That way, the spouse at home doesn’t feel as lost trying to do the other’s “job” and the spouse who is away will still feel that he or she has helped and is contributing to keeping the family going during their time apart.
What kind of list will you make?
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{ 3 comments… read them below or add one }
what a great idea!
my hubby did a car list which I have looked at on occasion but now I just take it to quickcar and have them worry about it for me! lol
great idea though.
Sara, you are right on once again!
I have a Binder about 4 inches thick of everything…home stuff, work stuff, contacts, insurance info, caco stuff (god forbid)… I mean EVERYTHING related to us, our home, our belongings, our life. Every credit card number to how to work the DVR, to when to service cars, to how to work the edge clippers, to a 'how-to" to open up the computer case and exchange components in the event I needed to swap out a video card or motherboard for instance (which has come in handy might I say).
When we moved I had my husband
update it (took awhile!)and I don't think I'm ever going to go without it again! He got home this past Jan from Iraq and I STILL use that thing pretty often. Of course he goes away alot so its always a handy little thing to have.
Every couple should sit down and make these lists prior. I believe it makes us all more self-sufficient and independent spouses. Its always a nice ego boost when you can go and diagnose your own car with a tool when the check engine light comes on and hubby is gone and FIX it without asking a neighbor to take a look
My husband always tells me "Luck favors the prepared".
Tina Schlise