Deployment Gremlins

As wives, we're aware that at the beginning of any deployment, something will break.  For some arrogant reason, I did not think that, as a mom, I would have to deal with the gremlins..

Boy, was I wrong.

A second surprise was awaiting me....an upside to the gremlins.

Saturday morning at about 3:00 am, when the dog woke me up with the desperate potty dance, I discovered that my phone was dead and my access to the Internet and email were gone.  G-O-N-E.  To make matters worse, Lancelot is the techno geek (I play his alter ego, the techno idiot) and he was gone too!!!  Further, my cellphone battery was on it's last leg and only holding a charge for about 20 minutes.

For two days, I was in luddite hell.  Monday, I was able to fix the internet and email problems but to date, we are still without  a working line on the home phone.  A new router is coming but it's not here yet.       I have a pretty, new, pink Razor phone but as Lancelot gently reminded me last night, I only have 500 minutes a month.  sigh....

I mentioned an upside and it only occurred to me a little while ago.  LCPL Dark Prince has only been gone for about two weeks and both his father and I are keeping busy and staying strong.  The upside to the communication fiasco is that I do not have to talk to all my relatives and friends about how they remember Dark Prince as a little boy:

      1.  The time he peed in the little tykes kitchen coffeepot.

      2.   The time he turned a toy pickup truck into a dump truck.  (Just use  your imagination)

      3.   The time he gave Ross a swirlie in middle school.

      4.   The time he filled Susan M.'s purse with parmesan cheese at a dinner party.

And so on....he was a very active child.  But the thing is..he's not a child anymore and as his parent, I just don't have the luxury right now of going there.  I will get to do that again when he gets home but for the present, I have to think of him as he is now:  an almost 22 year old young man who's well trained, well armed and ready.  So believe it or not, there is an upside to the comm problems we've been having.  It's provided a much needed, short term cessation to all the well meaning trips down memory lane.  Between now and when our phone gets back up and running, I'll have figured out a way to gently change the subject.

 

          

Comments

[plibarmywife]

you did it..perfectly. just remind them (I did it with my hysterical drunken relative as well as with my parents and DHs father..) that he's a big boy now. he crosses the street and everything all by himself. He put his hand up and swore an oath and is being a responsible, brave and honourable man. MAN. not Boy. and then when it gets to be a bit too much... HANG UP> (oops, auntie whatzit, the phone must have cut out on me again...)

LAW

[She of the Sea]

Plus, you can probably get them to talk about their techno problems, thus averting their attention from you. Double bonus!

[Sarah]

Butterfly Wife wrote about Deployment Angels this week, which I thought was cute:
http://lifeofabutterflywife.blogspot.com/2008/04/gremlins-vs-angels.html

[Cassandra]

Heh.

Idea for a post.