Preparing for re deployment

It is that time. What time you may ask? Time for my hero to come home. Well not technically yet but getting closer. Close enough that it is time to start preparing for his homecoming. How do I prepare you may be wondering. Well let me tell you. *I make sure there is plenty of diet pepsi in the house. I currently have 14-12 packs *make sure I have his condiments in the house- A1, BBQ sauce, soy sauce have been purchased *make sure I have his food in the house-red meat bought, have not bought steaks because he requested to do this himself *make sure I go through his clothes and get rid of things I do not like. Okay, maybe I should not do this but I did *make sure I have not moved things around in the house that he may need. One time I moved the towels *make sure his truck is running and cleaned out and smells nice. OOPS! I let the battery run down * start working on sitters for date nights, after being gone so long you have to make time to get to know one another, time to talk and re connect *start working on welcome home posters *start thinking about block leave because you probably both have ideas that are not the same *I am starting to clean up and organize now, so that I am not going crazy the week before he comes home. I like to really clean up before he comes home so I have more time to relax when he is home *make a reasonable list of things that need repaired or fixed when he gets home and remind myself he will still be working when he gets home *make sure finances are in order and set a budget according to the money he will be making once he is home. One time during one of our first deployments I moved all of his clothes to an upstairs closet and took all of his knick knacks out of the bedroom. He came home and felt like it was not his bedroom. I love that my soldier is coming home this fall. I would be lying if I did not say I wasn’t a little nervous about how we fit back together as a family. Children grow up and change. I have changed, he has changed. He is not use to being around 6 kids constantly. He is not use to picking what he wants to eat or even eating when he wants. It takes time. My hero is amazing with the kids but when he came home the last time I made a huge mistake. His first weekend home I left him alone with the kids for 8 hours. He was over whelmed, they took advantage of him and well it was not good. When he comes home and is settled we will set down and have a family meeting and discuss what our family goals are and rules are. So how do you prepare for your soldier to come home? What do you look forward to and what makes you nervous? Pamela