Reconnecting after Deployment

Many of you know I have spent the last 3 months in Hopkins, Belize managing a guest house. Well I have returned home and have such a deep appreciation of all those years my hubby was in the Navy and what it meant for him to come home. I knew he was so happy to be home and we were excited too. In the early years I had to adjust to him not wanting to go anywhere right away, as the kids & I had done so

many fun things while he was gone (I had to keep them occupied, so we would just go & do stuff all the time), we wanted to share some of it with him, but he just wanted to stay home. We developed the practice of the 3 day honeymoon. For at least the first 3 days it was tabu for anyone to call or come over. This was family time!!! It worked very well, we would reconnect and slowly emerge into society and our outside activities. The other adjustment was relinquishing responsibilities that during the deployment were all on me.
I remember one time (it was a  lengthy deployment) I had been very spontaneous with the kids. Just on the fly I would say, "Hey lets go to the pool, or lets go bowling", things like that. I guess hubby was home for maybe a couple hours and one of the kids said, "Dad, when are you going out on the sub again?" Hubby said "Why do you ask?" "Because mom takes us to do FUN stuff", said the innocent child of truth. That's when hubby & I discussed moderation in what life is like during deployment compared to post deployment.

The new found appreciation I have for what it was like for hubby has probably left some of our friends wondering "What's up with her?" Well it's like this for me:
I am the social butterfly of our marriage, but after being a hostess for guest 24/7 for 3 months I am very much enjoying a few days of solitude. Getting to know my house again, my life again and forming a plan to re-engage in all the things I did before. It's like running at 150mph and coming to a screeching halt. There needs to be a buffer zone while the gears shift.
It was also hard during the last 3 months to find uninterrupted time to spend chatting with our children & grand children. So for the next few days if the only contact I have is with my family that will be the buffer zone I am in most need of right now. Be patient, the social butterfly you all know & love will emerge from her cocoon soon!