10 Signs You're a Military Wife

When you marry a service member, you're not just marrying your partner. Whether you like it or not, you are marrying into a lifestyle and you're marrying into the massive community known as the military. As a military wife, you are going to be held to a different standard than other women, and no lie, it's going to be rough.

If you are new to the military wife life and have literally just finished up learning about military wedding traditions, you better be prepared! You'll start living a new way almost immediately after you move in with your spouse.

The funny thing about being a military spouse is how quickly you start adopting new behaviors. If you're a veteran to the wife life, then you already can tell the signs you're a military wife from a mile away.

Not sure where you land on the spousal spectrum? If you recognize these signs, it's safe to say you've been with your partner for quite some time.

FUBAR. PCS. AWOL. The list goes on and on. Military life has a tendency of boiling life's issues down to a couple of letters and a couple of slang terms. If you hang out with a lot of military folks, then you also will have the habit of acronym use rub off on you.

One of the most telling signs you're a military wife is when you can speak fluently in acronyms. Your man's not on leave, he's on PCI. Your kids didn't skip school, they went AWOL. Sound familiar? Welcome to the military world.

You scoff when you hear other women talk about spending time away from their spouses.

Civilian wives don't know how good they've got it, do they? For most wives, spending a week away from hubby is a nightmare. For military wives, this is a cakewalk.

If you have ever had to survive deployment, then you know what it's like to spend months or even years away from your partner. It's excruciating, and it makes you have little sympathy for women whose partners are on business trips.

Moving quickly and easily is your shtick.

If there's one thing that military wives have mastered, it's the art of moving from place to place. You have your inventory, your checklist, your quick packing skills, and your ability to figure out how to make it all happen in a week.

Once you experience PCS moves two or three times with your family, it'll become second nature. The constant hopping from place to place is one of the most surefire signs you're a military wife.

Though you go through multiple deployments, you know it never really gets totally better.

The first deployment you face as a military wife is the scariest. You're a bag of nerves and fear, wondering if you're ever going to see your spouse again. You panic, you wonder how you'll survive, and you'll start crying at the drop of a hat.

The first is definitely the worst, but the fact is that the deployment anxiety never really leaves. Each one will still suck. And you know that better than any other civilian will.

Even though you would adore a job, you spend most of your time unemployed, underemployed, or freelancing.

Perhaps one of the most commonly joked about signs you're a military wife deals with your employment—or lack thereof. Let's face it, companies don't want to hire military wives because they don't know whether or not they'll be around in three months.

Thankfully, you will quite possibly become a maverick with freelancing work. Whether it's content creation, photography, or babysitting, you'll find a way to make things work. Military wives are good like that.

People regularly marvel at your ability to problem solve.

Hubby's overseas. You have two kids crying. Money is required for a sitter and you only have a part time job. Your husband's check doesn't come in until two weeks later. What do you do?

If you're a military wife, you will most likely find a way to MacGuyver your way into functionality. The longer you're a military wife, the better you can handle tough situations with ease.

You know that the military is like a giant, crazy family.

When you're a military spouse, you will quickly find yourself in the middle of a new social network. You'll be introduced to other military families, asked to go to coffees with fellow wives, and also find more military friends than you ever thought possible.

Your cell phone will be filled with text messages from people who just understand what you're going through and talk the same language as you. It's amazing to feel that kind of support from the military community.

You know how to put together an outfit for a fancy dress ball like no one else.

If there's one perk that comes with being a military spouse, it's being invited to all those fancy military balls. Long, poofy dresses, gloves, elegant makeup... you want to wear it? You can, and your husband will look dapper in his uniform too.

Putting together all those outfits for homecoming is a skill, though. If you've mastered it, then you already know that you're a veteran military spouse.

You will get used to taking phone calls from strange phone numbers at 3AM without thinking twice about it. You will also get used to talking in vague ways while your partner is deployed. You will get used to saying things like, "Honey, you dropped your gun."

Are you in organized crime? No, but most would never guess from the way you act. It's rough if you're new to it, too. Being a new military wife is hard to explain to others unless they have actually been there themselves.

Someone sent you this list knowing you'll laugh.

One of the clearest signs you're a military wife is how people react to seeing this list. Chances are, if you're becoming a military spouse or already there, they thought of you and smiled.

If you were the first person they thought of and they had to share it with you, then it's pretty safe to say that you're acing this military wife lifestyle, having an absolute ball with it.