One of the areas we've been striving to find ways to make improvements is professional development for my husband's career. As the army size is shrinking (even though the tempo isn't) things feel a lot more competitive. These are hard times to be starting a new career, so our aim is to stay more than qualified for his current track. Currently, he's taking two certification courses to compliment his advanced degree and expand his world knowledge base. This adds an extra 6 hours a week to his already full time work schedule, but it's a sacrifice worth making.
This evening he was noting that had he been thinking perhaps we should have made plans to attend the military ball his top boss is hosting, because folks who attend get noticed. We don't seem to do "getting noticed" very well. Quite to the contrary I'm more apt to take the "try not to get noticed" route these days. I have a hard time viewing a ball as anything other than an outlandish event for frivolous merrymaking. It's been almost nine years since I've attended on, and nearly as long since we've actually been invited to boot!
The chief issue is procuring child care accommodations. With our ever full schedule and line of fiscal priorities, hiring a sitter is at the bottom of a very long to-do list. Since I can't even get a sitting for pressing emergencies (Yah, I've had to drag all 6 kids to the ER more than once) because I simply don't have anyone readily on tap. A child care professional (who is comfortable dealing with special needs teenagers) seems like an absolute luxury we could never afford... not to mention find. It feels like such a tremendous imposition so I rarely ask anyone to watch our kids. So to waste such a request on something like a military ball just seems out of the question. Besides, If I were to have a evening get away, a ball is hardly the first placed I'd think to go... well cause I don't really think along those lines anymore.
If attendance is required for career advancement, that does seem a trifle more important. Indeed, it used to be, back when the "Corp has" days, that a no show at a formal event was absolutely non starter, as your appearance was a well understood necessity to the successful promotion of ones military career. Over the years though, these things have become less important, and often space limitations dictated that not everyone could attend anyhow. Given the uptick in competiveness, perhaps we're harkening back to the bygone days of old. In that case, given we've missed the ball (don't they know it's the big track meet weekend!) Mia Culpa!
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