"Instead of complaining that the rosebush is full of thorns, be happy that the thorn bush has roses. " ~Proverb

I feel like I should have a shirt made that says "Complaint Department" on it in big, bold, black letters. There are days like today when my children wake up and start right in on me.
"My legs hurt, my arms hurt, I'm tired!"
Yesterday afternoon I received a phone call from school from the teenager. It started with a plea to be picked up early from school and (after the request was denied) ran straight in to a barrage of complaints.
"My legs hurt, my arms hurt, I'm tired!"
During the deployments, similar complaints came from the families that were left behind. I could be anywhere on post, shopping, at a child's soccer game, at the theater, and the complaints would come.
"The roster is messed up. Is this how you run a Family Readiness Group? I haven't heard from my Soldier in a week!"
 In the beginning, I would take these complaints personally. Every word was an attack and I would walk away from each situation a casualty. The days came when I didn't even want to leave the house for fear of the complaints.
 I'm not sure exactly when it happened, but out of self preservation, I grew a tough outer skin. I started to see these exchanges as a way to support the families who needed to vent. I found rather quickly that most complaints are a way to reach out for people who are experiencing other feelings. Once the complaining was over, our families could get on with the healing part of the deployment. Most of the time they just needed to be heard. I learned that the families that weren't complaining now and again were the ones to worry about.
 Little did I know that those experiences would prepare me fantastically for the teenage years. With so many emotions colliding inside our teenager, I've found that complaining is just another way to communicate. When the smoke settles and all of the emotions are out, I'm still standing. I don't take it personally and he can begin to move on from whatever crisis started everything. Most of the time, he just needs to be heard.
 As our teenager works out his feelings on his way to becoming an adult, I'm going to make sure that the complaint department is always open and always ready to listen. Thanks to the deployments, I'm highly experienced.