Phone Call 2

During the 2nd phone call our DD was talking a mile-a-minute & proud of herself that she was not crying this time after hearing our voices (like call #1). As mentioned before (& by others), it is the fastest 30 minutes- not sure why the time does not fly by as quickly when I'm on the elliptical, but that's another story. Having the chance to get to know her detailers before the turnover was a definite highlight (having a chance to ask questions, etc was a great mentoring session).

She mentioned one of the coolest experiences yet had just happened that morning. She was told she had 6, (make that 5!), minutes to get into a certain uniform. Having no idea what is was for, she initially was a little dismayed as she was looking forward to attending church service (loves singing in the choir). She gets to her destination & sees she is participating in raising the colors. She loved every minute and was so grateful to have been selected.

While she had so many 'adventures' to tell us about, the one she spent the most time on was the admiration she felt raising Old Glory. Definitely N*ot college, and her Dad & I (both prior service) thank God for that!
 
Nice, seems like a common pattern: "what have I done"; then "I can make it, but not sure I want to"; then"like my squad"; Now "Love my squad, and like this Place dispite the stuff they are doing to me". Glad your daughter is doing well. I hope mine post didn't sound like "yippy for my kid". She'd struggled early, and knowing your kid is in a rough spot --- then no mail for two weeks was difficult. Her Mom has been all smiles since the 24th.

Best to you, DD, and family.
 
seems like a common pattern: "what have I done"; then "I can make it, but not sure I want to"; then"like my squad"; Now "Love my squad, and like this Place dispite the stuff they are doing to me".

I think most Plebes go through this to some degree. As tough as it is as a parent waiting and wondering how things are going until you get that phone call, when you look back you can see that it makes sense to limit phone calls and contact with parents while the Plebes go through this process. USNA knows what they are doing. I would bet that if Plebes were allowed to call home after a few days there would be a lot of "please get here as soon as you can and get me out of here!" phone calls and a lot of parents would be dropping the phone, jumping in their car and speeding to Annapolis.
 
Wait till you get that call from "Leatherneck". "I have seen up close and personal every tree and stream in Quantico, day and night" or as my wife called it "Leatherhead". Those Dress with the blood stripe do look good.
 
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Hahaha, except when they to get to TBS they will realize they only saw a very small part of Quantico! And the dress blue look great, but man they cost a lot!
 
Hahaha, except when they to get to TBS they will realize they only saw a very small part of Quantico! And the dress blue look great, but man they cost a lot!

You know you didn't begrudge a penny to wear them! They are beautifully made.

And we would be remiss if we didn't mention the variety and quantity of ticks resident at Quantico with which TBS and Leatherneck attendees become acquainted. That's a whole category of professional lore, how to prevent ticks access and check for them.
 
It did hurt when she had to get rid of all her Navy uniforms and spend the big bucks for the Marine uniforms at graduation. She did find a few more trees at TBS. One night at TBS she and her foxhole mate were hoping that the storm would bring down one of those trees so they could get a medivac.
 
I imagine most of these will be very positive. They will have put on their whites and gone to the baseball game where they consume massive quantities of soda, candy and everything else they have missed. Anyone know when meet the sponsor day is? That is always a nice break too, especially if they bring treats. Then after the phone call, it's Parents Weekend within days!
 
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I imagine most of these will be very positive. They will have put on their whites and gone to the baseball game where theh consume massive quantities of soda, candy and everything else they have missed. Anyone know when meet the sponsor day is? Tha tie always a nice break too, especially if they bring treats. Then after the phone call, it's Parents Weekend within days!

Sponsor Social is usually Sunday afternoon before PPW.
 
At this point they know the new detailers and are in good enough shape to handle most physical challenges. My plebe DS told us in a letter this week that he can basically do PT all day now if he has too. Also they are relying on each other now. He is very tight with his platoon and company. His words were "they are clutch". I predict good calls on Sunday.
 
I remember when we hit that point in PS of realizing they could PT us all day and we didn't care. Drop and do 100... No problem! It's a good feeling and builds up the ego. Glad to see they are reaching it. They all know they will make it at this point and anxiously awaiting some big events. The Detailers starting next week will start to shift gears to preparing the Plebes for the academic year. Moving to academic year rooms, uniforms, knowledge, class schedules, books, etc.
 
Prepare for the next phone call morale ("OMG!") dip as reality of ac year hits after PPW. They will have their class schedules, get more stuff, are anxious about the return of the Brigade (more names to learn), and a thousand other things. They have met and just about conquered PS. Now the grind looms. It becomes real very soon.
 
Fair warning, and I don't know if DD was odd in this regard, but PPW was the absolute low point for her. She was, prior to that time, able to push the homesickness out of her mind. Us being there made it much more difficult for her. So, just in case and because you never know how your kid is going to react, be prepared for anything. And, by the way, we did not know and were not told until after plebe year that that was a difficult weekend for her.

Favorite "bearing" story: DD became famous for maintaining her bearing under all circumstances. One day, late in the plebe summer process, during some sort of room inspection, the detailer walked into their room and as he walked in he did the "Are you ready kids?" in the singsong Spongebob captain voice, and DD suddenly lost it laughing. Caught the detailer so off guard that he didn't even yell at her. Always laugh thinking of that story.
 
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