Also, at the risk of coming off sexist, I think (in general) it is easier for fathers to let their sons take flight than it is for mothers (or for fathers and daughters) (this is just my observation and not applicable to specific cases).
I was going to say that too. Even though it may be sexist, I think it is true, in general. My 15 yr old DS went off to a NJROTC camp in Georgia this summer for a week. It was very strenous with something like 15 miles a day of running. Several kids, including my DS, ran until they were literally puking. It didn't bother me at all. I knew the Senior Chiefs would take care of the kids. But my DW was DYING. DS didn't mind it either. He loved being part of a tough group of kids. If I had a DD, I think I would have been more concerned. But hey, some young ladies are tougher than the boys. It was the first of several tough camps DS will do before he leaves for college one day. Hopefully, it will get him somewhat prepared to leave home. He is ready to leave now. Not every kid is the same.
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Our daughter said some kids were sent home from the Area 5 NJROTC Leadership week at Camp Pendleton VA last summer .... She said they couldn’t handle it physically. I don’t worry about her going to NAPS/USNA.
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I will miss gigging with her .... her on the piano and me on the guitar. My wife could count on her to cover for her at church on the piano when she wanted to take a Sunday off .... no breaks for her now. Oh well.
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I’ll miss all this about her not being here. But I got a lot of unfinished projects to keep me busy.
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I'm far from being a perfect parent, but one thing we got right was raising independent, self-sufficient kids. Our 17 and 20 Mids complained occasionally, particularly during PY, but they were venting. They never expected us to get involved. The only time I tried to help was the first time our 17 traveled through DCA instead of BWI. I researched transportation while he was in the air. By the time I finally got him on the phone, he was half way back to the Academy taking the exact method of transportation I had found. I have never gotten involved again.
You can’t call the principal or the Dean at USNA. One of ours was royally screwed in a class, and I don’t think it would have stood at any other school. None of us said anything. Life lesson learned. Move on.
I never make fun of the parent questions on FB, but tons of them are ridiculous. Land the damn helicopters. Your kid is in the Navy now. Way past time for him or her to make their own way.
As for conditioning, it is getting worse. We are raising a fat and unhealthy group of kids, and more of them show up to USNA all the time. Ours went there in great shape, and that made all the difference in the world. They have seen others whose bodies tell their minds, “We can’t do this. This sucks. How bout we get chits or get the hell out of here.” Then, their minds enter a downward spiral. Hell, one kid showed up to I-Day with a body fat % so high that the kid was sent home immediately. (Had to be some questionable stuff in that application process. Enormously high number!)
The only advice I give Plebes to be: get in the best shape of your life. Then, take it as it comes, and revel in the funny stuff. Our Mids don’t want to repeat PS, but they handled it and occasionally look back on it with pretty good thoughts.
Finally, I told both Mids: Remember, the only real difference between you and them is that they know what comes next. Once you do as well, it all slows down and becomes much easier.