The Official USNA parent list-serve has posted that indeed there is no parent invitation to friday morning PEP and there is no reaffirmation ceremony. Yes, things change when new Supes and 'Dants come in, welcome to the military.
As far as eating over PPW - yup, yup, make NO prior plans. Treat your Plebe as if they were the center of the universe and you were a genie. As much as possible let their wish be your command. If they want to sleep the whole time, let them. If they want to eat junk food, let them. If they want to watch 3 movies in a a row at the theater, or play video games nonstop or talk on the phone with everyone but you, please let them. They will have just survived 6 weeks of a pressure cooker and they will each have their own ways to decompress. Just having them seeing you standing there on Stribling Walk under the alphabet letter of your last name - and walking towards you in their Summer whites, and those first smiles, tears, hugs - will be the experience to mirror what you as parents felt when your saw your precious new baby in the hospital nursery isolette for the first time. Look forward to that moment, cherish it, and then let your Plebe steal the show after that.
Last year we discovered a bonus in the fact that we surprised our Plebe by bringing along her closest sibling - her older brother. She KNEW mom and dad were coming, but not our son. They talked nonstop for HOURS the entire weekend and all we parents had to do was shut up and listen. I think I asked 5 questions all weekend - she was so eager to talk with her brother and tell him everything that we could simply enjoy the 2 of them reconnecting and learned a heck of a lot more than if we had come alone and 'pumped' her for sharing.
Also the surprise was the first thing our Plebe wanted to do was eat at a fast food restaurant. I offered her the world...ANY expensive choice was hers...and she wanted a Wendy's shake, fries and hamburger. Funny thing - when we got there we discovered several other Plebes and their families there as well.
Expect your Plebe to ask to go see Harry Potter - and buy tickets ahead of time. Last year the blockbuster they all missed during Plebe Summer was the Pirates movie, which was already out for 6 weeks but on PPW the movie theaters at the Annapolis Mall were literally sold out with Pirates seats....and at our showing the entire theatre was filled with spanking-clean Plebes in their Summer Whites and their families.
bottom line?
be flexible
cherish the time
bring tissues
and
a
camera
