Dropped son off at O'Hare for I Day. Fast forward to Parent's Weekend. Almost didn't recognize him. He had grown into a man.
My son just accepted his appointment (TrentL41) and is applying for a tour for appointees only now which we would like to go to. I definitely want to go out for Parents Weekend. My husband and I have been trying to figure out who can go out when. We are in North Carolina so was a little concerned about all the trips out that way as both of us are starting new job/positions soon. Out of the 3 visits out, would you say in June when they report is the least needed for us parents? I see we really don't have time to spend on campus then and everyone is speaking highly about the sponsor families.
Based on my own experience I would rank them in the following order: 1) PW 2) A-Day 3)I-Day. Like you, we were considering the expenses of multiple trips within a short time period so prioritization of which trips to make to COS was important. Also similar to you was my own employment pressures as I was unemployed last summer (position cut in May due to budgetary reasons). The plus side of being unemployed was that I got to spend a lot of time with DS before he left.
As for I-Day, we said goodbye at the airport. Part of this decision was based on the fact that you don't get to spend a lot of time with DS/DD at I-Day. The other part was that it allowed all of us to process this life-changing event on our own terms. Granted, the entire day of his departure was tough and somewhat somber, especially knowing that his departure meant that he was
never going to be living in our house again. He will always be our DS but when he left, his life was now his and not ours. (Fast forward to post-Recognition today and I couldn't be more proud of or happy for him!). The airport allowed us to have gate passes so that we could escort him to the gate. I believe one upside to this was that our DS had an entire to day to process this life change and I think it was helpful for him to get mentally set for BCT. On a somewhat humorous side note, when we got to the airport we quickly learned his flight was delayed! And one last thing, take advantage of the bed and breakfast program if DS goes out alone.
A-Day was a little different for us. Since I escorted my DS to the Appointee Tour in April, the plan was for my wife to attend A-Day by her self. However, as A-Day approached the magnitude of that day quickly became apparent. So the day before my wife was leaving for COS we decided I should also go. After all, how many A-Days does your kid have in their lifetime? I don't recommend waiting until the last minute because I certainly paid way more than I needed to for a plane ticket but it was worth every dollar to experience A-Day. If you can make A-Day, I highly recommend it but realize that you will only get a couple of hours with your DS.
If you can only manage one trip it should be PW. During PW you have the most access to your cadet and USAFA in general. There are plenty of activities during that weekend plus your DS will relish the opportunity to just get away from the Academy for a couple of days. I suggest arriving on Thursday and staying through Tuesday if possible.
I know this was a bit lengthy so I apologize. But I hope my reflection on these events will help you in your decision making.
