A Plebe Year in Review : Parent

Colleges & Universities Service Academy Parents
1

<p>Application process : Sure is a lot of paperwork; just another school. Get that paperwork in!</p>

<p>Waiting : Okay, I know, with all my wisdom, that this is not a live or die decision. Although, it is a life changing decision. </p>

<p>The CALL! Wow, this might be for real!</p>

<p>The alternative visits! Okay, you should visit other schools to see if this is really what you want to do. [Fingers crossed; uh, isn’t THAT school just a tad liberal?]</p>

<p>FamilyTalk: It is YOUR decision. Tough Decision. Okay, going to Duke would be the easy decision; the tough decision is going to Navy.</p>

<p>Navy? Are your SURE this is what you want to do?</p>

<p>I-Day. Get there early. Nervous laughs. Go in the doors of Alumni Hall. There goes our little boy. Long day of walking back and forth, hoping to catch a glimse. I did! Go to the back of Alumni Hall and watch them go up and down the stairs before they get haircuts. Go around back and watch them come out of the Hall. Go to the back of Bancroft and watch them unload. Lot of walking. More walking. End of day? Here comes our whooped puppy, who asks: Can we go back to the hotel? Then the march off. Mom and Dad are whooped puppies now.</p>

<p>Summer. Wait for the three five-minute phone calls. Now digitally recorded for all-times sake.
Write letters every three days. Send packages on alternative days.</p>

<p>PPW. Wow! Here comes a young man. Guess our little boy is gone. See the parades, see the stuff, cha, cha, cha. Boy asks? Can we go back to the hotel? Good weekend and off he goes.</p>

<p>Ac Year. Guess you’re in college now. PRT coming up. Can you pass? How are courses? Hard. [Validated many courses and in second year sections for many courses.] Guess I’m not in high school anymore.
You’re going were? New York! Chicago! Philadelphia! Few other places. Do you have time to study? Passed the PRT! Whew!
Thanksgiving. Guess it was worth buying the ticket even if it was a quick visit.
Christmas. Grades! Wow! Dean’s list, Straight A’s. Wow!</p>

<p>2nd semester. Next posting, later.</p>

<p>Other parents observations for those coming aboard?</p>

2

<p>Awesome job, Bill! Here’s what I can add:</p>

<p>R-Day minus 2: Take the bus tour of West Point. When the tour guide announces that “we have a cadet candidate on board the bus”, people start clapping. Mom and Dad are beaming and cadet candidate is embarassed.</p>

<p>R-Day: “You have 90 seconds to say your good-byes”. Brutal! Watch most of the moms and some of the dads cry. Cry some more.</p>

<p>Beast: Expert Marksman (Hey, how did that happen?), shin splints, knowledge, become really good at shining shoes, practice fractions with the pie and cake, march, march, march.</p>

<p>Summer: Walk around with a cell phone in my hand for 6 weeks. Find out that she called home and talked to her sister - more than once.</p>

<p>A-Day: It was very, very hot. How did those poor kids march and stand still out on the Plain without dehydrating? </p>

<p>PPW: Lots of rain! Meet shogun and Mrs. shogun in chemistry. Make silly putty. (I felt like a Brownie leader again.) Play with some really cool software in the Systems Engineering class. It’s used on the tanks in Iraq. Meet her sponsor family and know how wonderful these volunteers are. Eat in the Mess Hall. It’s soooo gorgeous. I’m still absolutely amazed by the Cadet Uniform Factory. What a great tour! And let’s not forget the rain. </p>

<p>PE: Give 2 girls concussions during Combatives. Not afraid to jump off the high dive. IOCT :eek:</p>

<p>Get invited to sing at the White House. Yup, that’s her in the photo with the President and First Lady. And on C-Span.</p>

<p>Winter Break: Don’t expect to see a lot of me. I’m going to spend all my time with my friends. Loved it while it lasted.</p>

<p>Gloom period: Lots of gloom, but never said, “I want to leave”.</p>

<p>President’s Day: Came home and had extra cadets at the house. It was great! I love these kids.</p>

<p>Spring break: Twins throw a surprise 25th wedding anniversary party for us. We were totally surprised! The real date is tomorrow, but they had to plan it for a time that our cadet was home.</p>

<p>This week: Max the pushups and situps on the APFT. Hooah! Waiting for promotion, recognition and the best summer of her life.</p>

3

<p>Too funny guys! I gotta play too. Wow, what memories we all have so far. So similar. Here’s my long & short of it:</p>

<p>Crappy paperwork…Wonder if he left anything out. Wait, fret, worry, drink merlot.</p>

<p>Whats going on!? Everyone has heard. Why not us? If this falls through, we’ve got to go buy Citadel sweatshirts… Drink more Merlot.</p>

<p>April 28th - Call comes! Weeee! Broke out the bubbly that I’d been savin’! Now what kind of underwear to pack… This list of stuff isn’t clear… I know, I’ll ask online! Brilliant! Uh, whats underarmor?</p>

<p>Boy hugs me & says, “Mom, settle down. Let me graduate here”. </p>

<p>Travel plans, packing, and crying. Sinks in that my boy is leaving. Don’t need anymore merlot. Turning into a lush.</p>

<p>Day before dropping off - Wonderful week spent in NY but now its time to leave him there. Nerves are open bleeding raw wounds leaving mounds of kleenex all over the inside of car. No sleep that night…</p>

<p>Dropping off in pouring rain. A three second goodbye. Was for the best or they would have had to take me too. I wasn’t leaving. Found shelter from rain and watched kids running & being yelled at. Smiles. Watched the entire regiment form up for lunch. Asked to leave. Was made to get into car & find lunch before hitting the road home to empty house. 14 hours of crying. Home to search for photos online & talk to you people. Hubby finally falls apart at front door. More crying. Gave him merlot.</p>

<p>First phone call - List of pre-prepared questions ignored when hoarse voice was heard on other end. No fair!! That wasn’t the full five minutes! More crying. Mail box watch begins again for letters.</p>

<p>Indoc ends. I lived through it with photos they’d posted. Really helps to see them and know they aren’t dead. Phone calls are happy but time to hit the books so no time to talk mom. End of first tri-mester with good grades & is still there. More merlot with grins this time. Living for those short emails. What shots are they giving you now? Geez! You’re a human pin cushion… “Whats up with all this cold white crap? I don’t like it.”</p>

<p>Parent’s Weekend - OMG! That about sums it up. “Lemme feel that head” I love you lots & miss you bunches. Can’t believe you’re actually here. Said hi to Prayerful Mom & had to go. Cringed at the poor people laying around sleeping from sheer exhaustion. Nobody told them about Dunkin Donuts coffee…</p>

<p>Christmas Leave - Where’s my boy!? All I see is this man in front of me in service dress blues & no hair. Sleep, eat & run around with friends. I watch & enjoy. BLINK. Its time to send you back.</p>

<p>End of second tri - “Hey! You’re still there!” Amazing. Hanging tough like I knew ya could! “Mom, can you send more food?” “Don’t you EAT up there!?” “Yes, but I’m still hungry. Send goldfish this time & BTW, I need more money for liberty in the city”. Crying spells have ended replaced by treasured photos and bragging.</p>

<p>RECOGNITION!! Photos of mud & no shoes. Passes all three Physical Fitness Test for the year. Whew. Glad thats done. Sailing around the Statue of Liberty and rowing around Long Island Sound. Books & study. Funny, he looks so at home there… </p>

<p>Waiting for last tri to end so we will know Sea Year assignments and when we can go to NY to see boy/man off. Two ribbons & new Petty Officer job to hold on to until I get to see him next. Maybe with a little hair. Its all about the bling bling for me. No more cryin’ for us but will hold hands with the new incoming group of new Plebe parents.</p>

4

<p>Moms and Dads, Thanks for sharing with us. I hope I’m ready for it.</p>

5

<p>LOL!</p>

<p>FINALLY! A thread I can’t post a first-hand opinion in! :D</p>

<p>LOL!</p>

6

<p>Christmas: The best Christmas gift was the grades report. Wow.</p>

<p>Back to the airport. Sad. He does seem eager to return, however. How did that happen.
Dark Ages begin. Except it doesn’t seem that they were that dark this year. Not cold enough, not dreary enough. You’re going where this semester?
Disneyworld, Pennsylvania, Boston. Do you have time to study? And didn’t you just get back from San Diego?</p>

<p>By the way, what exactly IS Matrix Theory?</p>

<p>Befor you know it, its Spring Break. Back already? Hanging around, seeing his friends. Most interestingly, he acknowledges that he already sees how his life is leaving behind that of his high scholl friends. Stilll enjoyed seeing them though.</p>

<p>But you did seem a little too confident going through airport security. Mom was sad about that.</p>

<p>He still calls like clockwork. That’s my boy!
Well, we did get one phone call wherein he seemed down. Injured a bit. Tired.</p>

<p>Oooopss. . . back on top. Just back from a trip and feeling great! [Nothing like time away from the yard to make a mid feel better.]</p>

<p>Cruising through the academics. Still a bit injured. Worried about PRT? Not really.</p>

<p>Summer cruises? Sailing up the east coast, back home for a month, and then out with the fleet for a month.</p>

<p>Wait a minute . . . We’re already talking about next year? Are you SURE this is the right thing for you?</p>

<p>The Naval Academy
Postage, copies, reference letter, etc. $25.</p>

<p>USNA shirts, caps, etc. for the family? $150.</p>

<p>Admission fee to USNA? $2,200 [or something like that]</p>

<p>Cost of airfare for everybody through the year, back and forth to Annapolis? $5,000</p>

<p>Herndon? Priceless.</p>

7

<p>Zaphod,</p>

<p>Wait until those little girls grow up a bit more. Can’t wait to read your post about crying as you send them off to college. Maybe they could even attend West Point. ;)</p>

<p>JM,</p>

<p>You just crack me up! :D</p>

<p>Bill,</p>

<p>Excellent! And not a hint of curmudgeon…Did aspen write this for you? :confused:</p>

8

<p>

</p>

<p>OVER MY COLD, DEAD BODY! :mad:</p>

<p>;)</p>

9

<p>Aw, come on, Zaphod…</p>

<p>You know if one of them wanted to go to West Point and then got that appointment, you’d be one of the parents telling all of us how proud of her you are. Then you’d be wondering how to stamp your envelopes while she’s in Beast and then what kind of boodle to send her and on and on. You might even be like Mrs. MacArthur and get a room at the Thayer for 4 years. ;)</p>

10

<p>Yeah, </p>

<p>Zaph’s girls will go to Smith. Then he’ll wish they were at West Point.</p>

11

<p>My girls will have the good sense, brains, and congenital sense of taste (all gotten from Dad, of course) NOT to apply to that putrid prison in New York.</p>

<p>:D</p>

<p>Actually, while I would hang my head in the deepest shame for all time, wondering where I had gone wrong, should they go to West Point, I would slit my wrists if they decided to go to Berkley or some other equally brain-addled institution of lower learning.</p>

12

<p>Parents - </p>

<p>Thanks! That was great…and scary.</p>

13

<p>Yea Kate, it can be scary. LOL I recall a phone call where the voice on the other end whispered, “I see dead people”. I think he was on the edge. Then by the next phone call, a week later, all was forgotten & he was jazzed about something or another with a ship, some Admiral guy & an A on a test. </p>

<p>Momoftwins, I agree. I think Aspen wrote that. Either that or Bill is really Sybil. Ya know, that lady that had like twelve people inside her. One second she’s all sweet and asking about puppies then the next, she’s ripping off heads & spitting down necks. :)</p>

14

<p>Bill,
This thread is a brilliant idea! Remind me, are you counsel or counselor???:wink: I have a great deal of respect for you and all the other loving, nurturing parents on this site. So many children in the world are neglected and/or abused, and find it hard to believe in themselves because no one ever believed in them. Your children are successful for the most part I imagine, because you spent time with them, loved them, and helped them believe in themselves.</p>

<p>usna09mom</p>

<p>P.S. Z- it’s spelled B-E-R-K-E-L-E-Y, and it’s considered the finest public university in the world (outside of service academies). My mid received a NROTC scholarship to Cal and she has many brilliant friends who go there now. I almost forgot, it’s close to Napa Valley and San Francisco!</p>

15

<p>

</p>

<p>B-E-R-Z-E-R-K-E-L-E-Y, and the people that consider it “fine” should have their brains in a jar at Johns Hopkins.</p>

16

<p>Pictures worth a 1000 words – Day 0 and Recognition</p>

<p><a href=“http://www.usmmaparents.com/usmmaparents/indoc_09_7.htm[/url]”>http://www.usmmaparents.com/usmmaparents/indoc_09_7.htm&lt;/a&gt;
seventh picture down coming up the steps</p>

<p><a href=“http://www.usmmaparents.com/usmmaparents/recog_06_pics_2.htm[/url]”>http://www.usmmaparents.com/usmmaparents/recog_06_pics_2.htm&lt;/a&gt;
top picture in the middle looking left</p>

17

<p>Thank you. Your experience has been . . .</p>

<p>[Good pictures . . .I guess they literally were wet puppies at the end of the day.]</p>

18

<p>One thing I’ve wondered…</p>

<p>How do parents put up with the wondering of what their Pleber is going through RIGHT NOW? </p>

<p>Would drive me nuts, having been through it myself…</p>

19

<p>bill,
give me a couple of days, I have so much work that I actually have no business being online right now…</p>

<p>z-speed dial cell phones on the family plan, email, some parents use IM but my mid keeps that among her friends.</p>

20

<p>We talk almost every day - sometimes several times a day. As soon as Reorgy Week started, right after Beast, she had a landline phone and e-mail. When off post, the cell phone works. </p>

<p>After living for those 3 phone calls during the summer, I’ll always appreciate the more frequent communications.</p>