My hairdresser has a son in the military. He is enlisted and has been at the same base for his entire career of 10+ years. She says that he can stay where he is for his entire career.
I have to say that the people I’ve known that are retired military are commissioned. They’ve moved around a lot. My cousin’s husband was chasing rank, so lots of new assignments and schooling.
Limited knowledge on this.
@SOSConcern sounds like your daughter and sil have a great plan. RN’s are always employable and the job can be done everywhere. Sounds like she has a great new position with the VA. Again limited knowledge but I know from a friend that nursing supervisors are in big demand these days.
Today my twin granddaughters had their final follow-up check as part of the Moderna Vaccine Trial for Very Young Children. They have been participating for almost 2 years now and were among the first children under 6 to get the Covid vaccine. (Well, only one got the vaccine. Her sister received a placebo as we found out later when the results were unblinded as part of the FDA approval process. The placebo twin got the actual vaccine once the FDA approved the vaccination. )
They had a covid test, a blood draw to check for antibody levels, turned in their study-issued cell phone and the study officially closed.
Each got an official certificate of their participation. (I jokingly told Twin A who ran in to hug me when they got home that she ought to save it and add to her college application.)
When my GD was still a baby, she took part in a brain study to look for differences in kids’ brain waves, trying to learn how to identify learning disabilities early. It had to be paused because of Covid and she aged out, but whenever they posted pictures of the kids, they referred to them as their “baby scientists.” Maybe she can put that on her resume!
Yesterday son-in-law took the GD on a plane trip by himself because D1 had another event to attend. I noticed GD was wearing a colorful necklace with a large pendant in front. I asked D1 why she was wearing a plastic necklace. D1 said, “it was my invention. The pendant is an AirTag. It’s a good way for her Dad to find her if she should run off.”
I thought I would share it with you all.
I know I am going to go through a bit of ‘withdrawal’ with DD1/SIL/Gkids moving far away at the end of the month (but not as far away as it could have been…). I will have to be content with my visits - will schedule the first one sometime between the time the older two start school in the fall and the holidays. They will have their routines that I can follow, and that will make it as enjoyable as possible - I can be a help, while also having fun with them in their new city.
D keeps an AirTag in GS’s backpack. She was concerned about him getting on a wrong bus after school. It was never needed. His bus driver is the best and treats the kids as if they were his own grandchildren. He really watches out for them, is a super safe driver, didn’t miss one day of school this year, and treats the kids to Tootsie Pops every Friday and giant cookies on the last day of school. He always tells GS to grab an extra for GD.
Lots of good uses for AirTags! Kids, dogs, luggage, parents with dementia…
My son and his wife went to his wife’s sisters wedding. It involved two flights each way, mountain driving, hotels, etc… With 3 kids (4,2 and 3 mos). My son was very nervous but it worked out great.
GD asks to FaceTime with us a lot, but she often loses interest after a couple minutes. Just hearing, “Hi, Grandma. How are you doing? I love you!” is good enough for me.
Last week I got a text from my good friend that was a bunch of different emojis. I knew she was visiting her granddaughter so figured it was from her granddaughter. I was right.
We had a park date with the 15 month old today. He is walking and so much fun. He loved watching the older kids play. When we were leaving he blew us a kiss. He had never done that before but it’s something I’ve done with him when I babysit once a week when his Mom goes to work.
GD is 11 months old and crawling everywhere! Gates are going/have gone up here and at D and SIL’s new house and a first birthday party is being planned. GD is pulling herself up to stand and I wanted to buy a push type walker but H talked me out of it as she will likely only use for a few months. So, yesterday I saw someone on my Buy Nothing was giving away 2 of them! So now I have both - one for her house and one at Mimi and Grandpa’s. We did buy a fold up stroller, baby loves to go for walks in our neighborhood (“chatting” the entire way) and this way we don’t have to have D or SIL lug the big stroller over.
Our almost 4 months old GD just figured out how to use her hands to grab strings. She is definitely more aware of her surroundings now and absolutely dislikes traveling by car. I think she does not like to be strapped to car seat for long. They plan to travel with her next month and consider driving for 7 hours vs flying for 1. She doesn’t like pacifier and spits it out right away.
Sounds like our newest addition to the clan at 2 months now! Hates binkies, doesn’t like to be strapped in her car seat, but when the car starts moving, she quickly calms down and falls asleep. Go figure! She is a string bean… 95th plus percentile height-wise, but not weight-wise. The pediatrician did not seem too concerned because that’s how she was at birth. Parents are already putting away all of the size 3 footed onesies, because she it too tall for them and complains loudly if stuffed into one of those!
ETA: we might have a leftie in the family because Miss String Bean clearly prefers her left fist. She recently discovered that she can suck her fists… No hope for binkie now.
@BunsenBurner when D2 was born 29 years ago her pediatrician was not a fan of binkies and said it was better if they found their fists or fingers to suck on.
Neither of my kids wanted to use any pacifier. They also disliked binkies and had no loveies but loved all flannel receiving blankets. It was much easier that they didn’t have any favorite.
A binky is definitely not a necessity but apparently can be quite helpful when traveling by air during takeoff and landing to relieve air pressure in the ears.
