Military Mom

Image by uhuru1701 via Flickr

I appreciate the freedoms we enjoy as citizens of America.

I am proud to be from a land that promotes civil and religious rights.

We proudly pledge allegiance to our country.

But, I never imagined that I would be preparing to send my son to basic training this summer.

I imagined I would continue to appreciate the sacrifice and dedication of service men and women like I always have. A “thank you” when I see a man in uniform, wearing our matching red, white and blue on Memorial Day and the 4th of July. Praying for our troops. That is what I imagined.

We have entered a world of MEPS, AIT and talk of tanks and machine guns. He did well on the ASVAB. The recruiter gave all my children backpacks and basketballs and has my youngest interested in joining the Junior ROTC in high school next year.

I feel unprepared. Uneducated. Unpatriotic.

Is it unpatriotic to say “I don’t want you to go”? Is it wrong for me to appreciate the need for the military as long as it doesn’t impact my everyday life?

My husband says I would be just as unsettled if Jason was headed to college in the fall rather than Missouri. This is one of the rare times that my hubby is wrong.

I am feeling sad, scared and selfish when I think of being the mom of a soldier.

Can someone talk me down?

If you have a post about parenting kids in today’s world, please link it up below:

http://twitter.com/ang4prez Angela Funai

My sons aren’t old enough to make career choices yet, but as a military “brat” turned military spouse, I wanted to offer a couple of questions to help you think through your feelings. Would you feel the same way (unprepared, uneducated, etc.) if he told you that he wanted to be a skydiving instructor? police officer? helicopter pilot? coal miner? inner-city social worker? There are hundreds of “dangerous” jobs that our kids could aspire to — hundreds for which we might feel unprepared and unwilling to let them go and do. Yet, a handful of those jobs also carry with them the pride and honor of serving our country in a very tangible way.

I don’t mean that to sound over-the-top patriotic, but what I’m trying to say is that this may be one of those let-go-of-the-bike moments when you have to let him pedal off on his own … around the driveway at first, then up and down the street, then finally around the block where he is out of sight. All we can do is pray that he will obey traffic laws and not get hit by a car. It doesn’t mean that we quit fretting about them, but we have to let them ride.
http://www.multitaskingmama.com/ Melissa

I love this! Yes, I would feel the same way if he was choosing a dangerous
occupation. Thank you for that picture- so helpful!