Have often wondered if I would be suited to military life. Never had any experience but imagine that since my anal nature bends that way, it might have been a good fit.
The one overriding factor has always been my fear of not making it through the 12 or so weeks of basic training. You watch enough TV, and you will get the impression that only a few live through that particular nightmarish time. It would seem that you have to be super physically fit to run and jump through all those many army hoops. If you have met me, it becomes immediately apparent that physical fitness and I are not on the best of terms. I am proud to say that in high school, I totally cheated my way through the President's Physical Fitness tests so you can see why anything to do with physical activity makes me shudder.
But, there are other basis trainings that we all go through. One of them is parenthood. I survived having a child and my child survived me. Oh, there are tons of horror Stories but our lists don't quite match. What I thought would require years of therapy where things that never touched her radar and what she thought was life-altering, never crossed my mind. We made it and now it is her turn, as she pushes her way through this basic training exercise with her three kids.
With my parenting days behind me, I am totally into this grandnparenting thing. While I am taking my turn trying to coerce my grandchildren into becoming productive citizens, there is also a license to do things a bit different. Keaton is really in to this grand parenting thing with me. He asked me the other day while we were out shopping, Where do you stand with allowance? What he was asking was if I would loan him upfront money and when he got his allowance, he would pay me back. I told him my stance was I would upfront a loan for money in hand, not expected funds. With that cleared up, he got a $6 loan.
The only other thing he has wanted this summer was bragging rights to Sonic after 10pm which we did at our sleepover, Over mozzerella sticks and limeade, we dicussed him going into junior high, Weird Al and the general life of an 11 year old boy.
This is where my earlier basic training will come in handy. I know both sides of this parenting thing and I know, there is no secret recipe. I will continue to do my best, do what I think is right, knowing I will screw up. All one can do is one's best. He and his brother and sister know, that I will always, always have their backs. Not sure one needs more than that...and a 10pm Sonic run every once in a while.
