After five-plus years as a military academy parent, I realize I have learned a number of important lessons. A few came easily, some can painfully, many came from the wisdom of those who had come before me, most all of them would have been more valuable if I had known learned them earlier. At the … Continue reading Phone calls: Just a moment in time.

So last week, I wrote about how a lot of your friends and family don't really understand the experience you and your child are having through the Air Force Academy. And that's OK. Here's something else they may not understand, you're growing interest in world and geopolitical events. Recent events have shed light on something … Continue reading Add Ukraine to the list of things some people won’t understand

There's a delicate balance we must strike as a military academy parent. On one hand, our immense pride often makes it difficult to avoid bombarding people - friends and strangers alike - about our amazing kids and their incredible journey. To one degree or another, we want to share our excitement, but let's face it, … Continue reading It’s OK if they don’t understand

Like most Air Force Academy cadets, my daughter participated in athletics in high school. As a gymnast, she spent countless hours in the gym honing her skills across the four events, working on flexibility, and doing conditioning work. We crisscrossed New Jersey from meet to meet, sometimes leaving with a handful of medals and wearing … Continue reading Doing the dirty work to get to Recognition

So I'm the parent of a Doolie, the new kids on the block. But I should probably have an asterisk next to my name. Having had a son who graduated from the Naval Academy, I'm not exactly a rookie to the experience. There's plenty I don't understand about USAFA - its traditions, etc. - but … Continue reading The Road to Recognition: Déjà vu all over again

I continue to be intrigued by the differences in the experience of having my son at the Naval Academy (he commissioned in 2020) and my daughter at the Air Force Academy as a Doolie. My son was rocked by his I Day experience - and to be honest, so was the rest of the family … Continue reading Finding quick, simple ways to brighten their days

There's nothing really new about calling this time of year the Dark Ages, but it takes on a deeper meaning for first-year students at our military academies. At USAFA, they've endured the challenge of I-Day and summer training and the abrupt introduction into the Cadet Wing followed by drinking from a fire hose of names, … Continue reading With February arrives the real Dark Ages

I've been writing since, well, as long as I can remember. Even in elementary school, writing wasn't something to do just for homework or assignments. It was something to do for fun. It took me a long time to understand that not everyone felt that way. Writing poetry or stories or, when my life drew … Continue reading Ground Stop over, it’s time to fly again

There have been times since I started blogging (including this one) where it's gone dormant for a stretch and that’s mostly been due to my own inability to organize my thoughts in a way coherent enough to present to the rest of the world. This is different. My Kid The Cadet will engage in what … Continue reading Temporary Ground Stop

When your kid attends one of our military academies, it’s easy to become subsumed by their life. Their schedule becomes your schedule and at least in our case, your family calendar depends largely on the academy’s calendar. By late October, we were eyeing up our son’s return from the Naval Academy – when could he … Continue reading A Day – a milestone in more ways than one