Just the other day Ahron and I were discussing the term "military brat."
It's somewhat foreign to us, because neither of us grew up in military households, though both of our grandfathers (his maternal and mine) were enlisted in the Navy and Army, respectively.
We've never thought of ourselves as different from the civilian family counterpart, but now that our daughter is six and our son almost four, we're starting to see a few differences emerge in our family dynamic.
Our babies, born into the military lifestyle by no choice of their own, are officially considered military brats.
I have to admit growing up the term military brat seemed like a negative word but I've since learned (thanks to lengthy Wikipedia page) that it's generally regarded as a term of respect and admiration for all of the children and teenagers that are a part of the sub-culture.
I'm grateful there are lots of Navy families in the region that we live. Our children attend school with many other military children and they almost always have someone they can relate to. I am excited for my children. They will have some beautiful opportunities in their life as military brats. And I pray every day that they will be better for it.
As part of Michelle Obama and Jill Biden's outreach to military families, here is a listing from United We Serve website on ways to honor military children in your life.
http://www.serve.gov/stories_detail.asp?tbl_servestories_id=518
It's somewhat foreign to us, because neither of us grew up in military households, though both of our grandfathers (his maternal and mine) were enlisted in the Navy and Army, respectively.
We've never thought of ourselves as different from the civilian family counterpart, but now that our daughter is six and our son almost four, we're starting to see a few differences emerge in our family dynamic.
Our babies, born into the military lifestyle by no choice of their own, are officially considered military brats.
I have to admit growing up the term military brat seemed like a negative word but I've since learned (thanks to lengthy Wikipedia page) that it's generally regarded as a term of respect and admiration for all of the children and teenagers that are a part of the sub-culture.
I'm grateful there are lots of Navy families in the region that we live. Our children attend school with many other military children and they almost always have someone they can relate to. I am excited for my children. They will have some beautiful opportunities in their life as military brats. And I pray every day that they will be better for it.
As part of Michelle Obama and Jill Biden's outreach to military families, here is a listing from United We Serve website on ways to honor military children in your life.
http://www.serve.gov/stories_detail.asp?tbl_servestories_id=518
