Camping

As a parent there are times it is difficult to stand back and watch your child go through sticky situations on their own.  It is hard to restrain from wanting to step in and take over.  Still it is important to let them try to figure it out and when they do, there is a sense of pride that we have done a good job preparing them for the situation. We spent a couple days camping with some friends at the beginning of the week.  I handed flat daddy to our youngest so I could take a picture of them together by the camp fire.  Our friend's daughter burst out and said, your daddy isn't real.  That isn't a real dad.  And she turned to her mom and asked her the same thing.  I wanted to jump in to her defense but instead I just wondered how the little one was going to handle the situation.  She simple said, no he is real.  He is our dad and this is what we have right now.

The next day, we were at the pool when I over heard the oldest trying to explain to a boy she was hanging out with that her dad was deployed.  He said, you mean he is dead?  She yelled, no he is deployed.  It means he is gone for 6 whole months!  She walked away.  In that moment, I realize how we have protected them.  Their entire world is the military.  Their friends, most of their school, everyone around us.  At such a young age it is hard for them to image it is a world that not everybody understands.  Not everyone's dad has had to leave, they don't move because of his job, and he gets to spend the weekends with them.  I wonder how they will look back on this experience.  Will they resent us for the decision that we made?  Is two loving parents who care about them enough to overcome him being gone?  Have we done everything we can?  Answers I won't know until it is too late.  

That evening we were sitting by the campfire and one of the kids asked, what time is it?  Someone responded with, it is 5:15.  The kids looked at each other and said, the National Anthem didn't play.