My daughter (5) came to work with me the week before last, and when someone asked her "What does your Daddy do at work?" her reply was "I don't know, but when he is at home he's always on the phone talking to work!" Hmm, I guess I had that one coming, a New Years resolution in the making.
So with that being said, what do your kids think you do/did in the Coast Guard?
Never let my kids know what I did or what rank I was, all they knew was that dad worked in the Coast Guard and it required a lot of hours and he got calls at home constantly...but I tried to make sure that I got to every one of their activities.
Had a Boy Scout let me, assistant scoutmaster, know that I couldn't tell him what to do because his dad was a commander. Switched to Girl Scouts!
My kids know I am in the warehousing, distribution and trucking business. They come to the warehouse and mess around, they have plans to make it into a skate park. Peace, Dick
Never had any kids. But have two brothers in law who never served in the military and all they know about it is what they watched on Sgt. Bilko and Hogan's Heros. During my 20 something years in, they would try to hound me by telling me that "someday, I'd have to get a real job."
All I could say is that ignorance must be blissful, especially when one gets his information from TV sitcoms.
My civilian friends and family just have a difficult time understanding my explanation - so I just tell them I stand "duty" and and then "awwwwww" because it usually happens to land on holidays, birthdays, weddings, funerals, that I cannot attend.
Post CG (when working for the union): My older son once said, "My dad's work is talking and arguing with people." Both of my sons knew I was the representative for the classified employees in the schools they attended. So if any transgressions occurred, the school bus driver, school secretary, custodian, or instructional aide would let me know about it real quick! Both of them also walked picket lines while still in elementary school, so they had a pretty good idea of what I did, and why. . .
Nothing, I'm in he's in the Coast Guard????????? I'd correct that statement. Take them on a tour of your ship, or take them on a tour of the base. The kids would then say "my dad or mom is in the Coast Guard and they help people."
My kids knew I was a waitress and manager of a bar. They always said, "she serves food, good food" As For the bar they'd say "she's at work, drinking" So much for explanations
Take your kids on a tour of the boat or the station. Hopefully they'll understand. My step son would say "dads on a ship someplace so I don't know where he is"
my daughter (4) knows that dad is out on the ocean catching bad guys. just to clarify...a four year olds definintion of a bad guy is someone who is either a pirate or someone who hurts dolphins. im an mk2 on an 87. makes me smile everytime she tells someone!
my daughter(8)tells everyone that her dad used to be a rescue swimmer like "that guy in the movie". she knows i'm a manager now, but she says my last job was way cooler...
My kid pretty much knew what I did...I think that one thing that may have stayed with him though was a big drug bust he got to see up close when he was about 10...
The Point Judith took a 60' sloop into custody that was floating around with over 800 bales of marijuana on it...They brought it into our station for the off-load...My kid got to see that and I think maybe he thought it was cool...
We filled up a 26' U-Haul truck with the stuff...Seems like we had more than our share of operation golden-flow after that...
Anyway, today the kid is an OSC in the Coast Guard and I like to think that played a part in it...
I told them I guard the coast and haven't lost any of it yet. They always enjoyed Coast Guard Day, be it New Orleans, Curtis Bay or Station St. Inigoes. They also liked going to soft ball games.
Their favorite was New Orleans at Air Station Belle Chase. Especially the Cajun magician whose magic words were, "Red beans and rice and Budwieser on ice." With the aside, they were always magic words at his house.
When my late husband was on the Mackinaw his son would take short trips with him, he still remembers. My step son bought me a heavy jacket in Ketchikan, I use it when it gets really cold here
