My two DDs are Skylar and Stella. We also considered Charlotte for a little while. I don't think Linda is THAT dated. Maybe a middle name?

Is this his first deployment? I honestly think you have a good setup right now. When I read the title I thought, honestly all I want when I get back from deployments is a decent meal and my family. I am sure he is going to be thrilled with your plans and the BBQ. My mouth is watering thinking about What-a-Burger because burgers over here don't come close! One word of caution is to take things slow, even the things that seem simple. After a deployment of not drinking at all, it won't take much beer for him to get a buzz. Same with food, eating too much rich American food too quick could lead to an unplesant first night back. Let him set the pace for adjusting to being back home. Other than that have a great time, and enjoy the time you get to spend with him, it sounds like he has a great support network of family and friends waiting on him!

When in doubt gift cards and money are a good fall back. Dawn and Mungo are correct. He won't be allowed much. Some things you can have are religious things (I always keep a good pocket bible with me). Phone cards are useful. It may sound silly but Thorlo socks are some of my fav gifts. I got a bunch while I was in basic training 8 years ago, countless miles of walking, running, marching and 2 deployments later I have a few pairs that survived and I still wear. They make running and combat boot versions. Best socks ever, and taking care of your feet is important in the military. Once he gets out of Basic and into his skills training he most likely will have weekends off and access to "normal" things.

I like Emerson as a middle name, IMHO.

The library at Fort Rucker has video games and movies you can check out, but not play in the library. Which I don’t have that much of a problem with, it was kind of nice for me living in a hotel I could go to the library for free instead of driving into town and visiting a blockbuster. However I do understand the frustration you are feeling. Our church group went to one of those bounce house places about a year ago. One thing that ticked me off to no end was they had rows and rows of video game consoles, which kids sitting glued to the screen. I really do love those places because it’s easy to watch the kids, and the weather isn’t always nice for playing outside, but who pays admission fees for their kids to go to a place with the intent to run around and play and get some physical exercise, only to let their kids sit on their butt and play video games!? Sorry just my little rant..... :rant:

Abbeygurl4, CAP is a great program with a long proud history. I am sure people’s experiences are going to vary from squadron to squadron but overall I would recommend it. I was a 1LT at the Pope AFB Squadron in North Carolina. Like a few people have mentioned CAP has a few different focuses. The aerospace education is a great experience, our cadets would do model rockets, JROTC style classes, and they got to do orientation flights where they would go fly in CAP airplanes with some of the adult members of the squadron. I mostly focused on the Emergency Services part of CAP, kind of like a flying volunteer firefighter. Our interested cadets learned how to use direction finding equipment to help located downed aircraft, basic life saving stuff like CPR training etc. I am going to encourage my DDs and DS to do it when they get old enough since they won’t be able to do a more traditional JROTC experience like they would in public school. I would recommend going to your nearest squadron and try it out for a couple visits to just see how your DS likes it. Their website is also very informative and helpful.

Ms Jones hit the nail on the head, it’s too early to be criticizing anyone for their decisions. Hindsight is 20/20. Also it’s not fair to blame the victims for any actions taken or not taken. Until you have actually been shot at you don’t know how you are going to react, (I say this from lots of experience). The other little debate that has arose from this thread is all hypothetical opinions about the average armed citizen returning fire. I am a huge proponent of the 2nd amendment, but some valid points were brought up. No sane gun owner would open fire unless they had clear shot, and unless they knew what was behind their target. The average firearm owner shoots a couple times a year, at static, well lit targets. Whether it’s a mass shooting, convenience store robbery, or some idiot shooting up an IHOP, the reality is very different, targets are moving, they will have depth, and you will be under stress. If you aren’t prepared for this, you should either reconsider carrying a gun, or reconsider how you train to use it. Bottom-line this was a senseless act of violence, and my prayers go out to the people of CO. It’s a shame that the .001% of crazy people out there ruin things for the overwhelming majority of law abiding citizens.

No specific campground recommendations, but I would recommend a trip to the Outer Banks of North Carolina. The weather is awesome, it’s a very family friendly beach unlike some of the more commercial beaches targeted to college kids (Myrtle Beach, SC). And if you are looking for educational things the NC Aquarium at Manteo, Wright Brother’s Monument, Jockey’s Ridge, Hatteras Lighthouse, and Lost Colony are all amazing.

Ironically the weather in Eastern Afghanistan is quite pleasant right now (minus the daily mid afternoon sand storm), usually highs in the mid 80s, lows in the 60s. I actually feel bad for my family and friends on the east coast!

WOW! Thank you so much for the amazing replies! I am sure that even if I just left it all to my DW that she would be able to nail it, but some of the ideas you all had were things we probably wouldn’t have thought of (which is a big reason I posted in the first place). As we move around with the Army and face more deployments I know we will encounter more and unique challenges, however part of the reason we are homeschooling is to give the kids stability and consistency when I work a job that provides neither. I really liked how many of you related the DH to a principal, I never quite thought of it like that, and hope I can handle some of the discipline and odd ball issues for my DW since I know she will have her hands full as it is. I think I most look forward to helping with the science experiments (I’m a bit of a geek) and teaching some of the more practical non academic subjects (running, bird house building, etc). I will certainly take everything you ladies said to heart, and I will work on trying to get my DW on the forums. I also want to thank everyone for your thoughts and prayers. This is my second deployment to Afghanistan and my DS was born about 5 days before I deployed so I look forward to getting back and making up for lost time. Oh, my family ancestry is Scottish so I will see what I can do about the Kilt! :lol:

My wife and I are new to the homeschooling scene and will be taking the plunge in a couple weeks with our oldest child as she starts her first year in Classical Conversations. Unfortunately I won’t be there for the beginning of this experience since I still have a couple months left on my deployment to Afghanistan. I have a copy of “The Well Trained Mind, 3rd Ed.†on the way to me thanks to Amazon, but in the meantime I am more anxious about my little girl growing up back home than the bullets and bombs over here. I have been browsing the forums for a couple days and have been looking for a leaping point. It appears to me that most of the people posting here are female, so I curiously ask out of ignorance, how do your DHs fit into the homeschooling process? How are they typically involved, and what (if anything) can I do to help my DW from a distance?