Josh got the all clear

Joshua's final ear recheck...NO INFECTIONS!!!!!!! No tubes needed at this time.

Now, onto the topic that has taken so much of my time lately. It seems Eric, my oldest, is seriously considering going into the Navy. He wants to do the nuclear program and has taken his asvab and gotten a high enough score that he won't have to take the nuc test. I am super proud that he did so well but very reluctant to be excited about this choice. I just don't think he has given it enough thought. He has been on this path only for 3 weeks or so and is ready to sign. Now for the story. My ex has somehow planted this seed. I find out about it one day when I call him and he tells me that he and Eric have been speaking to a recruiter. My ex procedes to tell me that he wants to make sure he is not encouraging Eric because he wished he would have gone in. Red flag folks...my ex IS doing just that. You see, he procedes to tell me that if he would have gone in he could have been at the point of retirement and reaped the benefits of naval retirement at this point and gone on to a new career now if he had gone in. I am dumbfounded! He never expressed this to me when we were married and now he is encouraging Eric to do so. This would have been ok if I thought that Eric were the military type. This is the kid who just a couple of months ago was anti American and said that he thinks the French are smarter than we are in that they allow kids to have wine at a younger age. He went on the foreign exchange student thing and spent two weeks in France and was very anti America. He kept talking about how the French have better this and better that and I told him that he needs to remember that living in our country provides him with many opportunities. I digress a little. Anyways, my ex is on a first name basis with Eric's recruiter and refers to Jason on a first name basis. Eric has been visiting the recruiter's office very frequently with his dad. The first day Eric goes alone I got the feeling that this recruiter was pressuring him and told my ex. Well, he procedes to cal Jason and asks him if he was pressuring Eric. Of course Jason says 'oh man, no way'. Am I the only one here who does not consider a recruiter to be a friend? James went online and did some research and found a great website that is titled what the recruiter never told you. We wanted to make sure Eric realizes that the recruiter might leave out info just to get him to sign. Eric is just sure this recruiter will be there for him even after he signs the dotted line. Ummm....no! I am sorry folks but Eric is just another number and as soon as he signs I have a sneaking suspicion that Jason will vaporize. My ex is being foolish in thinking otherwise. My ex is the kind of guy who got sucked into thinking we would be millionaires selling term life insurance when we were married so he is easily duped. I just don't want Eric not to have the whole picture before he signs away eight years of his life.

I so hope he gives it a lot more thought. James and I tried to get him thinking the other night. We asked him if he knew exactly what he would be doing and he has a very unrealistic expectation of what it is he would do. If he signs he will be in for 6 years active duty and 2 years inactive (if we are not still in conflict...let's hope not). I feel like he does not want to consider all the aspects of what enlistment would mean and is just kind of closing his eyes and and jumping. Typical behavior of teens who are graduating right? While we were speaking to him he was watching a movie and was not totally focused on what we were saying either. James was quite frustrated by this as well as I. We had promised to talk with the recruiter this past Thursday and after talking with Eric and realizing he was not willing to hear our hesitation we decided that it would not be a good idea and cancelled. We saw this turning into a Jason/Eric against James/Patty thing and that is NOT going to get us anywhere. I told Eric we had all the answers we needed and we would not need to ask any questions of Jason.

Eric has always been a more creative sort and not the type you would see in the military. He originally wanted to be a woodworker and would have pursued this had we been able to financially back him up more. Now he is considering a career in an analytical problem solving type field and that is just not him. Again, I blame my ex for steering him into this. I think the Navy would help him to grow up mighty fast and that is also a strong point for my ex. Eric got fired from his job last week for speaking his mind to his boss. He never gave me details but I think he told her off and expletives may have been used. James and I both asked Eric if he realized that if he did that in the Navy he would end up in the brig. He said that he would not do that in the Navy. We asked how he could be sure and he said....it just wouldn't. Right....

Anyhoo, I hope he gives us more info this Sunday when he comes for Joshua's 1 ye ar birthday party....that's right...it has been one whole year since my baby was born! We are having an Elmo party so I will try and update with some pics at least and hopefully more. Sorry to have been so silent but I have been so focused on Eric and have been negligent in my duties.