Proud USAF Mom X3 - My Princess Is An Airman Now!

   

     I started this particular blog several months ago when I started helping my daughter Tiffany get as physically prepared for USAF Basic Training as she could be in only 6 weeks. Being in school and working took up all of her time so she hadn't been working out for at least 6 months prior to this. I knew the PT at Basic Training was going to be very hard for her at first but I was confident she would keep up and do just fine!

   

 I think I was a little more concerned about how she would be emotionally since she was never really that person who liked being away from home. We had gotten into a routine of watching some TV shows at night while snacking and chatting over a glass of wine while she laid on the couch with her skinnypig "Kramer". We were both in our "comfort zones" for quite a while. Ironically, my dog started waking me up at 5 am every morning, starting the week before she left and has continued the whole time she has been gone. It's almost like Willie decided that we were going to be supportive and be awake when Tiffany was up jogging to her cadence in Texas.

     Tiffany was most concerned about doing the running every morning since that was not something that came easily for her, and she was also worried about not finding food that she would eat. Not only is she a very picky eater, but she is also vegetarian, plus she doesn't sleep well at night. Given all of these "possible" set-backs, Tiffany was made "Element Leader" after the first two weeks of Basic Training and academically made it to the top 10% and was an Honor Graduate having her name announced at graduation with the other Honor Graduates. I am so freaking proud of this girl!

     Before Tiffany actually had time to get into the gym to start training, I told her to just start doing push-ups and sit-ups at home and if she had 15 minutes after work, she should just jog around the complex.  I think initially she struggled with doing 6 push-ups and couldn't jog half a mile without stopping. In her second week of Basic Training, she ran 1 1/2 miles in 15:08 and her final PT test after 6 weeks she did a mile and a half in 12:47! She was practicing sit-ups at home so she was able to do 44 in a minute her second week of PT and by week six she did 60 push-ups in a minute. The recruits were also given one minute for their push-ups, which she went from doing 16 the 2nd week and worked up to 35 in one minute by her sixth week which I think is very good!

     As a Personal Trainer for more than half of my life, I've seen many people go from being completely inactive, unhealthy, and weak, to becoming healthy and fit, and some even going on to run full marathons! Many people have injuries or physical disabilities that prevent them from doing some of the thins they'd like to do, but the power of intention and a strong desire to succeed will take all of us much further than we'd ever imagined we could! I'm so proud of all of my children who chose to join the United Stated Air Force and not only make this personal transformation, but to serve our country when many are incapable or unwilling. I thank all of the military men and women for their service!

Proud USAF Mom X3 - Training My Daughter Before Basic - 6 Weeks and Counting!

   

      My daughter Tiffany has decided to follow in her brothers' and father's footsteps and enlist in the United States Air Force National Guard. My oldest son served 3 years full-time and now continues in the National Guard at McGuire Air Force Base, which is where my daughter will eventually go for her monthly drills . My youngest son has been serving for 2 years as a Boom Operator in the Air Force Reserves, and after a year of training in Texas, he also reports to McGuire AF Base.

     Tiffany started with MEPS (Military Entrance Processing Station) a year ago and was working out fairly regularly getting ready to enlist, but she was holding out for a military job to become available that she was willing to commit to. In the meantime, she continued her education and obtained a job as a beauty consultant since she has been a licenced Aesthetician for five years. I've been very fortunate to have my own personal Make-up Artist for various events I've had to attend over the years. She is an amazing Make-up Artist!

     With the extremely tight schedule she has had the last 6 months, Tiffany didn't have time to keep up with her workouts. In September she was notified of a opening for a Medical Technician position in the Air National Guard and she had 1 week to decide and get sworn-in. She accepted the position with the condition that she would not leave until after this past semester of school was over. She now has less than 6 weeks left to get physically and mentally prepared to leave for 8 weeks of Basic Training in San Antonio, Texas. Being a Personal Trainer allows me to at least help her with that!
     We've decided to keep a log of her journey together. She is more into the videos and photos used on Instagram, and doesn't enjoy blogging as much as I do. I will be training her a couple times a week (besides her own workouts she is doing) and taking photos as well as blogging along the way. Once she leaves for Basic Training she will no longer have access to anything but a pen and paper to write with...NO Social Media AT ALL! That's where my blogging will take over! I will continue to report her journey as I receive letters from her. I know the first few weeks will be the hardest for her both physically and emotionally, especially since it takes some time to start receiving letters of encouragement from home.
   

I've written plenty of letters to my sons while they were in Basic Training, hoping to cheer them up when they might've been feeling discouraged or just home sick, plus it gave me a temporary sense of having them with me. My niece Nina just finished all of her training in Texas for the Air Force Reserves. I am so proud of her! She was working so hard to get physically prepared and totally kicked butt taking my classes before she left.

     Tiffany was always pretty athletic in school and even after high school did a little bit of kickboxing, weight training and was taking some of my spin and interval training classes. The one thing she didn't enjoy was running and pretty soon she'll be doing a lot of that! Last night she came back from the gym after being sick all week and ran her first mile without stopping, which is a great start for her. Tiffany has been getting advice about what to expect at Basic Training from her her cousin, her brother Jesse and his girlfriend Taylor, who is also an Air Force Veteran, and her younger brother Dakota who lives home with us.

      I'm sure it will be a little strange having their sister gone with the Military for 10 months but it is going to be very difficult for me to not have my Princess home with me for that long. You can follow +Tiffybopp on Instagram and Youtube for the next 41 days and after that just stay tuned to my blogs.
   

Growing Pains of Parenthood...

    

Being a parent is one of the most challenging jobs there is, especially in a single-parent household. The time needed to take care of each person in the house, the emotional support needed to keep the peace, the hours of work to financially support everyone, and the mental battle that goes on in your head trying to figure out if you're doing the right thing takes everything you have inside of you. Then there's the conscience mind that wonders if all of those decisions were the "right" things to do. Although there are so many books written on parenting, there is no "one-size-fits-all" answer since every family's dynamics are different and no two kids are the same.
     I seemed to have developed a habit of using a hashtag on Instagram "MomOf3" when I post photos with my kids. A lot has changed in my family over the last few years, which I know is what is supposed to happen...kids grow up and move on. It seems so much easier to move on when you're the child than it is when you're the parent (or at least it was for me).
   

My oldest son who is now 25 joined the US Air Force full time at 22 years old and went from Basic Training to being stationed  in Germany for 2 years and has been back in my own state just an hour or so away and visits on some weekends. I was fortunate enough to visit him in Germany and more fortunate to have him so close to home and on safe grounds.

     My 22-year old daughter who has also become my best friend is a very talented makeup artist who lives at home and is getting ready to go back to school to be a veterinarian's assistant or something to help save animals. Being a vegan myself who influenced her decision of becoming a vegetarian, I am SO happy that she is choosing this for her future career. I'm also grateful to have an amazing makeup artists living with me to make me look flawless when needed :)
     I got separated in my marriage when my youngest son was 3 weeks old and ironically the same time he became colicky and didn't stop crying until he was about 9 months old. There aren't  a lot of people that can handle a child that screams bloody-murder for months at a time. I don't really know how I didn't have a nervous breakdown under the circumstances, but I've always been a firm believer of "That which doesn't conquer you makes you stronger"...words to live by!
     Somehow I went back to school to become an x-ray technologist at Bergen Community College while still teaching aerobics classes and waiting tables and graduated with a 3.98 GPA. I look back now when I can't sit still long enough to read a chapter in a book and wonder how I did it. Bottom line is...we do what we have to do to take care of our family.
    

So this emotional, wish-washy blog I'm writing today is because I just found out that my 19-year old son whom I thought was just "training" for a few more months for the US Air Force Reserves actually just got an apartment near the base with my older son and will not be living home at least for the life of the lease which is one year (or never again for all I know). I am SO PROUD of how much he has accomplished since he graduated high school a  year ago, (not to mention the car he just bought without telling me last weekend) but am also sad that my baby that was rubbing my arm until he was 17 has grown up so much in the last 6 months, that he really doesn't need me anymore.

     I can remember as a child having pains in my legs that I couldn't describe and my mom would always tell me they were "growing pains" so I left it as that. Now that I am fully grown physically and realize that the mental and emotional aspects of growing are much worse than the physical, I wonder...is this part of a "Mid-life Crisis" or just "Growing Pains of Parenthood"?