Flak for Iraq: Sunny

Mean Mommy

Wed, 01 Aug 2007 23:12:28 GMT

If this article is any indication, we're going to be in trouble when I go to the sandbox next year.

Child abuse rises when dad is at war - Kids & Parenting - MSNBC.com
Children in some Army families are vulnerable to abuse and neglect by their mothers when their fathers are away at war in Iraq and Afghanistan, a large Pentagon-funded study finds. Mothers were three times more likely to have a substantiated report of child mistreatment when their soldier husbands were deployed than when the fathers were home, according to the research. Mothers at home were nearly four times as likely to neglect their children and nearly twice as likely to physically abuse them during deployment periods.

Well, all I can hope is that she doesn't grow up to be like other field grades' daughters and sons.

Nap time ain't the right time...

Wed, 20 Dec 2006 11:06:16 GMT

...for assembling Christmas gifts.

So there I was, in the foyer, thinking that since Sunny had been fast asleep for about 15 minutes, it was safe to put together her Safari Wagon.

About 10 minutes later, after some cursing with a screwdriver and a little beating with a hammer, guess who strolls in without so much as a vocal warning?

Yep, and she didn't want to leave the scene of the crime, either.

I guess the Lego Duplo train sets will have to be the big surprise now.

"I have a dream."

Tue, 25 Apr 2006 23:03:11 GMT

So I went to the Toyland at AAFES Four Seasons the other day to get a doll for little Sunny, because she fancies children quite a bit nowadays. African-American dolls outnumbered other dolls by a ratio of about 5 or 6 to 1. I thought to myself, "Now wait a second. This is highly disproportionate to the American population."

Then a couple of days ago, I found myself driving on post as school got out (Lord, have mercy). I saw all the command sponsored children from the elementary, middle, and high schools milling about and crossing the streets.

Those are some pretty smart people working at AAFES, let me tell you.

Don't worry, Sunny...

Sun, 19 Mar 2006 23:29:19 GMT

...because if Daddy catches you in Hongdae on Club Day, you'll have a lot more to worry about than some goddamn drunk underage GI!

YONGSAN GARRISON, South Korea — The first thing Jasmyn Chambers, 18, remembers from early morning Feb. 25 isn’t the pain of a jagged beer bottle slicing through her face. What struck her first was bewilderment.
She still has trouble understanding why a soldier, or any man, would slash a woman’s face so badly she would need 80 stitches.
“I can’t believe he’s a person that would do that to somebody,” said the Seoul American High School senior.

Don't worry about getting kicked out of SAHS, though, since we'll never be command sponsored because you're not in EFMP, among other things.

Soccer Balls

Thu, 23 Feb 2006 03:34:48 GMT

RAF LAKENHEATH, England — A former youth soccer coach has been found guilty of indecent sexual acts with a then-15-year-old assistant coach and sentenced to 30 days’ confinement, reduction in rank and a bad-conduct discharge, according to court documents.
Airman 1st Class Stephen T. Jones, 27, was convicted in a special court-martial headed by Judge (Col.) Gordon R. Hammock that closed late Monday evening. Jones had pleaded guilty earlier in the day.

Well, Sunny, you can cross "soccer coach" off of the list of things you wanted to do when you grow up.

I pray to God that I can retire before you reach high school age, because I damn sure won't let you go to high school on post.

This is a Big Deal

Thu, 02 Feb 2006 10:56:00 GMT

No, I'm not talking about the Super Bowl, although that is definitely a big deal for me.

This would be my Sunny's first birthday. You see, a couple of months ago, my wife asked what I planned to do for it. I told her that I know it's a big deal in Korea, so she should handle it. She said that it was up to me, so I said we'll just have presents, cake, and ice cream, sort of like in the States.

About a month passes, and she's talking about going to a family restaurant with just us, her family, and close friends. I said no problem--whatever, but I don't want a big deal.

The weekend before Lunar New Year passed and the in-laws asked what we were doing. We told them that we were just going to have cake and ice cream at home and give Sunny some presents. They said nothing.

We came back to Seoul from Uijeongbu, and my wife got summoned back north by telephone, causing me to bail out of work early and haul ass to Uijeongbu and make it back in time for asinine CP. Oh, there's much to be done in such little time! Hanboks to be fitted, special photo albums posed for, reservations made, invitations sent, yadda... yadda... yadda.... They even tried to get me in a Hanbok! I said that I felt the Army Blue uniform with four-in-hand tie was a more appropriate attire for me, for that was my traditional clothing during the Choson dynasty, and I hadn't worn it since my Grandmother's funeral.

Anyways....

Pro: I've been able to focus on Seahawks pre-gaming, PT, and house chores while my wife and Sunny have been at Grandma's.

Con: This is going to cost me a fortune and keep me from partying and watching pre-game shows the night before the Super Bowl.

The bottom line is that if you have a baby in Korea, expect a big deal of a first birthday to be imposed upon you at the last minute because of your poor noon-chi. I'll cover noon-chi in a future "How Shit Works (in Korea)."

Military Brats

Mon, 18 Jul 2005 06:04:55 GMT

There's a reason for the term "military brat." Command-sponsored kids are punks, especially offspring of field grades. I learned this in basic when some son of a colonel put beer in his canteen at the Cannonball Run festival at Fort Sill and brought it back to the barracks, getting everyone smoked. At West Point, I went to a colonel's house for dinner once. His kids could stand in line and greet visitors at the door, like in the movie Sound of Music, but turned into little cursing, smoking monsters when behind their Daddy's back.

Sometimes when I'm driving on Yongsan, I see high school girls walking with GI boyfriends. Some of them could pass for juicy girls with the clothes they wear. From what I've seen down in Daegu in the PX parking lot, it's the same story there. A few years ago, I remember some military brat punks in Germany were dropping things from an autobahn overpass and decapitated a German driver. I've assisted the manager at Q-vo in getting drunk command-sponsored dependents to leave when they started acting the fool. Now we've got drunk command-sponsored punks on Yongsan throwing beer bottles at Korean busses. For crying out loud, when I was 13, all I cared about was the latest Cobra Viper action figures from Hasbro and winning Pitfall II on my Atari 2600 without losing any points.

What is it about military life that makes kids into little shits? They have some of the finest facilities and activity groups on post, courtesy of the American taxpayer, but still they wreak havoc and terrorize wherever they go. Is it the stress of having a father deployed to Iraq and a mother who is playing the field? Is it the stress of an ambitious, demanding father who has great expectations? Do they think they're untouchable because Daddy knows a lot of people? Do they think they can do whatever they want here and now because they know they'll be moving on to Daddy's next duty station soon?

I grew up a poor white trash bastard and never had to deal with a "curfew" or being "grounded." I came and went as I pleased and did anything I wanted, and yet I never tasted alcohol until I was a lieutenant and still have yet to taste a cigarette or smokeless tobacco.

I haven't figured this one out yet...Whatever the root cause of this problem, I hope I don't make the same mistakes.

Marmot

Nomad

Stars and Stripes

Miss Universe 2025

Wed, 22 Jun 2005 11:32:22 GMT

Have you ever seen those web sites that show pictures of celebrities when they were in school, revealing how they've plastic surgery or massive makeup to become someone else? Well this girl is all-natural, and I think she's going to be a dead-ringer for Miss Korea or Miss USA in 2025.

On the other hand, now that I think of it, she'll probably be too busy at West Point to enter any pageants....

Peekaboo

Thu, 19 May 2005 11:10:56 GMT

I came home from work to find my wife frantically searching for Sunny, who has recently learned how to roll over onto her stomach, and Lord only knows what she'll try next. My wife had taken a shower and left Sunny in her crib, but she was missing when my wife finished. We looked in all the cupboards, under the furniture, in our dressers and wardrobes, all the while calling her name. Just as we were about to call the police, Sunny burst out from a hatch in the ceiling of our shower/restroom, and said, "I want to take a shower, too. I'm sick of that stupid plastic bathtub."

Out With the Old

Mon, 18 Apr 2005 02:54:21 GMT

At the behest of my daughter, I took the liberty of ordering a new digital camera today, an Olympus C-60. Sunny has been nagging me about poor picture quality from my obsolescent Motorola MS100 camera phone for the past several weeks. She especially wants me to have good quality photos of her 100-day-old celebration next month.

Here she is talking in her sleep yesterday.

Chores Day

Sat, 16 Apr 2005 03:41:51 GMT

It is quite a splendid day today; I don't see a cloud in the sky from my windows, and the temperature is perfect. I would like to walk to Namsan Park or the War Memorial, but today is Saturday, which translates to chores day.

During the week, my wife and I have our hands full with Sunny. Although she is quite well-behaved, Sunny cannot stand being alone. Someone always has to hold her, talk to her, and look at her.

Therefore, laundry builds up, the floors don't get vacuumed, and the whole place becomes generally cluttered. I am very particular about the way our house should be, so I spend most of Saturday doing laundry, dusting, vacuuming, mopping, and so on. Every Friday-Sunday, my wife and Sunny stay in Uijeongbu to visit Grandma, Grandpa, Aunt, and Uncles, so this becomes prime time for cleaning. I take breaks once in awhile to blog, watch a movie, read National Geographic, or play computer wargames.

Every Sunday evening, I bring Sunny home to a spotless house to begin the cycle again.

Last Monkey

Tue, 08 Feb 2005 13:40:02 GMT

Blogging live from Uijeongbu....Sunny Lee Gardner was just born, weighing 3.66 kg. Another hour or so and she would have been born in the Year of the Rooster, rather than the Year of the Monkey. This would have been much more to my liking. My wife, however, would have nothing of it. If you have ever witnessed labor, you know what I mean.

Sunny tells me she wants to start a blog immediately. I told her that it's fine with me, as long as she doesn't end up being a little cyber-tramp like Shuxie in Singapore.