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I will probably get hammered for this, but I will probably discourage my kid from any military aspirations. I don't want him dead or a "wounded warrier" before age 30 or dealing with PTSD, since I don't buy the "protecting our freedoms" bit and this country doesn't take care of its returning vets in any sort of meaningful fashion.
There is no way I would ever tell my children what to do with their lives.
They are adults and were raised to make their own decisions.
I may not like nor agree with their choice but I would never tell them not to do something.
But if asked, a parent can often give some wise wisdom to their budding adult child. Doctors say that rational part of the brain doesn't fully develop until 25 or so.
Other than that, as long as they are happy I am good. I never wanted my kids to go into factory work (that is mostly what there is here in this part of Indiana) but one of them has and seems happy enough.
I will probably get hammered for this, but I will probably discourage my kid from any military aspirations. I don't want him dead or a "wounded warrier" before age 30 or dealing with PTSD, since I don't buy the "protecting our freedoms" bit and this country doesn't take care of its returning vets in any sort of meaningful fashion.
My husband is a veteran and he would agree with you. He doesn't want our kids going what he went through, and the physical and emotional toll that it has taken. At 30, he feels 70 some days!
With that said, if they really want a military career, we are going to encourage them to go to college first, and then if they still want to serve, go the commissioned officer route rather than enlist. DH feels that if they really want to be military, being an officer may be slightly less brutal than enlisted.
I talked my daughter out of becoming a teacher. I have the highest respect and regard for teachers, but until our education system corrects, I would not advise ANYONE to go into teaching right now.
Other career goals that she has discussed include exotic dancing. I cautioned her about the pitfalls but she knows I've got her back, always. She backed away from that and is now in nursing school.
Other than that, as long as they are happy I am good. I never wanted my kids to go into factory work (that is mostly what there is here in this part of Indiana) but one of them has and seems happy enough.
I started out on an assembly line--->transferred into quality assurance ----> Moved into Shipping/Receiving for a year ----> bid into machine operator ----> became a machinist----> moved into an hourly group leader role ----> promoted to production supervisor---> (got my degrees via employer assistance) moved into HR as a generalist ---> promoted to HR manager and did that for 10 years---> decided to run back to operations leadership and now am an manufacturing operations manager 2nd in command to the plant manager
Manufacturing has been good for me. My dad worked in manufacturing (as Maintenance/Electrical) for his entire career and did just fine. Skilled trades pay pretty well if your kids have a penchant for them and some unions will sponsor the training if it's an organized shop. Even if they aren't interested in moving laterally/up, manufacturing generally pays better and is less frustrating--at least IMO--than fields like food service or retail. I did a year and a half of retail prior to getting into manufacturing because I was not yet 18 and ha ha, I will just say I have great admiration for people who have to deal with the public. Most of them are nice but those 5% who aren't just make you want to go buy a car with a trunk large enough to hide all of their bodies in
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