Life they say isn’t a bed of roses; such is the narrative of a military child.
Being raised by a military personnel is definitely not a bed laced with roses but one that has scattered stints of thorns along the way.
A military person is first a human being; therefore performs all the basic biological expectations of a typical homo sapiens .
However, the difference between a child raised by a “bloody civilian” and that of a “military personnel”, is in the way they stress and enforce some enduring military tenets like discipline and respect.
First, let’s examine a few of the challenges faced by the military child. There is the overwhelming likelihood that military children hardly see or interact with their parents. Very often, he or she (that is, the parents) is sent on assignment, sometimes outside the country. This becomes a recurring decimal in the parent-child relationship.
This creates a gap between the military personnel and his or her family, especially the children. Family moments like regular conversations, outings, picnics etc., that are very important condiments in the making of a healthy family relationship are mostly absent.
A significant number of military children are restricted to mostly the four walls of their homes; they hardly have the opportunity to freely explore and interact with their immediate environment.
To them, the voice of their parents is one that triggers feelings of fear and trepidation. You’d see some children run to hiding immediately they hear the voice of their parents.
At certain stages in the psycho-social development of every child, there is a fierce and urgent need to mingle and form their identities with those of their peers. However, the case seems different for a child of military upbringing; parents are usually strict on their children interesting with their peers.
God help the boy that misses his way in his juvenile need to woo a military girl-child; that day he would literally smell his brain and will NEVER make such a grave error because the kind of slap and beatings he will freely receive will leave an indelible impression in his consciousness for life.
Sometimes, you will almost think that your parents are “monitoring spirits” will the excessive phone calls you get when you gain admission into higher institution.
In all honesty, the kind of trainings – discipline, respect, integrity etc., you get from a military upbringing is totally invaluable.
It sets the pace for life and living and enables you to be able to easily adapt, thrive and survive in whatever endeavour they find themselves.
There’s a usual saying that “nothing last forever”, therefore, the circular, predictable and sometimes banal life of a military child will surely come to an end. As time passes, the parents begin to lose those extreme claws of clinching to their wards because they (the children) begin to come of age and become independent adults.
