"Militry Brat"

Hello All

sorry Ive been slacking in the blog dept. had a busy weekend. went to IKEA on sat with my friend Kate and took a ton of photos of lots of things Id like to buy for my new apartment. Of course, I left my camera in my car so I will post the photos tomorrow. Then today I spent with JAB in my new town. We had a lovely Sunday together, just enjoying each other & we looked at some homes. We didnt find one we loved, but we found a few we liked. * for clarification, I am not moving in with him. I have my own apt in the city*

WARNING - BEGINNING OF A RANT
Today I was speaking with a nice lady at the restaurant we went to for lunch and she asked about us. When I told her I grew up in Europe, she asked me if I was a military brat. The answer to that is no, my father was a high powered executive for UPS and that's why we lived overseas. But thats not the issue I have, the issue is with the term "military brat". I looked up the definition of "brat" and this is how Webster defines it:

Main Entry: brat 

Pronunciation: \ˈbrat\

Function: noun

Etymology: perhaps from English dial. brat coarse garment

Date: circa 1505

1 a : child; specifically : an ill-mannered annoying child b : an ill-mannered immature person

so by definition, brat is a negative word. It is condescending and hurtful and it is a term I only use when I am very upset. But many people feel its a term to be proud of. One of my (not very classy) sorority sisters went as far as it have "army brat" tattooed on her body. 

Now she's 18 and of course, allowed to do whatever she would like to her own body (I have seen much much worse tattoos) but I simply dont understand why an 18 year old girl would tattoo such a negative term to her body.

**this sister seems to have found my blog and Im guessing has issues with what I wrote. Im sorry I dont like your tattoo & I think your unclassy - you gave yourself that reputation, not me. You burned the friendship bridge many semester ago. If you have an issue with my blog, dont read it - that is all **

Now I realise there are some of you out there reading this & thinking that I dont support the military or the children of military families, or something along those lines. That couldnt be any farther from the truth. Some of my very best friends are military wives or fiances and I support them & their husbands 100%

This is a pic of Courtney & Aaron Todd. He's active in the army & is shipping out in a few weeks.

This is Julie & Sean Ogren. They just got married a few days ago. Julie was my freshmen roomie & I love her!

This is my very best friend Marie & her husband Michael. I have known Marie for 6 years & I remember when she first met Michael. Hes on a sub 6months of the year & I get to play husband to Marie when hes gone.

This is Danielle & Kyle Riley. They recently got married and moved to Germany where he is stationed.






All of these women will probably be in my wedding one day, that is how close they are to me. I love each of their husbands dearly and I am proud of what they do for this country. I stand behind their marriages 100% and I am proud to be friends with such remarkable men and women.

But all this love for my military families doesnt deter me from hating the term "military brat". If and when all these couples have children, I will dote on them and love them as my own, but I will never refer to them as "military brats". To me they will always be proud of what their fathers do & I will support them, but I just cant bring myself to call them brats of any kind.

I have had it explained to me that many children use the term military brat as a term of endearment and they are proud of it. That is fine by me, Im glad they are proud of their parents. But much past the age of 15, I think the term becomes unnecessary.

This is the end of my rant. I did not mean to offend anyone, but this is simply my view

**update**
I just found this bib and I think its amazing! Im going to buy it for each military baby I know

It says

My Daddy May Be In The
MILITARY
But I Am Not A
BRAT

This little bib sums up the way I feel