As new recruits prepare to leave for military service, starting their two-year journey, my heart is filled with anxiety and mixed emotions before the day my child officially enters the military environment.
From emotion to pride
18 years old, the age considered to be the beginning of adulthood, the age to make your own life decisions. However, in my eyes, the child who just graduated from high school, even though he is 1m76 tall and weighs 68kg, is still a skinny, clumsy, carefree child who needs the protection of his parents. Before that, when my husband and son convinced me to voluntarily apply for military service, I made a big fuss, the atmosphere was tense for several weeks.
Joining the military is the responsibility of every citizen to the country, I always knew that, but joining at the age of 18 makes a mother like me inevitably worried. Every day at home, from getting up to go to school to eating, I have to remind my son, so it is impossible to imagine how he lives in a military environment with iron discipline.
Many parents support their children to join the military. (Illustration photo)
I once advised my son that he could choose to do military service after he finished his university degree, or at another time when he had more experience and life experience. I strongly opposed my husband's opinion, and it seemed that nothing could shake his opinion, if that night my son had not knocked on my parents' door to confide in me.
I have witnessed my child through many moments in life, from taking his first steps to learning to talk, from learning to ride a bike, to getting a perfect score in class... but there has never been a moment that made me burst into tears and moved as much as when he confided his desire to join the military. In that moment, my child became so big and mature that it was amazing.
I still remember every word my son said that night: “Mom, let me join the military service. After completing 2 years, I will continue my studies. I want to fulfill my responsibility to the Fatherland to proudly walk on the road ahead. Please believe in me.”
My son said, 2 years is not short, especially 2 years of youth with dreams and ambitions, but for the Fatherland, our ancestors did not spare their lives and blood, why can we, the young generation, spare two years for great and good things.
Indeed, even I myself at that time could not think of profound things like you.
My journey of raising children has brought me many tears, tears of worry when my children are sick or hurt or when they do something sad. But that night I cried with pride knowing that my children have grown up, thinking about responsibilities and the future.
And of course, when my child has made his own decision and is responsible for that choice, I have no reason to stop him. When he received my consent, both father and son cheered happily and hugged me. At that moment, I felt so small and happy because I had two grown men by my side.
From anxiety to peace of mind
Although I support my son in joining the military, I am still worried about the upcoming months in the army. I asked my friends whose children had served in the army about the situation and only when all the answers I received were positive did I feel relieved and reassured.
A friend of mine confided that her son returned from military service and was completely different. He did not play around like before, and his lifestyle was very neat and orderly. After two years in the army, the unruly son, who no one in the family listened to, when he was discharged, even brought money home to buy his mother a new refrigerator and a new set of tables and chairs.
When I asked about the military environment, my friend's son excitedly said: "Knowing that joining the military would allow me to meet close comrades like brothers, to be trained and shared, I would not have cried out loud when my parents advised me to join the military. Luckily, my parents were determined, otherwise I would have missed the golden opportunity of my life with experiences that could not be found anywhere else but the years of being a soldier."
New recruits in the military environment (Photo: QĐND)
My son seemed to understand my worries, so since he was approved to volunteer for military service, he has been much more proactive. Every day, he takes the initiative to wake up early, fold the blankets and curtains neatly, and help me sweep the house and yard - things that he would never have done if I had not reminded him before.
Seeing my child being independent even before he joined the army, I felt somewhat reassured. It was time for my little child to walk on his own two feet and make his own choices.
Although the military environment is strict, it is also the best place to train your will, spirit and morality. I believe that my son, like many other young men who join the army, will mature and become better in both health and thinking after his military service.
Once you have experienced the military environment with its challenges and training, I think you will easily overcome the difficulties that life will face in the future to move forward steadily. As my child said, 2 years is not short but compared to the life ahead, it is still very long.
In the bustling atmosphere of the military recruitment season, I am very excited to wait for the day my child puts on his military uniform and becomes a soldier to carry out the mission assigned by the Fatherland. Just thinking about it makes my eyes well up with tears, the day I send my child off to the army I will probably cry again, but I will stay calm to tell him: "Mom and Dad are proud of you, my soldier".
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