YOU KNOW YOU ARE A MARINE MOM WHEN. . .

You Know You Are A Marine Mom When...

1. Your last good night's sleep was 6 months before he left for bootcamp.

2. You have finally resigned yourself to the fact that Marine mail is delivered seasonally rather than daily.

3. Your Marine gives you ironing tips.

4. Your Marine's version of pneumonia is "It's just a cold, I'm fine."

5. You realize the Marine Corps' cure-all is Motrin.

6. The mere word "deployment" has you on the phone refilling your Xanax.7. You can't quite figure out what non-Marine mothers worry about.

8. You finally realize that Drill Instructors are not the anti-Christ and are more like heroes.

9. You've mailed at least a few packages that have been on around-the-world tours.10. You forgot there were TV stations other than Fox News.

11. You find yourself bragging to friends about your Marine's accuracy with an M-16.

12. You will get in a high speed chase just to catch up with someone's Marine Corps bumper sticker.

13. When everything in your closet has Marine Mom on it and if it doesn't, you put pins and yellow ribbons on it.

14. When you recognize the haircut and ask if you can have a hug because your son is deployed.

15. Someone says to you "My son has a high ASVAB and a great GP so after he leaves PI for CL and finishes his MOS at the SOI he is going to try for MSG." and it makes sense to you.

16. When you don't mind watching military movies even though you hated them growing up.

17. You tell your nephews they need a "high and tight".

18. You and your husband buy a "good" flagpole for the front yard for Christmas and fly the American flag and the USMC flag 24/7, lighted, and money is no object.

19. You buy cadence CDs and listen to them when you power walk.

20.Your friends and family always start conversations with "How is the boy?"

21. You make sure to get up early to watch the Rose Bowl Parade so you can see the Marine Band.

22. You tear up every time you see someone in uniform.

23. When you have no small children, but you search toy stores for Marine G.I. Joes and buy them.

24. When the post office personnel and mailman both know you by your first name.

25. When your son is in Afghanistan and you dial his cell phone so you can hear his voice on his outgoing message.

26. When you always know what time it is in Iraq or Okinawa or San Diego.

27. Your son has the ability to iron his own shirt...while he is wearing it!

28. You don't mind the long lines at the post office because you are NOT leaving until you get that care package mailed to your Marine.

29. You BEG his life-long best friend to do a "Tommy impression" and then everyone eats his favorite foods.

30. When the phone rings you don't answer it unless the caller ID shows it is your Marine and then you run over husband, cats, dogs, small children and little old ladies to answer the phone, no matter what injuries any of them might sustain in the process.

31. You purchase Marine shirts for grandparents, aunts, uncles, nieces and nephews.

32. You have a bad day at work and your co-workers serenade you with the Marine Hymn and give you a red rose and the whole office is crying.

33. Your son, who had such a messy room growing up that it was a health hazard, informs you on a visit home that you flunked inspection because of a little dust.

34. When your Marine calls YOU for information because he knows you'll get it from the other moms online.

35. When watching the West Wing you care nothing about the plot, you are just peering closely to see the Marines in dress blues at the White House.

36.You are mopping the kitchen floor and your son walks in and says "You call that cleaning?"

37. You have a blue star banner proudly displayed in your picture window.

38. You search military websites for any news of where your son might be/has been.

39. Your email has the Iwo Jima background, an animated American flag, a "We Support Our Troops" yellow ribbon icon and plays the Marine Hymn in a continuous loop.

40. When you try to read aloud to others the "You know you are a Marine mom when..." list you can't because of the lump in your throat and the tears in your eyes.

41. You taped the Marine's Toys for Tots commercial where the little boy tells the Marine "you really are Santa Claus" and you cry every time you see it.

42. Your weather check page includes Doha, Kuwait, Baghdad, Okinawa and San Diego.

43. You stalk a man at the grocery store in a Marine cap so you can tell him about your Marine.

44. You find a way to work into every conversation that your son is a Marine."Would you like to supersize that ma'am?" "No, but speaking of super, did you know that my son is a Marine?"

45. You have to move a pile of priority mail boxes, bubble wrap, and "special: to be shipped" items to sit down in the living room.

46. You leave a special message to your Marine in your outgoing voicemail/answering machine."If this is Tommy, I miss you and I love you!"

47. You stand in the checkout line with a cart full of Easy Mac, protein bars, and Roth's donuts and people stare at you and wonder what kind of strange diet you are on.

48. You sleep with your phone in your hand.

49. The new sacker at the grocery store puts your bread in the bottom of the bag and you ask to see his Sergeant.

50.Your boss asks if you are finished with your project and you say "good to go sir!"

51. You go out to your mail box with your reading glasses and a letter opener.

52. You wait for what seems like years for that first phone call from Iraq and then when you miss it by going out for the newspaper you lay on the floor and sob uncontrollably.

53. You don't really "sweat the small stuff". Just that fact that your Marine is in the same hemisphere is enough to make you do the happy dance.

54. You insist that your Marine wear his uniform to have a family portrait taken at Sears Photography Studio.

55. Your idea of a dream date is R. Lee Ermey.

56. The proudest moment in your life is when your son calls and tells you he is the most hated DI in the platoon.

57. You tell your family that "chow" is on the table.

THE UNITED STATES MARINE

The average age of a Marine is 19 years. He is a short haired, tight-muscled kid who, under normal circumstances, is considered by society as half man, half boy. Not yet dry behind the ears, not old enough to buy beer, but old enough to die for his country. He never really cared much for work and he would rather wax his own car than wash his father's, but he has never collected unemployment either.He's a recent High School graduate; he was probably an average student, pursued some form of sport activities, drives a ten year old car and has a steady girlfriend that either broke up with him when he left, or swears to be waiting when he returns from half a world away.He is 10 or 15 pounds lighter now than when he was at home because he is working or fighting from before dawn to well after dusk. He has trouble spelling, thus letter writing is a pain for him, but he can field strip a rife in 30 seconds and reassemble it in less time in the dark. He can recite to you the nomenclature of a M-16 or grenade launcher and use either one effectively if he must.He digs foxholes and la trines and can apply first aid like a professional. He can march until he is told to stop, or stop until he is told to march. He obeys orders instantly and without hesitation, but he is not without spirit or individual dignity. He is self-sufficient.He has two sets of camies; he washes one and wears the other. He keeps his canteens full and his feet dry. He sometime forgets to brush his teeth, but never his rifle. He can cook his own meals, mend his own clothers, and fix his own hurts.If you are thirsty, he will share his water with you; if you are hungry, his food. He will even split his ammunition with you in the midst of battle when you run low. He has learned to use his hands like weapons and weapons like they were his hands. He can save your life---or take it, because that is his job.He will often do twice the work of a civilian, draw half the pay and still find ironic humor in it all. He has seen more suffering and death than he should have in this short lifetime.He has wept in public and in private, for friends who have fallen in combat and is unashamed. He feels every note of the National Anthem vibrate through his body while at rigid attention, while tempering the burning desire to "square-away" those around him who have not bothered to stand, remove their hat, or even stop talking. In an odd twist, day in and day out, far from home, he defends their right to be disrespectful.Just as did his Father, Grandfather and Great Grandfather, he is paying the price for our freedom.

Beardless or not, he is not a boy. He is a United States Marine that has kept this country free for over 200 years.He has asked nothing in return, except our friendship and understanding. Remember him, always, for he has earned our respect and admiration with his sacrifice and commitment to duty, honor and country.