i was just the opposite, actually. i LOVED moving around all the time and now that i've been in the same place for over 10 years, i'm SO ANTSY! i've never lived anywhere this long! but i'm married to a civilian who really never left his home state -- it's weird to HIM to move around a lot! so, i'm having to learn how to put down roots and still be happy. so far, i cope by rearranging my furniture every two years! :)

my sister and brother were more like you -- they enjoyed getting to see different places, but it was really hard every time they had to leave friends and start over.

i sometimes regret not marrying into the military myself, actually. i miss the life a lot.

i'm the daughter of a retired col. in the usmc. ooh rah! :)

Hi, Dyan. I'm trishah, daughter of retired Army Maj. As I said in another post, Daddy Lifer retired when I was only 13 but I truly enjoyed the moving around and the new experiences. It could be because my parents, especially mom, treated it as an adventure, not only with travel around each assignment but experiencing the culture via food, celebrations, people, etc., too.

Since I was so young when he retired, I did manage to live for a long time in one locale. I recall running into folks I'd known long ago and thinking, "Gee, this is a new experience"!

So perhaps it's a trade-off. While worldly in some ways, Military Brats are interestingly naive because their world is so safe and protected. It's a true oxymoron.

Because we move, we're not overly good at knowing how to maintain long term relationships. I know I had to work on that.

I've seen Brats who are either extremely good at making new friends or terribly bad at it, drawing into a shell. Luckily, I'm the former and I think all my siblings are, too, save one.

I think we're a little more apt to feel comfortable trying new things - foods, for example.

I could well be wrong, too. Maybe the tendencies I'm chalking up to the Brat way of life are really just reflections of individual parenting skills and styles. Who knows.

Personally, given the choice, I would do it the Brat way again.

trishah