A strange request...

Yes it’s strange and a little bit crazy to be honest. If I had a son, I’d probably leave him with anyone who’d take him. But no way I’m leaving my baby girls with anyone other than family for a week. Especially when they were 6 years old. I still have yet to hire a babysitter... ever.

But if I absolutely had no choice, of all the guys on this forum, you’d probably be at the top of the list Chris. Guys at the bottom of the list would be: Almaboy, Gino, Jose... I guess anyone with a white Tundra.

 

Be honored and humbled. We should all do what we can for our families in the military.

 

If you guys can make it work ..what a blessing cuz you know for a fact they will be safe as your own kids.

 

Chris, several of us on here have met your kids and it is very noticeable how well behaved they are. It doesn’t surprise me that other people would notice that as well. I think people’s kids tend to speak numbers for who that person is. Obviously there are exceptions to that, but I think your kids speak numbers for you and your wife.

With all that said, I question how short notice this is? From what it sounds like, they have multiple kids that they are splitting up for the week, am I reading that correctly? If their FCP involves send multiple young children across country, to a family member, why is a family member not able to fly out for a week? A last minute plane ticket for a single adult should surly be cheaper then a couple tickets for unaccompanied minors....

Chris, your a good man I know you will do what is best for your family, one way or another.

 

I agree with all the previous comments - it is an honor to be asked to do that - they certainly have seen something in your family to trust you enough. We have seen the same with some of my kids' friends - they have come over for sleepovers at a very young age, and the parents did not blink an eye dropping them off. My wife and I are more conservative; we need to know the family very well, have been to their house, etc. My daughter is 13 and has only been to a handful of sleepovers, and those were all at people that we had been friends with for a long time.
I guess in the situation that they are in with their careers, they have to be more flexible; what else can they do?
Bottom line - It is a compliment to your family.

 

Amen. It is not just the parents. Children, especially small children, do not understand.

 

If they are asking you to take care of their child they trust you.

No i do not find this odd because once upon a time i was dual military and now I'm a single mom with no family in the area i live.

They are probably asking because you are local and they are like me... No close family. For dual military and single military parents we have to have a family care plan that says who our children will go with if deployed for short term/ long term care. I'm sure they are only asking for short term so a family member can have a little time to get there and take over care. I have deployed it in less than 48 hours. None of my family would be able to get here in that amount of time. I have a short term care giver for my children for that reason. Military makes you plan for the worst possible incident to ensure your kids/ family is taken care of.

Along with this family care plan (with full names, addresses, phone numbers and emails of the care givers) they have us complete POAs for those individuals on the on CP giving them the rights to take them for medical care and other thugs that may be necessary for the children during their parents absence.

As a military parent with 2 kids who have no family in the area....i get where these 2 are coming from. People can call us weird or strange, but honestly.... how many parents live in these shoes. Yes, we CHOOSE to stay in after having kids.... for many reasons... my children recently went through a "no parents home both deployed" situation. Their grandparents took care of them for months while we were both gone. With what is currently going on in my life.... I'll be leaning hard on my close friends to help me care for my children.

 

This. .. you and the wife need to be comfortable doing this.

 

Just keep in mind that you are responsible for them if anything happens. Like, you're all going to the movies and get into a car accident (knock on wood!). Whether you were the cause of the accident or not, everyone in your car is your responsibility. This will strain your relationship with the childs family and your own just due to the very nature of the accident. Maybe your insurance will pay for their damages, maybe they will not because they were not listed in your policy. Now you're looking at a potential legal battle. You're good people with good intentions but shit happens sometimes and you need to think about "YOUR" family first and foremost. If it was just a few hours or the day I've got no problem but an entire week, I'd have to say no. Sorry but my family comes first and I will not jeopardize what I have. People now-a-days will sue you for just looking at them wrong.

 

Since when do car insurance companies have none drivers listed on insurance policies? Serious question because I'm not aware they do/did this.

 

They don’t do this, but in the event of a serious accident with injuries, your medical coverage and liability coverage will probably be exhausted.
Not good. Don’t drive in a sanctuary city and be safe.

 

I understand that.... butt military kids are covered under Tricare when their parents are active duty. They will be covered.

 

I once had an insurance company that required you to list all members in your immediate family. I was curious as to why because it's something you don't commonly see. The insurance agent said my policy will cover only those listed but there is another option to cover anyone in your vehicle at a higher premium. That was over 10 years ago and I'm no longer with them. I don't know if that's a common practice or just that one company but something worth looking into so you know what to expect.

 

Good on you and your family

 

I think this case would be different for everyone on here, about half (maybe more) would try to help if they could, about half would decline for reasons mentioned. Parents are all different and have different levels of trust with others. My wife would never consider any other than family for something like this. I would consider others but would not press the issue.

Myself, being that the kids are the same age and get along it doesn't seem to be a great imposition. If you can make it work great, if not maybe next time.

 

I don't know you guys' relationship, nor do I have any kids of mine just yet. But I couldn't see myself letting my kid stay with anyone but family (select members that is). Of course, that's part of why Doc and I haven't had any yet being all over the US the past eight years.

Not to say my opinion couldn't change over time.

Regardless, that's a huge compliment and testament to you and your wife's character. I'd still be careful.

 

I've never had that ever....i even asked others about it.... nobody had ever heard of it.

But either way.... the child in this case would be taken care of by the parents medical insurance.

 

@ColoradoTJ when it comes to making this decision you got to do what's best for your family over all. That's first and foremost most important.

Just know for a military family to ask that of you they have put some serious consideration and thought into this.

I know many on here have voiced that they are not comfortable with it and that's fine. But coming from someone who is in the military and has to do the same thing that this family has asked of you... That is not a decision taken very lightly. And they probably are asking you this because their family who can and will take care of their child long-term cannot make it to their location in a quick amount of time.

You figure that individual that has to come and take care of that child long-term either has to drive or fly to get to their location. There are a lot of things that come with being a long-term caregiver....IE how are they going to get there, how much is it going to cost, their job comes into effect of they have one, etc. Usually you can get a pretty decent plane ticket if you buy a week in advance as opposed to buying it to fly out the next day. Or if the person is driving it will take a couple of days to get to where you are. They asked for you to be the short term care giver. Usually shirt term caregivers are rarely used unless they are deployed out with in 48 hours of being notified they are leaving.

 

I've been with USAA for the last 10 years since leaving that other company. Like I said I don't know if it's common practice or just that particular one. It wasn't a national chain it was local or regional to the area.

As far as the child being covered by their parents medical insurance is a toss up. Insurance company will not payout if they don't have too. If they can point the blame somewhere else they will. Why will they pay up knowing that the other insurance company could be liable for the loss? Of course if you don't tell them than they have no one to point the finger too and have no choice but to cover your expenses.

 

Tricare will cover and then go after the other company to pay them back if they see it necessary. Tricare is military and the child will be covered. I've never once had issues with them covering my children.

 

Good for you!

Maybe no "Business Time" for that week.......... LOL

 

YOU, @ColoradoTJ and your FAMILY are F'n awesome.

Thank you and everyone else for your service!

@4x4_Angel[/USER] your info was eye opening, i wondered what families with kids did in case of deployment.

 

That's awesome. I personally have never been asked (obvious reasons) but if i ever were i would definitely help out!

 

Pull our hair out stressing over things like this all the time.... have our hearts break when we have to leave and while gone.... know we made the best choice we could for our babies and pray every damn day.