IFS usually takes 4-6 weeks. It is generally self-paced and also very dependent on the weather. Benjamin is flying one of these little planes. So the weather has to be pretty decent. The first week is just academics, then he will fly about once or twice each day. He is doing pretty good. On the academics test, you need an 85% or better to continue, and Ben got an 84%. He was so upset. But after some reviewing, he took the test again and pulled a 96%. He realized that in all the practice tests he had done, he had been fine as long as he passed, but was not striving for perfection. So the second time he had the mindset that he needed to do the best he could, and not just get by.
His first time in the plane was also an interesting one. He almost got sick. Several things were to blame. First, he did not have a good breakfast that morning. Second, he was wearing his thermals. Ben was sweating when his pilot instructor was shivering. And third, they took a steep drop in elevation. Everyone takes some time to acclimate to the motions of the plane, and he did much better today on his second time in the aircraft.
James and I are doing okay on the home-front. We stay pretty busy, and have at least one playground or something or other every day. It's been exhausting, but we're doin' it! I definitely feel for single parents. I spent most of my time alone with James before, but knowing that no one is going to walk in at 5 pm and help out just makes the rest of the day a whole lot harder. We've got a great ward, and awesome neighbors who I can call upon if I need it, so I'm doing okay. Today James was babysat by one of his new favorite people so I could get some things done, and then we played outside the rest of the day (it's 70 degrees here. ya'll should be jealous!).
Hang in there! I wrote a huge long comment a few minutes ago, but when I clicked publish, it disappeared. I'm not going to take 30min to type it again. You'll just have to call me this afternoon if you want to know what I said. :)
ReplyDeleteI don't know how military and full-time single parents do it, but I'm glad you've got lots of support. Give James lots of love from his aunt Heather!
ReplyDeleteI was going to say "hang in there" too! Single parenting is fun. The little I've done it (like when Josh worked for TAG) having a schedule and good friends made all the difference. I guess if worse comes to worse, you can fly out to visit me!!!
ReplyDeleteGood luck. And if Jenny says anything good in that phone call, be sure to fill me in. ;-)
You are always welcome to come up here to visit! We are only 3 hrs from Ben, so you guys could see him on the weekends. Up to you, but the upstairs room is open for a couple more weeks. And since I'm feeling better we could actually go out and about.... although we can't compete with your weather. Cold, cold, cold over here.
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