Know the Signs: Is Your Mom (or Dad) a Veteran?

Sgt. 1st Class David Franklin buckles up his 4-year-old son, David Jr., after being picked up from a Fort Lee, Va. daycare facility. April 2017 photo by Lesley Atkinson, Fort Lee Public Affairs

With Mother's Day earlier this week, and Father's Day soon approaching, here's a list of signs your mom or dad might be a military veteran:

• Uses "wheels up" or "S.P." (Army talk for "Start Time") to describe when carpool is leaving, with or without you.

• Refers to school drop-off area as the "L.Z."

• Conducts Preventive Maintenance, Checks, and Services (P.M.C.S.) on family vehicles before, during, and after long trips.

• Refers to stops along vacation route as "rest halts."

• Introduces household announcements with phrases such as "attention on deck" or "now hear this."

• Requests you clean your room using language such as "police call" or "sweepers, sweepers, man your brooms."

• Refers to household cleaning efforts as "G.I. parties."

• Wakes younger household members by beating on metal garbage cans, sounding "general quarters," and/or playing reveille on a bugle.

• Issues 5-point contingency ("GOTWA") plan to babysitters and/or your older siblings, prior to leaving house.

• Authorizes professional medical attention only for playground injuries that cross threshold of "threat to life, limb, or eyesight."

• Prescribes for all other injuries and illnesses "2 tabs of Motrin and drink water."