We Netflixed The History Channel's Mail Call just because Davin and I love to watch R. Lee Ermey on Full Metal Jacket and we wanted to see what it was all about.

Since the kids have been sick on and off, everyone's going stir crazy. So, I thought I'd pop it in and see if it would be at all something I could watch during the day while the kids were around. Little did I know they'd be HOOKED! They watched the DVD non-stop TWICE (the second time no doubt for review), which I'm counting as well over 5 hours of military history.

There really was a lot of neat stuff on there, including the kinds of gear carried into different wars, the origin of terms such as "tank" and "shrapnel", and a look at how the military operates today.

Since my Dad retired after 32 years in the USMC, it was especially cool to watch the segments that were specific to the "Beloved Corps" such as Semper Fi and Gung Ho.

They seem to really have absorbed a lot of the information, which makes me think that I should perhaps adopt a tougher pose when teaching. I wonder if the days would go better if I started out by saying, "Drop and give me twenty, because the more you hate me, the more you will learn! Now listen up while I educate your butt!"

Oh that brings me to another point... There is some salty language in this DVD, and while the kids do seem to have learned the history I've seen no evidence that they've picked up the vernacular. I'll have to let you know later if they exhibit new vocabulary such as "numb nuts," "kick ass," or my personal favorite, "grabasstic."