Frostee is back and I’m a little jealous … again

I have to admit it. Frostee Dove was one of the first people associated with the United States Naval Academy that evoked jealousy. I wanted her job.

During that stressful Plebe Year, I saw all these Facebook posts of happy Mids receiving beautiful gift baskets, all created and delivered by Frostee and Mid Mom Express. I thought, “that’s the job I want!”

But then she stopped, her business thwarted by USNA red tape. She’s back and bringing smiles to the faces of Midshipmen and loved ones alike, but that’s getting ahead of the story.

Let’s turn back the clock to 2013 with Frostee , an Annapolis area local whose son went through I Day that year.

“I thought, ‘this is kind of weird. These kids can’t leave The Yard. Someone has to take care of them,’ ” she said. 

Then Jacob Woolman’s mom said she wanted to send him oatmeal raisin cookies, so Frostee made and delivered them. She took pictures of a happy Jacob, which his mom posted to a parents page on Facebook. The rest, as they say, is history.

“Once that happened, people became aware and I started getting two or three requests a week,” she said. “Everyone was saying, ‘I saw you got him cookies. Can you take some to mine?’ ”

Frostee was filling a void.

“I told my husband that there was a need. I didn’t know the legalities of it or anything,” she said. “I started doing airport runs. Your kid sick? I’ll bring them soup.”

Unfortunately, she got caught up in red tape.

“I found out I couldn’t do it unless I had a contract with the Academy because as a parent or sponsor, you’re not allowed to benefit,” she said. “I wanted to do it, I needed to do it.” 

She took 2018 off because the paperwork seemed overwhelming.

“But I missed it, so I bit the bullet and did the paperwork,” she said. In the end, the paperwork “wasn’t too bad.”

She can’t do homemade stuff anymore because of food safety regulations, but that’s ok.

“It’s not an easy life for the Mids,” she said. “They can get deliveries at Gate 1, but there’s nothing healthy.”

The biggest change is that she can’t take orders on Facebook, only on her website. Oddly enough, she cannot post pictures on her website, but she can on Facebook.

She’s happy to be back to helping take care of the Brigade. She initially signed up to be a sponsor parent, but she never took on any Mids.

“I got too busy with this,” she said. “No sense of taking care of one Mid when I can take care of 4,000.”

Is there any wonder why I’m still jealous of Frostee?