mail for Christmas

[Jo Griffith]

My son will be leaving for a long cruise (WesPac?) soon and will not be home for the holidays. I want to send him some Christmas wishes. When should that be mailed? I am trying to gather some cards from friends and family, small decorations for his rack and such. Any ideas?

[Melissa (Tucson)]

Yepper! Lots of ideas! First off, if he's going on a long cruise it's called a deployment. When they are deployed, the mail really takes a long time to get to them around the Christmas Holiday as that's when a lot of organizations ship to our military. So, give your packages at least 6 weeks to arrive. They do have Christmas decorations on the ships and they usually go all out with the decorations, tree's included. I sent my son his own very small personal Christmas stocking (Phoenix Suns) which he thought was wonderful and it was small enough to hang in his rack. Inside I put a gift card for the NEX. Matt used the gift card at all the port calls so it worked out great for him. I also sent his favorite Christmas cookies and he said they arrived safely and intact and were not stale. He shared them with his division. DVD's are a favorite on ships and don't take up much room. New socks and tee shirts are always needed.

[Jo Griffith]

Thanks! I am pretty new to the proper terminology and I am still iffy about what I am allowed to say about ship's movement. Even though my son has been in 6 years, his ship seldom has been gone for more than a month at a time. This is his second long deployment and his first Christmas where he couldn't be home some time during the holidays. I have been BLESSED and spoiled, I know. My heart goes out to all Moms who will not see their kids at Christmas. I never knew how hard this is. My son got married in May and his wife is so far from home, as well. This will be tough for both families, but friends on their base will be staying with my new (and only) daughter so maybe she will not miss us as much. I am happy to hear that the ship will decorate, too. Cheers to you and your son and thanks again for sharing. I will mail his first box out, then around the 15th.

[Navy for Moms Admins]

Jo -

I posted a blog with USPS holiday mail deadlines for the military a few weeks back. Take a peak at it here. Hope this helps!

Elle

[Melissa (Tucson)]

How far off was I Elle? lol My son was in the Gulf last Christmas so I based my info on personal experiences!

[Anti M]

Elle, I'm surprised you didn't edit her post to take out the ship's departure date. LOL, OPSEC Eagle Eye reporting or duty, ma'am!

You should be packing the boxes now.

[Melissa (Tucson)]

Good catch Anti M!! When the Navy agreed to this website did they seriously think every mom who joined would learn OPSEC and then observe it??

[Anti M]

Probably not, but we can do the best we can as individuals to watch and instruct.

[Navy for Moms Admins]

What would I do without you ladies. I reacted to the mail question without even noticing the first sentence. I wish I could edit posts for easy fixes like this but I don't have that ability.

Jo, I shot you a note to edit this post but I may have to remove it if you can't get to it in time.

Elle

[Anti M]

I didn't know you couldn't edit!

[Navy for Moms Admins]

Only titles and tags. If Ning gave admins/creators the ability I imagine many would abuse it but in cases of OPSEC like this it would be great to be able to just make a quick adjustment rather than have to delete the whole thread if the original poster can't edit it in time.

[Jo Griffith]

I just realized what I had done when I got your message and I apologize for the violation. I will try hard to make certain that does not happen again.

[Navy for Moms Admins]

Common mistake Jo. I even missed it the first time I read this. Now you know and can become the OPSEC police with Anti M and I :)