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Comment by Jennifer on August 14, 2018 at 3:01pm

Thank you ladies for the awesome tips. They will come in handy when we go down to Great Lakes in two weeks.

Comment by LL MOM on August 14, 2018 at 2:49pm

We did go to Sarge's Meet and Greet. It is amazing that he does that every week.  My only issue was that it was all small tables so we never really got to meet anyone else in her Division. I wish that it was much larger tables for Division families to sit together.

We sat in the balcony so I have no idea what the view was from the bottom floor.  I do know that you should wear your deodorant. It is tight!!

Comment by JayDee659 on August 14, 2018 at 2:19pm

LL Mom those are great tips, thank you!  My daughters PIR was only 2 years ago, but I know things have changed up at GL since then.  I might add that you should attend Sarge's Meet & Greet the night before PIR. It's an incredible free get together for  the families and he has some great advice.  One thing he's wrong about is that he tells you to sit up in the balcony for the best view.  WRONG.  We did and it took forever to get down the stairs to our daughter.  Sit as high up as you can on the main drill deck.

We took my daughter some casual clothes andher own bra and panties.  We went back to the hotel after brunch and the first thing she did was take a private shower (even though she invited her sister and I to sit in the bathroom and chat through the curtain) then change into her own underthings.  She wore sweats while hanging out at the hotel.  We had a good laugh over the boot camp underwear.  YUCK.  She did wear her own underwear when she had to report back.

I'm going to have to look in to this Sandboxx app.

Comment by Camie71 on August 14, 2018 at 2:16pm

Thank you for the info! All good to know! ❤️

Comment by LL MOM on August 14, 2018 at 2:12pm

My daughter's PIR was on Friday. What an amazing event to be able to attend.

Here is some advice I would give after just recently being through this.

Most important- No news in Good news. Truly.

My daughter called me three times, two on Saturdays between 1:30 and 4:30 and then the I'm A Sailor call two days before her graduation. Truly keep you cell phone connected to you on Saturdays.

Take the shuttle to the PIR from your hotel, they know what they are doing and you will bypass all the traffic.

The Sandboxx app. is awesome.  It is more expensive than just sending a letter, but it is easy to use and delivered that day and you get notification that it was received.  You can also include a picture very easily.

Number and date your letters. The letters do not necessarily come in order and can be confusing.

If your Sailor is shipping off to A School, you are most likely going to spend a lot of the time at the airport with her. I brought card games and note cards for her to thank people who sent her letters.

When you go to pick up your tickets for PIR, families can go into the NEX.  You can buy every Navy item you can think of. t-shirts, hats, key chains, etc. for everyone in your family.

Be ready for your daughter to want to talk.  They are not allowed to talk a lot to other recruits so my daughter was a chatterbox.

Your daughter will need to stay in her uniform when she is on Liberty with you.  Be ready to burst with proud about people coming up to her saying Thank you and looking at her with admiration. 

Comment by Oleander on August 14, 2018 at 1:53pm

Bb8/00 yes definitely number your letters. I put them on the back upper corner of the envelope which worked out pretty well. We live in the west and it took about 4 days for her to get our letters. I wrote her and mailed every single day. Made me feel good to "spend time" with her -- I still cried but it felt like we'd chatted over coffee each morning.

JayDee, that was me sending pics of our sailors dog dressed up lol! Both our sailor and her puppy LOVED it. I swear her dog was posing. I think she liked being covered in something that smelled like her  mama : )

Definitely black on the baby G Shock!

Comment by Bb8/00 on August 14, 2018 at 11:58am

Numbers and nothing too bulky. Does it take long for them to receive it? 

Comment by JayDee659 on August 14, 2018 at 11:53am

Stephanie, yes black.  The military is all about uniform.

Comment by JayDee659 on August 14, 2018 at 11:49am

Bb8/00 first off you should number your letters.  They frequently get them out of order and it can be confusing.  So a number on the top of the letter is good or maybe the envelope.  As far as envelopes go, use a plain white letter sized envelope.  Anything else could cause a ruckus and could result in extra PT or having to open it in front of everyone.  

As far as what I did, I kept a running letter on my computer (my handwriting is horrible) and updated it with pictures of her dog and news clips about marching band or updates on the shows we watch together.  One mom here said she dressed her sailors dog up in some of her clothing and sent those pictures.  Pictures were electronically pasted on to the letter so there wasn't any extra bulk that would attract attention.  I actually started my letter the day she left and kept adding to it , like a journal, until I had an address.  

When we got the form letter, we found that our daughter had cryptically left us messages in the margins :)

Comment by Bb8/00 on August 14, 2018 at 11:41am

Is there anything I should know about writing letters ?  You’ve been so helpful.

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