Comment

Comment by diannep on November 8, 2011 at 4:38pm

Yep, I hear ya, Lala. Aging parents, kids that still need mentoring, us stuck in the middle.  It can be quite challenging!

Comment by Lala Ribbon Queen PIR Ribbons on November 8, 2011 at 4:02pm

It is amazing how much the veteran moms on this site are so similar. Several of us are taking care of aging parents with lots of health issues and most of our children are all grown and we are empty nesters or about to be. I believe several of us have more than one Sailor, I also have 2 and I am about to have a third. And I know all of us learn something new about the Navy almost daily. I firmly believe that most people only take on what they can handle and believe it or not this site can be a constant and very calming part of our lives :-)

Comment by Betsy, mom of Stennis sailor on November 8, 2011 at 3:48pm

Well,  this is my story, FirstTime.  My life has settled down a little bit more now (as compared to an extremely busy move across the country last spring)  so I have time to help out on here.  Last year when my son graduated from BC, I was in the stages of becoming an empty nester.  I am a mom of 5 adult children, four of which currently live out of state.  My oldest daughter lives in Maryland with my 2 grandchildren, where my husband and I recently moved back.  SInce our move in May, my husband and I are temporarily living in apartment, so I don't have a lot of the big chores that come with a house.  I am actually currently looking for a new house and hope to move in the spring.  We have two family members in the Navy, so I have been very interested in finding out what I could about every aspect of it.  (I am still learning everyday).  I became the group leader on my son's PIR group, by default (unfortunately the mom who started the group's son was Asmoed) so I was asked to fill in for the rest of the time.  I have stayed on,  for the last year, offering help where I can with all the new PIR groups.  We veteran's know what it is like to feel lost, sad, happy and confused all at the same time.  The veterans on here were such a huge help to me, that it's a privilege to pay it forward.   I am very lucky to have a wonderful husband who knows who much the Navy4Moms helped me while he couldn't be there with me.  (he was living/working in MD, while I was in living NM for a year and half to be near 4 of our children).   Two of my children now live in other areas because of the Navy.  My daughter is living in Hawaii with her fiance, who is stationed at Pearl Harbor.  My youngest son is finishing up his shipboard ops training in Pensacola and will begin his job as a CTT very soon.  Since 2 of our children are living in NM, my time is now spent helping to take care of my elderly parents and spending as much time as possible with my grandchildren.  My computer time for Navy4Moms comes in spurts.  Most times, I'm active in the evening, but today was a slow day for me, so I'm on here more.  :)

Comment by Lala Ribbon Queen PIR Ribbons on November 8, 2011 at 3:04pm

One more thing, I love this site, it was a life-saver for me and I can't even imagine life without this site and ALL of my Navy Family :-)

Comment by Lala Ribbon Queen PIR Ribbons on November 8, 2011 at 3:02pm

lol FirsTime, it is not easy. I can only speak for myself. I get up very early and check email and messages and reply to those. Then check the group pages for questions. I don't always comment if there aren't any questions. Then I either go to work (part-time substitute teacher) or I get started filling ribbon orders. Some days i have other "irons" on the fire as well. yesterday my son and i put up a tile back splash in my kitchen. Today we have grouted it and then he left to go home to Charlotte. I am checking this site for questions and working on ribbons while the grout dries. Then I have to wipe it all clean and put the stove back lol. Then I have to clean the kitchen, take a shower, work  some more on ribbons then go to the post office to mail ribbons, pick my husband up from work and go to a fund-raiser at the school to help our TWO SENIORS raise money for their class trip to Washington DC and NY city. Then we will come home, make dinner, clean up, and then guess what. Work on the ribbons some more. LOL, Dang I'm tired, I think I need another vacation :-)

As far as ordering shirts and ribbons it depends on a couple of things. The shirts take longer to get and if you are planning on wearing them to PIR then you need to order a little early. If you don't plan on wearing then you can wait until later. As for the ribbons you can wait up until there are a couple weeks left before PIR if you want to and still get them in plenty of time. I actually make late order the week before PIR and get them to everyone on time but I prefer to have more time because you can't be 100% sure with the postal service. Better to allow a few extra days even with Priority mail. The good thing is very few recruits get set back at all. :-)

Comment by Betsy, mom of Stennis sailor on November 8, 2011 at 2:59pm

FirstTimeNavyMom,  I know that you can order shirts up until a few weeks before PIR, so you can wait a little longer, if you would feel better doing that.  SR's are held back for many different reasons, so there is no telling if that will happen.  Some are held back for injuries or illness, some for not passing their PT requirements, some attitude, some for behavior, etc.  I do know that they always have extra division shirts at the NEX for sale at PIR and I was told that they were from SR's who didn't finish with their division for one reason or another.  So, if an SR orders one and doesn't finish, they will try to sell it.  

Comment by Betsy, mom of Stennis sailor on November 8, 2011 at 2:52pm

FTWL, eh, that's RTC for you.........lol.  I would have been tempted to fib and said that I did have an SR in that group.  :)   If they had asked me their name, I would have said that I didn't want to divulge it so there wouldn't be any adverse repercussions.  Can you tell that I have done this before?  *hehe  *wink

Comment by FirsTimeNavyMomSh04Div20 on November 8, 2011 at 1:36pm

Does anyone think it's too early to order Div Tshirts and Ribbons?  How often does a recruit get held back or have to change divisions?

Thanks for all the great info FTLW, I don't know how you veteran moms do all this and have a life too!  :)

Comment by FireTeamLeaderWife aka FTLW on November 8, 2011 at 1:23pm

Dang…I’m getting lost! LOL I was supposed to check someone’s CD clock and also post a blog comment explaining "Liberty vs. Leave"…can’t remember where!  So I am just going to post it! It’ll be in the Discussion Forum Ladies. Please check your CD Clocks…I will try too but may not get the chance for a while…setting up 01/06 PIR today hopefully (Yay!) they’re supposed to be set for 9 AM PIR day…thanks!

Comment by FireTeamLeaderWife aka FTLW on November 8, 2011 at 1:11pm

Direct link for Sarge's M & G is up above.

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