Daughter Enlisting In Summer...need advice from mommas

Welcome 1Proudmamma!  You've come to the right place for guidance and support.  Your best bet will be to hop on over to the Boot Camp group - I left the link in the welcome message on your page.  You'll find lots of helpful info there - and families in different stages of boot camp.

Here's a link to some FAQ's - go to that page and look around there for lots of useful info.

Bootcamp.Navy.Mil

Also, belovedbyHim has a good post regarding what to expect:

Welcome to the Navy, everything will be ok!

Don't be afraid to ask questions!  We've all been there and someone can help out.

What will your daughter's rate (job) be?

1Proudmamma, I shared a link to this blog in one of my other groups. I see you posted a meme on the BC Mom group. The Comment Wall area is the best place to ask questions. Sometimes the more specific question you can ask, the easier it is for others to reply. Once we all muddle through BC and come out on the other side, it can be difficult to remember just exactly how we were feeling, especially when it can be several years ago for some of us. 

B'sNukeMom shared some great links. And more and more is changing with the way BC handles some things. I think there is a possibility that your daughter might be allowed to have her cell phone to make calls. I don't know the exact details, but I have seen it mentioned. Sandboxx App for BC   allows you to at least receive your SRs mailing address a little sooner than we got it in the past. 

When you go to the BC Moms group, be sure to open up desktop mode, if you are on your mobile device and look at the information pages on the right side as well. 

Welcome Proud Mama

This sure will save your sanity!! My sailor enlisted during Covid. We had a backyard protest before he deployed. All food had cute nautical theme. Everyone who wanted got a swipe at shaving his head. Not recommended for your daughter tho!! Before the head shaving, we hired a professional photographer to take nice family photos. 

I leg my sailor know I wanted the biggest photo package from boot camp. That being said, he did not buy the cover mug or the dog tag. I  got those on my own after. I may have ended up with a few too many photos of him. It seems I gave 1-2 on display in every room in my house!! There are only two poses. Smiling. Serious. 

My sailors letter home with his bootcamp “ships address” never arrived. So although I wrote him almost daily (numbered the letters so he could read them in order), it wasn’t until he phoned home that I was able to get his address. He watched his shipmate recruits getting letters while he got none. Let your daughter know you wound never neglect to write her…. Things happen  

this sure has good ideas for how to cheer them up. I wrote him a letter from his car “Giulia”. Gave his address to his cousin and best friend  they write letters too. 

we didn’t get to go to graduation because of Covid, but I hear that for those of you that now do get to go to graduation, many parents decorate an anchor and hang it on their hotel room door. I bought one anyway, knowing that we couldn’t go, and decorated it. Got it from Hobby lobby. It’s on display my living room.

I was so sad after he left, I spent the first two weeks, cleaning up all evidence of him in the living room, entry, laundry room, and anywhere I would walk in and cry when I saw his things because they weren’t there he wasn’t there. Camping gear was the hardest! And then I built a memorial in the living room with all sorts of pictures and navy memorabilia items to remind me of him. It’s been four years and it’s still there.! Get a blue candle to keep lit. 
 
Most of all, come here when you’re sad, happy, celebrating, etc etc. Good luck - may your daughter make you very proud!!! BNMH.