Boot Camp Moms (and loved ones)

Navymom2 - PLEASE do not mail your Recruit a Christmas box.

The recruits are not allowed to receive such items during BC. Some have accidentally done so not knowing. It will be thrown away in front of them and there is the possibility of negative consequences.

Certainly gather items for them for Christmas...but save them for when you see them at PIR or mail them to them at their "A" school.

A Christmas card is fine...but again be careful what you send. NO cards with sound or movement. NO stickers all over them that would draw undo attention. NO cards with glitter...glitter comes off easily, is to hard to clean up, easy to miss and shines like a beacon. The Recruits have personal and compartment inspections so every piece of glitter will cause a problem. Just a nice beautiful but "no frills" card. 

"The Box" has had a few names...when my son was going through Boot..."Kid-in-a-Box" was a common term :-)

Some get nothing and then some get the whole shebang...underwear included!

The Box:

...of smelly clothes! LOL

If your SR (Seaman Recruit) took their cellphone with them it will be returned in the box...look in the pants pockets and the shoes if you don't see it outright. Often times it will be taken apart and stuffed into the toes of the shoes.

If you're wondering why one or both pants legs are rolled up...it's because they get their feet measured and they have no time to roll them back down (they're gonna take 'em off anyways!)

The box will arrive by Fed Ex about 5-7 days after your SR arrives at RTC (Recruit Training Command).

Some don't send a box home...they just wear the clothes on their back (donate or throw them away), and bring only the necessary items that they can keep. In which case they would mail their cell phone home in a manila envelope.

Good morning Ladies hope you all are doing Great this Thursday morning, I see what Great questions were asked and what awesome answers! Thank You FireTeamLeaderWife. There are many Wonderful Ladies on this site who are able to answer your questions, That is why I love this site, So much information to learn.

Congrats to all who will be Graduating this week, and to the Families who will be attending. What an amazing time you will have!

Good Morning to all the New comers to the site, we would like to welcome you.

Welcome Raequel to boot camp for loved ones, Congrats on your New SR. I'm sure your Daughter will be just fine she is in good hands. If you scroll up you will find different sites to the right as to what happens when they arrive and so on will give you a description as to what she will be going thru the first few days. Again welcome!

found out my son's swear in is on Thursday morning!  I'm proud, excited, sad.  I am definitely going to be there with other family members to support him plus his girlfriend.  I am making a laminated card for his wallet with our addresses and stamps.  he can keep that correct?

Yes Sandi he may, I found a small address phone book for my son that was able to fit in his wallet so he can have everyone's address and number, a calling card a book of stamps. he can have his wallet.

Thanks FTLW. Guess I'll send a Charlie Brown Christmas tree card instead... :)

Ha! Love it!

Have a Good evening Ladies, Let the Calls come in, and Post if you have received the I'm a Sailor call, we would like to give Congratulations and also it is a Very Proud Moment to share!

Welcome all the New Ladies to this site Glad to have you along!

I forgot who started the "Kid in a Box" but I agree with Raequel, it makes me giggle... 

This is sooo strange not to be able to call or text them! 

Must admit, I am very bummed about not being able to do a Christmas box for my SR who just got to BC yesterday.  (YAY!  I am learning the lingo thanks to you wonderful moms and this site!).  Is there a limit on letters that they can get?  Can I send multiple letters in a larger manila envelope?  Since I can't do a box with actual presents and stuff, I'm thinking about taking funny pictures of people playing with or wearing what they got him for Christmas, (Imagine my 5'1", 100 lb mom decked out in the hunting outfit she got for my 5'10" 175 lb SR!)  Then maybe I could wrap each picture "gift" individually and send them to him so he'd have something fun to open on Christmas morning.  What do you guys think?  Stupid idea?  Would it be allowable?  

A lot of letters in a manila envelope would be allowed, but he will have to open it in front of the RDC.  Do not wrap picture each as a gift, that would just be trouble for him. Again he'd have to open each one in front of his RDC.  It would not end well, perhaps for the entire division.  They may have a nice dinner for Christmas, and a holiday routine for part of the day, but Christmas morning won't be leisurely by any means.  

He only has a drawer about the size of a large shoebox for personal items, so perhaps print the pictures on a single sheet of paper and enclose it in a card.  

Thank you, Anti M!  I will definitely not individually wrap his picture gifts or do anything else that would be trouble for him or his division.  I did just find the "Letter Writing" section before seeing your response to my query. Both were very helpful.  Thanks for keeping me on the straight and narrow!

Welcome to all of the new moms. Going by an empty room or not being able to phone and text can be a very emotional journey, especially if this is your first or only child or even the baby of the family. I found that for me it helped to have an idea of what my recruit was doing possibly and then also I emailed my son as that was the easiest way for me to write and it popped his smiling picture up for me to see. Once I had his address, I copied all of my emails and printed them front and back so that I could mail it to him.

A Christmas idea - Moleskin - it is usually sold in sheets and I don't know if the SR have scissors, but you can also purchase bunion pads and such. Those are fairly flat and can be mailed in a plain envelope, inside a flat card (no sound, glitter, or bows). My son's dress shoes and running shoes were both uncomfortable. We looked at the NEX at RTC when there for PIR in Aug and never found the moleskin - so it and bandages are a good present. I know it doesn't seem like much, but it could make their day if they are having issues.

Here are two links with some info on bc week / week - it didn't always line up exactly with my SR's schedule but it helped me at least know what he was talking about in his very short letters or phone calls.

https://www.thebalance.com/navy-boot-camp-4057224

https://www.military.com/join-armed-forces/navy-boot-camp-schedule....

Finally - Recruit Training Command (RTC) website - this was my go to, since I had not found Navy4Mom - links to FB, graduation info and pictures are here. 

http://www.bootcamp.navy.mil/

I wish I would have Navy4moms sooner, but life got in the way.  I just mailed my son phone card and stamps.  I have received one letter and the " I'm here" phone call.  Is that unusual?  Missing my baby. 

Thanks for the bandaids and moleskin suggestion!  I imagine anything helps.

Good Morning Ladies Happy Friday to you all and also to the New Comers who have Joined.

Hooyah! to all the New Sailors we will have today and Congratulations to their Families.

EAJmom within the 3rd week you should receive a call here is a site you can read on calls. Phone Cards and Phone Calls.

Have a Great Day Everyone!

6 days and counting until he gets on the bus to BC.  Going to Walgreens today for the phone card and stamps plus some of the muleskin to cut in small pieces for his wallet for his feet if he gets blisters (can I do this??)  also buying a pad of just white paper and envelopes so no attention is drawn to him when he receives mail.  they get pushed and teased enough for small things, why make it worse!  lol.  just trying to be lighthearted these days as the countdown gets closer to my son leaving home.

ShawnMom Thank You, this is very true Ladies, the are tired and most are very homesick. This is a big transition for them. first call can be very rough some may be second guessing themselves in many ways. But stay strong for them, pray over the phone with them, and always offer encouragement.

Some may be bored because of the same routine, it differs with them all. But they are learning a great thing. the next few calls will be more uplifting. Stay strong Ladies the worst thing about all this is The Not Knowing once you hear all is fine you will feel much better and be at ease. So proud of all your Sons/Daughters for taking this Journey.

Ladies I will be leaving for the Day, I wish you all a nice weekend.

May the calls and Letters come your way.

Keep your heads High, stay strong and keep the Faith!

Proverbs 12:25 Anxiety weighs down the heart, but a kind word cheers it up.                            

 Sandi - sounds like a great plan!!   Once you get the phone card, be sure to have your son do the activation on it, and make sure he reads all the fine print and knows how to use it. They will be in phone booths to make their calls, so he will want to be able to navigate through a call himself.

ShawnMom  and Phoenizmom Thanks so much for the encouragement!  I did get two letters this afternoon!  My SR is very homesick and second guessing things, but is also looking towards getting through. Tough transition for all of us!

Good afternoon everyone!!  I haven't been on here for awhile, but I need you all again.  I have twin boy's who are 19.  One of them graduated boot camp in October and is in A school at Great Lakes for IC right now.  The other one wasn't scheduled to leave for boot camp until March.  He is doing Hospital Corpsman.  Found out yesterday that he is leaving on December 14th...........13 DAYS from now!!  I was so looking forward to this Christmas because they would both be home for the last time in who knows how many years.  His brother is coming home on the 22nd for 2 weeks and he is kinda bummed out too.  He was looking forward to spending time with his twin brother.  I am excited for him to get started on his journey earlier than he thought, but gezz, why do they send kids to boot camp 10 days before Christmas.  Break the momma's heart a little more!!  I'll be OK, I made it through the first boot camp and I can do it again.  Just feeling really emotional today!!! 

Here are the current PIR groups: 

PIR: December 8, 2017 TG 05 - 5 Divisions (033-036 and 905)

PIR: December 15, 2017 TG 06 - 8 Divisions (037-042, 906 and 907)

December 22. 2017: No PIR

December 29, 2017: No PIR

PIR: January 5, 2018 TG 09 - 14 Divisions (043-054, 908 and 909)

PIR January 12, 2018 TG 10 - 7 Divisions (055-060 and 910)

Click on the date of your recruit’s PIR and join the group to connect with others with loved ones training with your recruit.

Hi all!  I'm new to the group, new to the Navy Moms site and new to the "group chat" thing as well!  Lots of "new" going on right now!  LOL  My daughter, Alexandra, is getting ready to ship to BC 12/18 so we are prepping for that.  A few questions I'm hoping to get answered by you ladies.  1) She wants to take a Bible with her and her recruiter told her "pocket size", no bigger than his 3x4 cell phone.  We can't find a small Bible that has both new & old testaments.  So, actually how big is too big??  She doesn't want to get there and have to ship it home in "the box".  2) Is a small address book ok, in addition to her Bible?  3) Is a small mans wallet a good idea - to keep her cash, calling card, and drivers license/SS card in?

 cck52571 - I went to Mardel and found a small sized Bible for my son, I think it was OT & NT, which he was able to keep. They did have NT at MEPS when we were waiting for him to swear in. A small address book is okay. What I gave my son was mini composition style memo notebook. I wrote the few names, addresses and numbers in there and then he could also write notes in it. I also sent him with two SASE, one with our address on it, the other addressed to his grandmother. They do have stationary they can purchase, or are issued so he told me not to send any more envelopes.

A small sized folding wallet would work well, for the cards needed. Our Wal-Mart had some nylon styled tri-fold wallets. I think they were either navy or black. She may also have a black watch. She can buy the expensive ones at the NEX or just get the cheaper basic Casio at the NEX or at Wal-Mart. My son was able to keep his watch he wore to BC, since it was all black.

Chipmunk - Thank you for the info!  We'll get on the hunt for these things.  Luckily her watch is black so that's one less thing to worry about!  =)

3 more days of good weather for Chicago and then it will be "winter" weather...hope the recruits are ready! I'm pretty sure they can't have hand and feet warmers but would be a good idea for the A Schoolers. 

Countrymom- my son is like that, too. Thrives under structure. I think that's why he wasn't too successful at college- not enough structure and not enough self discipline to do well.