Thank you to all the moms for all the words of encouragement, and I really appreciate it. I received his box on Friday the 20th and letter yesterday. I'm still feeling the sadness but crying a lot less. I am excited to know he is graduating on 1-8-2016. I have already booked my flight and room at the Navy Lodge. Again thank you all. Now I'm praying for a phone call and that time move faster. 

I am new at this.  My son left for boot camp, out of Hopkins airport on the 17th of November and is stationed in Great Lakes.  My emotions were all over the place and still are.  I received a letter from him yesterday with graduation documents and his address for letters.  I was sooo happy to receive something from him, but, FedEx has to come back to drop off his personal belongings.

I have a couple of questions:

#1 - are we able to send small pictures to him with our…

My son will be shipping out on December 15th to boot camp.  I am having a very hard time with this.  I have so many questions about that day and I'm not sure if I should call his recruiter.  He doesn't share much with his dad and I.  He just keeps saying that he will be leaving on the 15th.  Do we go with him, can we go to the airport and say goodbye.  every time I ask my son these questions,  he's like mom...I got this. don't worry.  but I do worry.  any suggestions?????

Hello Ladies ! 

I have a big question. So i send my husband a letter and with it a print copy of some news i got from the cnn website. Does anybody knows if he will get in trouble for that? And if he does, how bad would it be ?

Im sorry im from another country so I had no idea if i could or not send that. (Also sorry about my english)

Any help would be really appreciated !

Today I woke up depressed. I can not stop worrying about my son. Worrying if he ate or slept. I can not control my emotions. My husband is also having a rough time with this process. I just keep praying for a call from him or some type of smoke signal. This is the time in he has been gone with no communication, but through all this emotions, I still feel extremely proud of this decision. Yesterday I wrote my first letter, and I hope I get information soon on where to sent it to. I also have…

Today is my first day without my son. I miss him so much, but I am extremely proud of him. Today is my the first day of an emotional journey. My son signed up for the Navy back in April, and he was given a ship date for November. I can not believe the day has arrived. I'm so emotional and any little thought of him has me in tears. I know this venture is going to make him a stronger man, but as a mother I can not help but worry about him. I'm waiting for his stinky box and his formal letter.…

Thank you to those who have served, those who are currently serving and to the families that support you.

I thank you for your patriotism and sacrifice to be apart…

Hello!

Not sure if this is the best place to ask this question or not.  But here goes!

I am wondering about the Armed Forces Sports, specifically the ski team.  Does anyone have a son or daughter who is involved in this?  My daughter, who is a senior in high school (and a future sailor) has been on the ski team since 6th grade.  We were just at the ski shop today and the guy helping us told us about his daughter who had skied for the Army.  Her eyes just lit up!   I am…

Our recruiter mentioned that we can take some items to our son when he graduates from Boot Camp, items that he can take with him to A School.  These items included his cell phone, laptop, and a couple clothing items.  What do I pack it in, given the quantity of stuff he will already be taking with him and the limited space that he will have?  When is he able to receive it?   I know that cell phones, etc. are not permitted during the training, but is it okay after he completes PIR, given that…

counting the days down until my son leaves for boot camp.. He will be heading to Great Lakes on December 15th.. Is anyone else's son/daughter shipping out that day.  Its going to be a hard Christmas this year without him home.  

As a mom that has basically had hands in every thing in their children's lives, this has been a new experience for me.  Letting go and letting God is one thing, but letting go and letting the Navy?  Any helpful, encouraging information is greatly appreciated.  Daughter is entering DEP this week, and hopefully BASIC in May 2016 if not sooner.  

Hello, I am new here and am not sure how to navigate this website :-)  My son is in Basic Training for almost three weeks now.  Today he called and told us we can visit him for thanksgiving!  Hooray! I did not even know they were allowed to go out.  I just wanted to hear what other moms' experience has been with seeing their child for thanksgiving and what are good places to lodge and eat :-D   Thank you all so much!

Hi my name is Dalila65,
My son is in A school in San Antonio, Texas. He is struggling some with test and he says lack of time to study and do all that needs to be done, but mainly I think he is home-sick. He has me really worried and am not sure what I can do. Has anyone had a similar experience? I need some insight, please!

I finally get to see my son on Friday and am so excited to see him graduate from boot camp! Still a bit confused as to how much time we will have with him following the ceremony, but we will take what we can get. So incredibly proud of my Sailor!

Bumping up for new members/update to an instruction.  This is written with the Christmas holidays in mind, but much of the information applies all year.

With the holidays fast approaching, I see more and more moms who are stressed about whether they can see their sailor or not. Entirely understandable! But I know that the recruits in boot camp are quite confused also, many of them are new to all of this Navy stuff too, and haven't got the hang of the lingo, the paperwork and the…