Got my first real phone call - 16 days into Boot Camp

[RefuseToSink]

I just got a call from my son!! So he said he only has 15 minutes and he would like to call his Dad also, then asked if I could be mindful of the time for him. His sister was with me at the time, so on to speaker phone he went...

He sounded a little bit like he was getting a cold, or recovering from a cold. He was very calm, and steady paced in his talking. He already sounds more mature. I immediately felt proud!

I remembered that they get loaded up with so many immunizations early on... can you imagine how depleted the immune system is, after getting hit with all those vaccines? So the system is of course compromised, then you mix in any stress, along with a history of even minimal sleep deprivation, and whammy! Anyone can fall victim to a cold! Seems to me like they should be spread out over the whole 6 weeks, but hey, I'm just an RN. So here's what we learned today: 

1) Monday the 23rd will be DOT 1-4

2) He passed his first run with 11 minutes time, he was allowed 13 min 30 seconds for a mile and a half (this was done while he was sick, and indoors in humidity he said, so he was pretty pleased haha. Apparently, he beat the time requirements for an 18 yr old which made him feel pretty good I guess lol).

3) He didn't get all 46 push ups in the first PFT, but he isn't worried.

4) He just missed getting all the sit ups he needed, but he's not worried.

5) He passed his 5 minute face-down float/swim test.

6) He has made his bed and folded laundry "a thousand times" haha

7) His special "job" in boot camp is "Laundry Assistant" (haha) I made a comment that oh goodie, he gets to wash everyone's dirty underwear and he commented that the laundry room "is more like the gossip room" haha and I could hear a smile in his voice as he seemed to shake his head in disapproval (lol).

8) He has gotten 3 letters from me "already" and "they were written like every day, it's okay to back off on the letter writing a little bit"  I laughed at that and said, well there are 8 more you haven't yet received but I will back off a bit on the every day thing lol

9) He hasn't had any IT (intensive training aka punitive training) for things that he has done, but he has had to do IT with the whole group for things. 

10) His graduation is May 1st (which I already knew from the letter, but he confirmed it on the phone). I told him I already bought a plane ticket, reserved a hotel room, and a rental car.

11) He got a cold a couple of days ago, he is on day 3 of feeling not-so up to par.

12) He is overloading the best he can with Vitamin C everytime he goes to "chow" and eats a big salad one meal every day to get some veggies in. 

13) He will be getting 3 wisdom teeth pulled sometime next week, and was told that he is given a 72 hour recovery period. I made sure he knew that he should take advantage of that recovery time by really truly resting and sleeping so that he gets healthy again, so he doesn't fall behind in training. I let him know that he will be confined to his "rack" (aka bed) and will only be permitted to get up to use the restroom and to go to chow. The quicker he recovers, the better! The last wisdom tooth, he said, will be monitored over time to determine if it will need to come out or not. 

It was really great to hear from him. His sister asked if he is having fun, and he said "yah, I am!" 

It sounds to me like all is well, and that's a GREAT thing! After a 6 min 42 second phone call, this momma is one happy camper!