Dropped son at recruiter on Wednesday afternoon

[The Hammer]

New recruit mom here. We dropped my son at the recruiter last Wednesday and have received our 30 second check-in call. He seemed good.... but I was surprised that the caller I'D said from Puerto Rico!

Now we wait... 3 more weeks until we hear from him. I've written two letters so far and have been cleaning up his room. I work about 2-3 miles away from Great Lakes in Waukegan... right at the waterfront on the 8th floor. Each morning and evening, I walk to the south side and wave to him... which oddly gives me comfort.

I'm very proud of him and hope that he is adjusting a bit better than I am!

[SailorsLIMom]

What a poignant, touching note, and I completely understand how you feel. The time at the beginning of Basic is really hard, because you hear...nothing for a few weeks except that scripted call. You will receive a box of his stuff soon, a mixed blessing (for me, st least), because I wanted MORE! How old is your son? What will his job (“rate” in Navyspeak) be? 

[Chipmunk]

Mrstkath, we all deal with our emotions in the best way that we can. Waving to your son reminds me of my mother always waving to us, every time we left her house. Yes, anything to make a connection and know that our kids are alive and well. I did not find this site until a week before PIR. My husband found the RTC site for me and another site that shared a general timeline of what the recruits were doing.

I didn't have any idea what was going to happen next, but I had also sent kids off to college and I knew that I just had to be patient. The one thing I did to help me through those first few weeks, when I didn't have any news, was to email my son every night. It was easiest for me to type and send an email and I knew that eventually he would receive it. But every time I emailed him, his picture would pop up so I could see his smiling face. That gave me comfort, and when I finally had his address, I copied all those email messages into a word document, printed them and mailed them to him. Mostly, I had just shared what had been going on with the family and it gave him a sense of home. Once we had a phone call and a letter from him (which were very short), it gave me more to write him to encourage him, and honestly, I didn't have to write him every day.

And I also gave his address out to others so that other family and friends could send him encouraging letters, which he really appreciated. They are to receive mail M-F as I understand it, maybe on Saturday, but they are only allowed to write on Sunday. You will hear of some recruits writing at other times but that is not allowed as far as I know.

Where will your son be going to A School? If he is staying in GL, you will have an opportunity to meet him when he earns liberty. If he is flying out, you will be like most of the rest of us, long distance communication. But for now, enjoy waving to your recruit, every night.

[The Hammer]

He will be heading to Goose Creek, SC for A school. He's my first kid to leave home... and it's really about time too. He's 23 now... so I kinda feel sheepish for even feeling so sad. 

[Chipmunk]

If he is heading to Goose Creek, SC for A school, I am going to assume he is Nuke.

Here is the link for the Nuke Moms group - http://navyformoms.ning.com/group/nukemoms

There are a few others but this one is the more active one. We are a very supportive group of men and women on that site. My son is currently in A school there. In fact, he will be graduating from A school shortly after your son should be having his PIR.

There is a lot of information both on BC for Moms and the Nuke Moms and the other Nuke sites as well. Feel free to join and introduce yourself. When your son finds out his actual rating for Nuke - MM, EM or ET be sure to let us know and hopefully, other moms with a sailor who has that rating will reach out to you. My son is training as an ET. They won't find out their actual rating until they are in about their 6th week of training at bc.

Also, I think my son's "I'm Here" call showed up from a weird destination as well, despite he was using his cell phone. It might have been his first use of his calling card, but the next two calls showed Illinois, I think.

Once your son is at A school, they will have more opportunity to contact you, however, the Nukes, especially some of the older ones, tend to not always think they need to let Mom know they are still alive. So, after PIR, you might have a heart to heart talk with him and ask him to at least call you or email you on Saturday or Sunday (they have liberty generally Fri eve, Sat and Sun, but usually they are studying on Sun). Just to let you know "I'm Okay."  - Also, if he let's you know when his test is coming up and the general subject (which is about all you will know), so you can pray for him or just know where he is to compare notes with other moms.  If you can help him understand that if he calls and tells you what is going on, including when he classes up (so you have that number for address) and for him to let you know when A school graduation is, then you will not be "nagging" him with questions and trying to find out what all is going on.

I know this is a lot, but I had the moment to write you and these are all things that I wish some of the other moms, whose sons don't like to say a lot, had the chance to tell their sons, before they flew off to GC.

Big Navy Mom Hugs - and keep waving!!

 

[The Hammer]

Thanks for the encouragement! I'm glad I found this site!

[Butterball]

Mrstkath, hang in there, the first weeks at basic are harder for us, more so than them, they are too busy. When my son left last year, I looked up at the stars and thought that we were at least sleeping under the same bright stars. So I totally understand, about waving to your son. Just try to remember that we are in training also, because we have to let go of them. We arm them with all we can while they are with us, and then the time comes to let them spread their wings and soar with eagles. Keep doing all you need to, and when your "kid in the box" arrives don't be surprised if you just hug it for a little bit, before opening it. Also, look for a little hidden message in a pocket or shoe, some of the recruits sneak mom a special note that way. I remember seeing a mom's post. She made a countdown to PIR with flags. She put 8 American flags in a vase and 1 Navy flag, all sitting next to his picture, and removed one each week, until PIR graduation week. I loved that idea, but learned of it way too far into my son's PIR date. Also you can burn a blue candle for anytime you are missing him, or any special occasion. It is called the blue candle event and the posting of it is on the left side of this screen. The date is over, but it still can be done. Welcome aboard from Bartow, Florida, glad to have you aboard.

[The Hammer]

Thank you for the ideas! I'll head into town later for flags. My husband thinks I'm nuts cause he's 23 and it was time for him to leave the nest... it's just a big change as he is a great kid and I really miss having him around.

[Butterball]

NO worries there either, my husband used to think I was nuts also, until guess who cried when he was surprised by his Sailor son at Christmas? You just flow with those Navy Mom allergies.