Beekissed
Mountain Sage
I feel for you....I've sent three boys to basic and they are always very, very homesick. Their letters come infrequently and they sound so like they are trying to be brave but really miss their mom. 
Here's a nice tip: You can't send any food packages that have anything they can't eat in 10 min. in front of their honchos but these boys crave sweets and snacks like crazy. They are only allowed to have plain cough drops and nothing else. If they receive candy/snacks on the low low they can either eat them or trade them for money.
Shoe boxes with very well done false bottoms are good for secreting in goodies, socks in packages that can be resealed are also good hiding places, soap boxes sans their original contents are also good for hiding candy. My middle son requested a coloring book and crayons, the more childlike and girly the better...when his sgt. dumped this out of the box, he totally missed the false bottom in the shoe box that held bags of jerky!
He took one look at my son and just shook his head....
My son sold each page of that coloring book for a $1 a page...those boys have nothing to do all night while on fire watch and this is something that can be tucked into a pocket and worked on while on watch. 10 Skittles for $1, Honey Buns go for $5.
You can also buy the resealable bags of cough drops and replace the plain cough drops with lemon or cherry.
When my son would receive a goody box, his platoon would shout, "Is that from your Mom?????" and chase him all the way back to the barracks!
Tell him we are proud and send him some contraband for us!
Here's a nice tip: You can't send any food packages that have anything they can't eat in 10 min. in front of their honchos but these boys crave sweets and snacks like crazy. They are only allowed to have plain cough drops and nothing else. If they receive candy/snacks on the low low they can either eat them or trade them for money.
Shoe boxes with very well done false bottoms are good for secreting in goodies, socks in packages that can be resealed are also good hiding places, soap boxes sans their original contents are also good for hiding candy. My middle son requested a coloring book and crayons, the more childlike and girly the better...when his sgt. dumped this out of the box, he totally missed the false bottom in the shoe box that held bags of jerky!
He took one look at my son and just shook his head.... My son sold each page of that coloring book for a $1 a page...those boys have nothing to do all night while on fire watch and this is something that can be tucked into a pocket and worked on while on watch.
10 Skittles for $1, Honey Buns go for $5. You can also buy the resealable bags of cough drops and replace the plain cough drops with lemon or cherry.
When my son would receive a goody box, his platoon would shout, "Is that from your Mom?????" and chase him all the way back to the barracks!
Tell him we are proud and send him some contraband for us!
