Intro and care package question
Hello everyone. My name is Sarah and my husband is a dentist in the Army. He's deploying in a matter of days. We have three children who are 5, 3, and 1. I've been lurking here for about a month or so and look forward to being part of this community.
My questions is regarding sending care packages to my husband. I know that I have to fill out a customs form declaring everything I'm sending to him. On the form there is a spot to fill in the exact weight of each item. Do I really have to weigh everything down to the ounce? Also, should I wait to seal the package up until I'm at the post office? Do they have to make sure I've listed everything correctly? I'm asking these questions here because the last thing I want to do is show up at the post office with my three small children and have to redo something I didn't do correctly the first time.
Thanks so much!
Sarah
Re: Intro and care package question
When my H was deployed, I would just guessimate how much each thing weighed and always sealed my box before taking it up to the counter. No one ever questioned me about the customs form or asked to see inside the box. Each time you go to the Post Office, grab a box or two and a handful of those forms so you can fill them out at home and save yourself some time and trouble at the PO.
Seal it beforehand. My post office wanted me to write in the weight of everything, but I would leave it blank, take it in and have them do the total weight and then just divide that up against the listed items.
I also always fibbed about what was actually in the box. I didn't send anything I wasn't supposed to send, but I always just listed food and books even if it was more along the lines of Nerf guns, towel or new alarm clock. And then I just listed things as $5 each or some other made up amount.
ETA: I should add, my post office had the same worker at the front desk every day. She wanted me to be super specific on everything, like what kind of food did I put in, what book titles were in there, how many cookies were in the tin. If she never made me unseal the box, I can't imagine anyone else making you do it.
You don't need to use the special APO boxes. They see that there is an APO/FPO address and give you a discount on any package.