College Packing for Rising Freshmen...

[DVCLiz]

...how's it going at your house? DD18 spent the first six weeks of the summer being a camp counselor, then had a week at the beach with family, so we've only had yesterday and today so far. My jobs are to straighten out some insurance matters, follow up if need be with any issues that arise from this week's doctor and dental appointments, get the car she will be using inspected and registered, and purchase a new laptop and help troubleshoot if need be. Also, I have been asked to help "think through" things she might not have thought of like TV cables, etc.

She's done almost all of her shopping - she has another Target run, I'm sure. All in all, it's going pretty smoothly. We leave next Wednesday and she checks in Friday the 10th.

How's it going at your house?

 

[zurgswife]

I've purchased a mattress pad, sheets and a blanket. My son has been traveling most of the summer and doesn't return until next Monday....Boys are much more laid back then girls so I don't expect much else happening....

 

[RitaE]

There's just a huge pile o' stuff in the corner of his room. Most of it was ordered online and he didn't even open the boxes to check it out.

 

[Southernmiss]

...how's it going at your house? DD18 spent the first six weeks of the summer being a camp counselor, then had a week at the beach with family, so we've only had yesterday and today so far. My jobs are to straighten out some insurance matters, follow up if need be with any issues that arise from this week's doctor and dental appointments, get the car she will be using inspected and registered, and purchase a new laptop and help troubleshoot if need be. Also, I have been asked to help "think through" things she might not have thought of like TV cables, etc.

She's done almost all of her shopping - she has another Target run, I'm sure. All in all, it's going pretty smoothly. We leave next Wednesday and she checks in Friday the 10th.

How's it going at your house?

I've purchased a mattress pad, sheets and a blanket. My son has been traveling most of the summer and doesn't return until next Monday....Boys are much more laid back then girls so I don't expect much else happening....

DS and I made a Bed, Bath and Beyond run last week. I bought his sheets and bedding earlier this summer. He did some Walmart shopping today. We have to get a computer, get some school supplies, and he has a dr. check up next week, he needs to have his car checked out. He said tonight that he needs a few dress pants as he's outgrown his others. Other than that we have our lists and are whittling them down.

He's trying to spend as much time with his friends who begin to leave on Monday and his motto this summer has been "YOLO"-you only live once. So he's been seizing every moment between work to enjoy himself with friends. We haven't seen him much this summer.

I am beginning to feel a bit sad, but am holding it in. His move in date is Aug 17th.

 

[kacaju]

Move in day is Sept 2nd...she has done nothing. Grandma bought her some towels and will buy her bedding. I have told her she has to get working on this..I am busy trying to get the other grandma in an assisted living place and do not have time right now

 

[tar heel]

My son picked up his laptop, a Macbook three weeks ago. He's been pretty much attached to it since -- I think he's pleased with his choice!

The rest of the stuff is piled up in his brother's room/guest room. We've got a list and are making pretty good headway. He was ambivalent, so I ordered sheets, towels, comforter, mattress pad, foam pad, etc. online with his approval. Well, the colors in real life are a little different than online, so the Duke blue sheets will be returned! He hasn't even opened the last two boxes, which should be a mattress pad and pillows.


We've got a clothes shopping trip coming up -- I know it's hard to believe, but you have to do this with boys or they just wear the same t-shirts.

He and his roommate haven't even decided who is bringing the refrigerator. Having done this with two others sons, I've voted for renting from the university. I know it's not a good deal, but you don't have to move it in or out.

He IS interested in his stash of Cheerwine, Sundrop and snack food!

Since my son is only going 120 miles away and we (especially his dad) are there fairly frequently, it will be really easy to get stuff that he decides he needs to him later.

With the calendar turning to August Wednesday, it's starting to feel very real. I'm excited for him and proud of him, but, I'm sad, too, because a stage of his (and my) life is ending.

 

[clh2]

DD's packing...a big old pile of stuff. I really wish it would just start jumping into boxes...as I remind myself...THIS IS NOT MY PROJECT.

We did find, this weekend - Menards has area rugs for $15 and $20, near the college dorm stuff.

I am ordering her fridge tomorrow from Walmart - to pick it up in the college town when we get there.

Otherwise - I am trying to figure out how to get DD even a little motivated.

DD won't get her room assignment until August 10th, and move in day is August 18th. Hopefully no surprises - with regards to what dorm she is in.

 

[Southernmiss]

DD's packing...a big old pile of stuff. I really wish it would just start jumping into boxes...as I remind myself...THIS IS NOT MY PROJECT.

DS has piles in at least 3 rooms of the house! It's hard not to just pack it for him to get it out of the way!

 

[DVCLiz]

My son picked up his laptop, a Macbook three weeks ago. He's been pretty much attached to it since -- I think he's pleased with his choice!

The rest of the stuff is piled up in his brother's room/guest room. We've got a list and are making pretty good headway. He was ambivalent, so I ordered sheets, towels, comforter, mattress pad, foam pad, etc. online with his approval. Well, the colors in real life are a little different than online, so the Duke blue sheets will be returned! He hasn't even opened the last two boxes, which should be a mattress pad and pillows.


We've got a clothes shopping trip coming up -- I know it's hard to believe, but you have to do this with boys or they just wear the same t-shirts.

He and his roommate haven't even decided who is bringing the refrigerator. Having done this with two others sons, I've voted for renting from the university. I know it's not a good deal, but you don't have to move it in or out.

He IS interested in his stash of Cheerwine, Sundrop and snack food!

Since my son is only going 120 miles away and we (especially his dad) are there fairly frequently, it will be really easy to get stuff that he decides he needs to him later.

With the calendar turning to August Wednesday, it's starting to feel very real. I'm excited for him and proud of him, but, I'm sad, too, because a stage of his (and my) life is ending.

Yep, we got the MacBook today - poor DD has a book to finish and an essay to write tomorrow so she won't be able to play with it as much as she'd like.

Her roommate is bringing the fridge so we'll buy a microwave tomorrow, too. DD is taking her bedroom TV.

Lots going on here - we knew we would ave a very short turn around since she's been gone all summer. Oh, and she's going to the beach this weekend or a last girl's trip

But we'll get it done....I think.

 

[Boston Tea Party]

Done. Took it out to California and put it in storage in June. All she needs to take now is her clothes. She is spending a ton of time with friends and a young man she is seeing - who is going to the other side of the US!

 

[Becky2005]

We haven't even started! I figure we will wing it. It is pretty much what we do. We haven't had the time nor money to do anything else. Her move-in day is Labor day weekend, so I figure we still have some time.

It's not like they don't have stores where she is going & we can pick up stuff/send stuff as need be later on. I think we have 2 items & I know we have been looking at mini-fridges but still trying to decide on how we want to do that as ours involves a 1,000 mile drive to move her in -- I haven't decided how much we want to pack the car with and how much we want to ship (which we can't do until we have her school mailbox #, that we don't have yet anyway).

 

[KDIPIAZZ]

Mine will be flying 1400 miles, so we're trying to keep packing to a minimum. Visited Bed Bath and beyond to take advantage of their "pick it out here, pick it up there" program and we plan on trips to Sam's Club and Walmart as well once there. Luckily, his roommate already had a TV, frig and microwave.


Less than a month to go!

 

[Schmeck]

No shopping done yet, not sure what we are even going to buy, as we have plenty of stuff for her to take from home. We learned from older daughter (senior in college this year) that you really don't need to take a lot of stuff. Your computer, a lamp, a fan if there's no AC, clothing, bedding, towels.

We have plenty of bedding, may buy her a few towels, she has plenty of clothes, a lamp, and a laptop. We even have an extra fan.

Packing will be easy, as I have a few IKEA bags that she can fill.

 

[java]

Still no roommate assignment here. It's stressing me out because he can either be in a room with one roommate or 6!

So we have the pile of stuff he'll need for himself, sheets comforter,towels, shower caddy, that kind of stuff. We have a mini fridge and they get a laptop loaded with software for their classes once they get there. At least I don't have to run out and buy one.

Move in day is August 29-30.

He has been socializing most of the summer. Dining out with a bunch of different girls. I have learned the difference between it's a date and we are dating.

 

[SC Minnie]

We have been shopping for the past 2 weekends and I think DD is pretty much done. She got her roommate list last week and has been 'talking' to them on Facebook. Since they are in an apartment type dorm they don't need the appliances like fridge/micro. They haven't decided who is bringing a TV yet. Move in dat is Aug 19. She will be about 3 hours away but Dh and I will be down that way for labor day and can bring her anything she forgot or bring back home things she thought she needed but didn't.

 

[MichelleVW]

Word of advice is to not buy everything before hand and do a Walmart/Target run when you move them in. That's they way we've been doing it, and it works so well. Get there, move them in and then head to Walmart for things your forgot, didn't feel like packing etc.

Heck last year when we moved oldest DD into her apartment we didn't even bring her couches. We just looked on craisglist that day and found her awesome living room furniture for $100! Way easier than moving it 200 miles!

DD19 is starting her second year and will move back to school on Friday the 24th and we will head out on Sunday the 26th to bring her the rest of her stuff and do a Walmart run.

 

[Geoff_M]

#2 will be joining #1 (a Senior) this year. We have probably 95% of his stuff bought. He just found out this roommate assignments (he's in a room of 3) and will need to coordinate with them with regard to appliances.

As someone that's been around the block before, my advice to you is that if this is your first college student, odds are you will send her/him with too much stuff. When we came back from the Parent's Weekend in October during #1's first year, she sent a car trunk full of stuff back with us that she didn't need. One of the things we went overboard on was bedding. Just remember that the USPS and UPS both deliver to campuses if your kid needs something they didn't bring on Day 1. Also remember that it's easy to say "Better safe than sorry!" when you aren't the one that has to find a place to store the stuff in a small dorm room.

Also, keep an ear open to listen for things that you need to bring that you would never have thought of needing. In the case of our daughter, it was a "pool noodle". On Move-in Day we kept seeing kids bring in pool noodles with them. At first I had no idea what they were for, but then I realized their critical role. The dorms come complete with lofted beds with desks underneath. The side of the bed frame are metal and are positioned such that if you aren't careful when you get up from the desk you will crack your skull on the metal railing. If you then take a pool noodle and cut a slot in it lengthwise, you can slide it over the bottom of the metal rail and you now have a "head bumper".

I agree that a local Walmart may be better than trucking it in from home, BUT it depends on the school and what you're looking for. Our kids' school is in a small town that's about a 1 1/2 hour drive to the next nearest small town. There's a Walmart in town, but except for an OfficeDepot, that's about the only Plan B there is for that school. Commonly needed items (like 3M wall hooks) sell out fast and it's "Well, we might get some in on the truck next week."

 

[ckay87]

DS will have apartment-style housing, so I started making a list of things we have to buy for him. Then I realized.... am I nuts? He gets our old stuff and I buy new stuff for MY house ! He's getting enough of our cash via tuition and housing, haha.

So I am looking forward to my new bath towels, wash cloths, bedding, trash can, toaster oven (allowed), coffee pot, mop, etc etc.

There are times I do love having boys. He could care less about things like this, so I'm taking advantage of that!

 

[Buckalew11]

I think we are done.

DD is a planner and a list maker. She was funny, yesterday she had the room dimensions (1 roommate) and drew it out on the driveway in chalk seeing what she had room for etc.

She's not much into decorating but I think her roommate is. Her roommate is bringing a TV, fridge, Keurig, soda making machine, and who knows what else. DD is bringing the microwave. It'll be interesting to see just what the roommate ends up with--I'm imagining a quesadilla maker, cake pop maker... DD has done a few things to hang on her wall--some soccer flag is on its way in the mail and she has painted a few pics to take with her. I have no idea where that talent comes from!

DD is going 6.6 miles down the road so anything she needs will be easy to fix and anything extra, just bring home. She's moving in NEXT Thursday the 9th and the rest of the freshman come in on the 23rd. She'll probably take the small fridge she keeps in her room with her and then bring it home once the roommate moves in.

She's really just taking basics. She ordered and received her new Macbook two weeks ago and loves it.

With all the expensive things kids take to college nowadays (Ipods, computers, etc.) what do kids do to keep all this stuff safe? DH said he had nothing of any value when he went off to school.
My nephew (SC) went to college and was there for 4 years with no incident until the last week he was there--had his guitar stolen from his room.

 

[JBurke]

My DD moves in Aug. 16th.
We are done with shopping except for tolietries and a few food/snack items she might want.
The pile in the corner of her room was neat until this weekend. We opened everything up so I could wash the sheets/blankets, unwrapped some items ahead of time and organized some things in to bins. Her small futon we ordered online came yesterday so that box is right in the middle of her room. We have given up on keeping it neat!

As she was going through her closet she handed me a box she had in there which contained some stuffed animals, Disney snowglobes, music boxes, knick knacks etc. that she has had since she was a baby. As a little girl she displayed them in her room, but I guess I didnt notice over the years she was taking them off her shelves to make room for more teenage things.
It made me a little sad to see these items again after all these years.
I'm so proud of the woman she has become but I'm sure as heck going to miss my little girl!