Parents of College Freshman who are now Sophomores... UpDate 7/28/09

[Galahad]

Finally convinced DS to go out and buy the rest of his dorm stuff. Now he's finally getting pumped - can't wait to move in, set up his room, etc. Next Saturday's the day for him. Orientation is about 3 days and then classes start. He's a music student and the Orchestra has 3 solid days of all day rehearsals labor day weekend. Nothing like a baptism of fire.......

 

[mamacatnv]

We are done with the shopping (except for either a fridge or micro) since new roomie does not know how to return a phone call, the appliance purchase is on hold. I'm only $300 poorer

DS and I bought office supplies, desk organizers & basic accessories (stapler, hole punch etc) toiletries, basic first aid and over the counter remedies. We also found a locking foot locker and a really cool organizer for him to keep his toiletries in along with the required computer cables and ink cartridges for his printer etc.....

4 days and counting........

Hugs to everyone who is delivering a child to college this week

 

[madge]

DS and I bought office supplies, desk organizers & basic accessories (stapler, hole punch etc) toiletries, basic first aid and over the counter remedies. We also found a locking foot locker and a really cool organizer for him to keep his toiletries in along with the required computer cables and ink cartridges for his printer etc.....

4 days and counting........

Hugs to everyone who is delivering a child to college this week

would love some details on the organizer....

we're shopping tomorrow! I think. LOL. Maybe Tuesday.

 

[mamacatnv]

would love some details on the organizer....

we're shopping tomorrow! I think. LOL. Maybe Tuesday.

http://www.bedbathandbeyond.com/product.asp?order_num=-1&SKU=114716&RN=182

He got the black one. It holds everything he needs to head off to shower and brush teeth. It has 2 cylindrical slots near the handle which are perfect for the toothbrush and toothpaste, it keeps them upright. Their are large vent holes on the sides and smaller ones on the bottom so that it drains.

 

[DMickey28]

In general I ate out two times a week, usually just fast food or ordering something. My dining hall closed early on the weekends and I never made it in time for dinner. I also bought random drinks and snacks throughout campus between classes. There were trips to the mall, and movies, and Target, but those didn't happen every week. I would say I spent about $435-40 a week.

We don't spend that as a family of 3 a week! We also eat out at least twice a week and Dh gets breakfast/coffee everymorning.

Please tell me you were talking a month, not a week.

I remember when i was in college, I spent maybe $40-50/week but I was home on the weekends so you could probably up that to $75-100 if I was on campus all weekend. i honestly don't remember spending money hardly at all!!!

 

[MerryPoppins]

I know my son doesn't spend $100 a week! He probably eats out 3 meals a week (the frat kitchen isn't open on Saturday or Sunday) but most of that is probably fast food or subs. He's health conscious, so he doesn't drink a lot of soda or eat a lot of junk food. I'd guess he probably spends maybe $50 a week, tops, unless it's a week that he has a big date or something. But the difference may be that it's his money he's spending. He's responsible for his own spending money, so he's frugal.

 

[RitaE]

ok we're back. Check-in went really well and fast. The college acted like they had been doing this...... well for over a hundred years I guess because they were super organized. Today was just Freshman move-in day, the older kids do not move in until tomorrow. The college had a crowd of older boys on hand to help unload cars and carry stuff into the rooms. That was great, I basically just stood around and watched and they all told my son how to best set up the room.

I can say my son has more closet and drawer space for clothing at college than at home which was nice. The one thing that he was really lacking when we got there was shelves for books etc. I thought that his desk would hold all his books, but it turns out his desk only had one small very shallow drawer. I ended up picking up a small bookcase at Walmart.

Other things from Walmart

A floor lamp for behind his bed
2 trash cans (no trash cans in the room or the bathroom)
some 3m hooks for the wall - to hang up his room keys etc
a door stop (his door doesn't prop open)
a toilet plunger and toilet cleaning wand (none in the bathroom)
a large wall clock

My husband also totally freaked out and decided that our child was likely going to starve to death and bought enough snack food and drinks to fill the refrigerator, the under the bed rubbermaid thing, and the large trunk that serves as his coffee table. Not kidding, he looked like a man possessed determined that his baby would be adequately supplied with Sprite, Pringles and honey roasted peanuts come hell or high water.

I'm pretty exhausted. Good luck to everybody with upcoming moving days.

 

[bluesaturn]

We don't spend that as a family of 3 a week! We also eat out at least twice a week and Dh gets breakfast/coffee everymorning.

Please tell me you were talking a month, not a week.

I remember when i was in college, I spent maybe $40-50/week but I was home on the weekends so you could probably up that to $75-100 if I was on campus all weekend. i honestly don't remember spending money hardly at all!!!

HAHA I added a 4! I meant $35-40. So sorry! That would be completely and utterly insane.

 

[madge]

http://www.bedbathandbeyond.com/product.asp?order_num=-1&SKU=114716&RN=182

He got the black one. It holds everything he needs to head off to shower and brush teeth. It has 2 cylindrical slots near the handle which are perfect for the toothbrush and toothpaste, it keeps them upright. Their are large vent holes on the sides and smaller ones on the bottom so that it drains.

thanks! I have a coupon for BBB, I'll have to check those out!

 

[KarenB]

Just got back from getting oldest DS moved into an on campus apartment. UGH- it is a typical college apartment. I think he likes it and we have met his roommates (3 others) often throughout last year. I also think the other moms are on the same wavelength by sending things they will need, but won't think about (kitchen trashcan, can opener, toilet paper, etc).

We move in youngest DS into an on campus, brand new suite Friday. That will be tough since he is my baby and a freshman.

Sigh..
Karen

 

[madge]

We don't spend that as a family of 3 a week! We also eat out at least twice a week and Dh gets breakfast/coffee everymorning.

Please tell me you were talking a month, not a week.

I remember when i was in college, I spent maybe $40-50/week but I was home on the weekends so you could probably up that to $75-100 if I was on campus all weekend. i honestly don't remember spending money hardly at all!!!

I was thinking it was a typo and she meant $35-40/week?

:::reading ahead::::

 

[Amy]

Hi all! Well, we got DS moved in on Saturday - it went really well. Just the marching band kids moved in, so the campus wasn't totally crazy. His roommate isn't in band, so he won't move in until Thurs when the rest of the freshmen arrive. We made a Walmart run and bought him a bookcase and some throw rugs - and he also got to see where McDonald's, Pizza Hut, Burger King, Subway, etc. are, and that was just down one road from campus.

DS was funny - he didn't want to move anything in his room until his roommate arrives, but I convinced him to move the bunkbeds so they'd have a little more room. DH and I will head up again on Thurs (he's only 1.5 hours away) with a few more things.....Target has those "sphere" chairs on sale this week, so I picked one up for DS. And I'm such a horrible mom - he's going to a Christian school and I forgot to pack his Bible!

I didn't cry as much as I thought I would, just a few tears. I did most of my crying on Thurs - some other stuff happened (not DS-related, just a whole of stressful stuff) and I guess I had a mini-breakdown. I guess I got it all out of my system then!

Boy, what a diff. between boys and girls! One of my friends moved her daughter back to school last week - her DD is a junior this year. She said her DD has called at least once a day since she's been back! I only got 2 text msgs from DS - one, he found out that his roommate is bringing his Wii, so DS wanted to know if DS16 will let him have some of our Wii games at college; and the other was an answer when I texted to see if he wanted me to buy him one of those sphere chairs and what color. Oh well; that's the way guys are, I guess.

 

[brerrabbit]

We moved our DD in on Saturday and like the previous poster it was easy because it was band only. She's a freshman and everything was really easy. We made a Wal Mart run and bought her a fridge. Everyone else was moving in on Sunday so I'm sure it was a mess. I was fine until we got ready to leave and I sort of lost it and started crying. My DW was fine and so was DD. I was the emotional one getting all teary eyed. Her brother has already graduated from Texas A&M and so my DW wife thought this would be no problem cause I was fine with him, but hey this was different, this was my little girl.

 

[pixie dust 112]

We moved our DD in on Saturday and like the previous poster it was easy because it was band only. She's a freshman and everything was really easy. We made a Wal Mart run and bought her a fridge. Everyone else was moving in on Sunday so I'm sure it was a mess. I was fine until we got ready to leave and I sort of lost it and started crying. My DW was fine and so was DD. I was the emotional one getting all teary eyed. Her brother has already graduated from Texas A&M and so my DW wife thought this would be no problem cause I was fine with him, but hey this was different, this was my little girl.

 

[Amy]

We moved our DD in on Saturday and like the previous poster it was easy because it was band only. She's a freshman and everything was really easy. We made a Wal Mart run and bought her a fridge. Everyone else was moving in on Sunday so I'm sure it was a mess. I was fine until we got ready to leave and I sort of lost it and started crying. My DW was fine and so was DD. I was the emotional one getting all teary eyed. Her brother has already graduated from Texas A&M and so my DW wife thought this would be no problem cause I was fine with him, but hey this was different, this was my little girl.

Awww, how nice to hear about a DAD getting teary-eyed!

 

[sharbear]

Target has those "sphere" chairs on sale this week, so I picked one up for DS.

I bought one of those sphere chairs for my D who is going to be a Freshman and everyone loved it so much that her brother who is going to be a Junior bought one and so did her boyfriend. They are really, really nice.

 

[Amy]

I bought one of those sphere chairs for my D who is going to be a Freshman and everyone loved it so much that her brother who is going to be a Junior bought one and so did her boyfriend. They are really, really nice.

That's good to hear; another guy was moving in down the hall and he had one in his room, so I figured DS might like one. As a more "mature" (OLD) person, I have to wonder if I'd be able to get out if I sat in it! Ah, to be young and flexible....

 

[mickeysgal]

We left last Friday to get DS settled in at his school. Friday, he was having a tough time getting those last things together and getting the car packed. He really hesitated to actually get in the car. He was really feeling the impact of leaving home and leaving the girlfriend. When we got him there, he was like a deer in the headlights. It had to have been completely overwhelming for him. He had that "what did I get myself into" look. Completely shellshocked. He had already met his roommate and when they saw each other again, the ice quickly melted and he got instantly more comfortable. By Sat. afternoon, he was running to the mall with the guys, going to a soccer game, and simply met us downstairs and took his groceries up. We didn't even go back up to the room. Today was his first day of classes and we only briefly heard from him. All went well and he was off to hang out tonight with all the roommates (there are 4 total in the room). So far, so good, I think.

 

[Green Tea]

We leave today. I wanted to get him so many things for his room, but he resisited. And yet, still, the car is overflowing and more stuff was shipped ahead. He has a big room by college standards, but it's not this big!

 

[madge]

That's good to hear; another guy was moving in down the hall and he had one in his room, so I figured DS might like one. As a more "mature" (OLD) person, I have to wonder if I'd be able to get out if I sat in it! Ah, to be young and flexible....

I'm back and forth about whether to get one for DS. I could always get it, and if he doesn't want it ... I'm sure his sister at home would!

We already have one, and getting out requires a little effort. It's not terrible, though!