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

[TEENEE]

My ds is a high school senior this year and is already buying things for his dorm for next year. I think he's ready to go, but I'm not ready to think about it. I keep reading this thread to get ideas from those of you who are going through it now. With all of this great info we should be prepared pretty early on.

 

[madge]

I'm getting ready to head out and do some more shopping

Yesterday, DS went through a little panic, thinking he didn't have enough khaki shorts.

he has at least 8 pairs. oy.

 

[Amy]

I am sooooo glad DS is only 1.5 hours away! We moved him up on Saturday, and daily I'm getting text messages (no phone calls though!) of other stuff he needs when we go up Thurs when the rest of the freshmen arrive. For some reason, he didn't pack his backpack. Today he said he needs hand soap. We always use the pump soap at home, but then he'll have to keep turning the pump top to lock it since he'll be toting it back and forth to the bathroom. So I bought both a pump soap and then bar soap and a travel soap case and I'll let him decide. And he's an engineering major, right? So did he think about taking a calculator? Nope. Add that to the pile.

Oh well, I guess it's always like this with your oldest....you don't know what you're in for and there are a lot of things you don't think about. By the time you're ready to send your 2nd child off, the "what stuff do I need to take" will be a piece of cake!

 

[MaryAnnDVC]

Wow. Now back in the 70's I was in as many girls' dorm rooms as I could manage, but I don't remember any of them bringing curtains. Things sure have changed........

But as the mother of DDs, I'm not sure I like hearing that! DD just said to me "So, how do you feel about the fact that as of tomorrow night, I won't have a curfew?!" (She's 17, so we've still enforced an 11:30 PM curfew.)

When we toured the college, there were lots of heavily decorated rooms. Probably because these rooms are bigger than my other DD's college. There was one quad room that had a futon in the middle (with room to walk on either side) facing a large screen TV, and lovely curtains. That's really what made us think of getting curtains. The ones we got were $5.24 per panel.

I added a roll of duct tape. I have no idea why, but I think everyone should have access to duct tape.

Always! That was the last thing oldest DD packed when she left for two months in Europe/Korea/Japan. You never know when "something" might break.

We're leaving later this afternoon.

I was told this week "Mom, boys really don't decorate."

LOL My youngest is my DS, 15. I was just saying to DH that DS will be taking less than 1/2 the stuff DD is taking. Like two sets of sheets...he'd probably wonder what he needed two for...I'm still trying to get him to understand the concept of changing sheets every once in a while.

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.

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.

Wow...nice about the helpers! DS is complaining about missing soccer tryouts tomorrow to help us move DD.

DD and I went to BJs on Saturday and stocked up on snacks. I always go a little crazy at BJs...don't realize how much I've bought until I get it home and have to put it away. DD has two underbed storage containers full of snacks. Oh well...

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

That was so sweet!

This is 2nd DD going off to college, but oldest was closer to home and kept coming home for weeks to get more stuff. We'll probably only see 2nd DD in October for Parents' Weekend, and then Thanksgiving, so it's a little more . She's going to be alone in her room until the next day, because she's doing the final orientation; she didn't do the ones earlier in the summer. I feel like we're leaving her all alone.

Oh well, I guess it's always like this with your oldest....you don't know what you're in for and there are a lot of things you don't think about. By the time you're ready to send your 2nd child off, the "what stuff do I need to take" will be a piece of cake!

Not necessarily! LOL DDs are attending very different institutions, which allow different things, one is further than the other so it's a one trip deal, older DD roomed with a friend and things were worked out between them beforehand...it's just very different. But yes, we've certainly gotten some insight.

Good luck everyone!

 

[Amy]

OhMari posted this on another thread on the Community Board and I wanted to be sure all of you saw it. Boy, nothing like making us feel old, huh?

Beloit College in Wisconsin releases "Mindset List for Class of 2012

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

My youngest is leaving in 8 days, just one more stab to the heart to remind me.

Every year, Beloit College releases its Mindset List to give a snapshot of the world view of the incoming freshmen class.

Students entering college for the first time this fall were generally born in 1990. For these students, Sammy Davis Jr., Jim Henson, Ryan White, Stevie Ray Vaughan and Freddy Krueger have always been dead.

Harry Potter could be a classmate, playing on their Quidditch team.
Since they were in diapers, karaoke machines have been annoying people at parties.
They have always been looking for Carmen Sandiego.
GPS satellite navigation systems have always been available.
Coke and Pepsi have always used recycled plastic bottles.
Shampoo and conditioner have always been available in the same bottle.
Gas stations have never fixed flats, but most serve cappuccino.
Their parents may have dropped them in shock when they heard George Bush announce "tax revenue increases."
Electronic filing of tax returns has always been an option.
Girls in head scarves have always been part of the school fashion scene.
All have had a relative - or known about a friend's relative - who died comfortably at home with hospice.
As a precursor to "whatever," they have recognized that some people "just don't get it."
Universal Studios has always offered an alternative to Mickey in Orlando.
Grandma has always had wheels on her walker.
Martha Stewart Living has always been setting the style.
Haagen-Dazs ice cream has always come in quarts.
Club Med resorts have always been places to take the whole family.
WWW has never stood for World Wide Wrestling.
Films have never been X rated, only NC-17.
The Warsaw Pact is as hazy for them as the League of Nations was for their parents.
Students have always been "Rocking the Vote."
Clarence Thomas has always sat on the Supreme Court.
Schools have always been concerned about multiculturalism.
We have always known that "All I Ever Really Needed to Know I Learned in Kindergarten."

There have always been gay rabbis.
Wayne Newton has never had a mustache.
College grads have always been able to Teach for America.
IBM has never made typewriters.
Roseanne Barr has never been invited to sing the National Anthem again.
McDonald's and Burger King have always used vegetable oil for cooking french fries.
They have never been able to color a tree using a raw umber Crayola.
There has always been Pearl Jam.
The Tonight Show has always been hosted by Jay Leno and started at 11:35 EST.
Pee-Wee has never been in his playhouse during the day.
They never tasted Benefit Cereal with psyllium.
They may have been given a Nintendo Game Boy to play with in the crib.
Authorities have always been building a wall across the Mexican border.
Lenin's name has never been on a major city in Russia.
Employers have always been able to do credit checks on employees.
Balsamic vinegar has always been available in the U.S.
Macaulay Culkin has always been "Home Alone."
Their parents may have watched "The American Gladiators" on TV the day they were born.
Personal privacy has always been threatened.
Caller ID has always been available on phones.
Living wills have always been asked for at hospital check-ins.
The Green Bay Packers (almost) always had the same starting quarterback.
They never heard an attendant ask "Want me to check under the hood?"
Iced tea has always come in cans and bottles.
Soft drink refills have always been free.
They have never known life without Seinfeld references from a show about "nothing."
Windows 3.0 operating system made IBM PCs user-friendly the year they were born.
Muscovites have always been able to buy Big Macs.
The Royal New Zealand Navy has never been permitted a daily ration of rum.
The Hubble Space Telescope has always been eavesdropping on the heavens.
98.6 F or otherwise has always been confirmed in the ear.
Michael Milken has always been a philanthropist promoting prostate cancer research.
Offshore oil drilling in the United States has always been prohibited.
Radio stations have never been required to present both sides of public issues.
There have always been charter schools.
Students always had Goosebumps.

 

[madge]

I am sooooo glad DS is only 1.5 hours away! We moved him up on Saturday, and daily I'm getting text messages (no phone calls though!) of other stuff he needs when we go up Thurs when the rest of the freshmen arrive. For some reason, he didn't pack his backpack. Today he said he needs hand soap. We always use the pump soap at home, but then he'll have to keep turning the pump top to lock it since he'll be toting it back and forth to the bathroom. So I bought both a pump soap and then bar soap and a travel soap case and I'll let him decide. And he's an engineering major, right? So did he think about taking a calculator? Nope. Add that to the pile.

Oh well, I guess it's always like this with your oldest....you don't know what you're in for and there are a lot of things you don't think about. By the time you're ready to send your 2nd child off, the "what stuff do I need to take" will be a piece of cake!

we move on Thursday - a friend of ours will be going to the campus on Friday for a Trustees meeting, so I'm sure we'll be sending something needed then ... and then a friend of DS is an upper classman and can't move in until Sunday, so we have yet another chance to send even more stuff. LOL.

And I suspect we might see DS over the Labor Day weekend. The school made a big deal about the kids not coming home for 6 weeks ... how that's good for them. I can get behind that theory, but everyone we know says the campus clears out on Friday. We'll see.

 

[Patricia]

My daughter leaves tomorrow... things are not going well here. She is all ready. All packed. I knew she really didnt' want to move on and start her ner life yet, but I didn't expect it to be this bad. She was hysterical crying yesterday and it is truly breaking my heart. I have no option except to hold her and ask if she really doesn't want to go. She is only going an hour from home and I truly think that once she gets there she is going to love it. It is her first choice school, her career dream, her choice of dorm. Everthing she wanted.... but she just doesn't want to leave her life she says. Yesterday, we had to go to her HS for something, she just kept saying " I want to be here!" She knows that life doesn't exist any more, that pains her more too. I know much of this is due to leaving the bf too, but I have to say that watching her be this upset is so hard. My older daugther didn't really want to go either, but she wasn't this bad and she got there and loved it. You would think that the older one's story would motivate the younger one. In the meantime, I just hold her and let her cry and offer any suggestions I can think of, all lame.

 

[Green Tea]

Patricia. wow. so sad! I think you have to make her go though. Be supportive, but don't ask if she really doesn't want to do it. Everyone gets frightened at change, but she is getting the things she hoped for. How tough to be in your situation right now. My heart broke reading that. Be supportive but don't let her think she isn't going. that might make it even harder if she thinks she is being given a choice. As you say, you know she will love it.

 

[mamacatnv]

Today is the day! DS has to work until 2, then run several errands and then come home and pack have I mentioned my son is a procrastinator I figure we will head to the Univ. at about 6 tonight........

Question:
Did you put your kids names on things like their towels, their toiletries etc? (not clothing like they are going to camp )

Also, is there a way to engrave a laptop?

 

[MerryPoppins]

I didn't put his name on things. I think he would have killed me if I did. He's starting his third year of college and nothing has disappeared yet. At least nothing he's told us about.

Don't know if you can engrave a laptop or not? We got a laptop lock, so he could lock it to the desk. That way it didn't wander off. And we told him to keep valuables locked up.

 

[Amy]

I didn't put his name on things. I think he would have killed me if I did. He's starting his third year of college and nothing has disappeared yet. At least nothing he's told us about.

Don't know if you can engrave a laptop or not? We got a laptop lock, so he could lock it to the desk. That way it didn't wander off. And we told him to keep valuables locked up.

Oh shoot.....I completely forgot about a laptop lock! The school issues the computers, so we didn't have to shop for one. Dang! Wonder if DS would really use it if I bought one?

 

[mamacatnv]

Oh shoot.....I completely forgot about a laptop lock! The school issues the computers, so we didn't have to shop for one. Dang! Wonder if DS would really use it if I bought one?

Wow - the school issues computers! I would have saved a chunk.

DS is picking up the laptop lock at the student bookstore today. They sell them at cost.

Didn't think I needed to label, I'm sure he would shoot me, just wasn't sure.

 

[madge]

:::sigh:::

I had a long response typed out and the internet ate it.

it was a bunch of blah, blah, blah about how things are going to change here. I was a sobbing mess. It was very cathartic. LOLOL.

we leave tomorrow. stuff everywhere. not packed at all.

 

[mamacatnv]

:::sigh:::

I had a long response typed out and the internet ate it.

it was a bunch of blah, blah, blah about how things are going to change here. I was a sobbing mess. It was very cathartic. LOLOL.

we leave tomorrow. stuff everywhere. not packed at all.

I was the teary mess yesterday. I seem to have gotten ahold of myself and we are delivering DS this evening and he is not packed!

 

[madge]

I was the teary mess yesterday. I seem to have gotten ahold of myself and we are delivering DS this evening and he is not packed!

I'm much better today - I think now that I've had my meltdown, it will go much more smoothly for everyone.

Tomorrow morning may be a little emotional for me when it's time for the younger two to go to school and they say their good byes. It may not be bad at all, I just don't know.

 

[MaryAnnDVC]

Took DD to school today. Everything went great. They had helpers and I didn't lift a thing on the way in...I guarded the van. DD was the first one to check into her dorm this morning, and her two roommates arrive tomorrow, so we had lots of space to spread out while getting organized. She met the girl in the next room; they'd been in touch through Facebook, and she's a really nice girl...so are her parents and grandparents. So, I'm glad she's not "alone" tonight.

I didn't get teary when we left (altho, I got teary when I read a "goodbye" letter a friend from HS gave to her before she left). I was really psyched and upbeat when we got home, because she seemed so excited. However, tonight I'm feeling a bit empty. And of course, I'm hoping her positive attitude about it all sticks; I dread a teary phone call from her, and have my fingers crossed it doesn't happen. It's funny...she's been so busy this summer with working and friends, but the house seems quieter tonight, even tho if she was home, she wouldn't be "home", KWIM?

We did forget to buy/pack a few things, so I'm sending them tomorrow.

Some advice...for underbed storage (those "flat" ones) make sure to measure that they're not too long. The ones we got DD are, and they stick out from under her bed. Oh well. We were relieved a few times thinking about what we almost bought, that we now know would NOT have fit in the room. I'll be anxious to hear how much stuff the other two girls bring tomorrow.

Best of luck to everyone! I know it's hard. This is my 2nd to go, so in some ways it's easier. On the other hand, I have just one child left at home. He is going to be the center of my life, poor kid.

 

[ColoradoBuffaloMom]

I was very teary eyed the night before we took my daughter last week but the day we actually took her to school, I was ok.

She is doing well her first week. She and her roommate seem to get along well and are doing a lot together. She is enjoying her classes so far. I texted her tonight and asked what she was doing and she said she was watching Project Runway so I guess the homework hasn't become too overwhelming yet.

I'm glad she is doing well but I miss having my girl around. Now that it is only my son, husband and boy dog here, it's too many males around Also they don't talk as much as my DD does so it is a bit quiet. Oh well, I guess I have to get used to it.

Overall it isn't nearly as sad as I thought it would be. Remind me I said that when the first teary phone call arrives

 

[Green Tea]

we are in route. Starting day 3 of the drive. What seemed like a good idea on May 1 was less appealing to me after about the fifth or sixth state line we crossed. I'm sure it will be good again once we get there and I get FLY home.

The labeling question. ooops. Didn't know I wasn't supposed to put names in clothes. Oh well. Too late now. Sharpies are permanent. At least if he gets lost, someone can identify and return him.

 

[Green Tea]

we are in route. Starting day 3 of the drive. What seemed like a good idea on May 1 was less appealing to me after about the fifth or sixth state line we crossed. I'm sure it will be good again once we get there and I get FLY home.

The labeling question. ooops. Didn't know I wasn't supposed to put names in clothes. Oh well. Too late now. Sharpies are permanent. At least if he gets lost, someone can identify and return him.

 

[Galahad]

DS went out to Staples yesterday and bought $100 worth of supplies (like DW, he's always been into office supplies). He was a bit bemused to learn though that while I will reimburse him for his books, I'm not buying his Sharpies for him.....