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

[RitaE]

mine ended up at the Doctor last night.

He had a big asthma attack at soccer practice. Thankfully my BIL lives 20 minutes away and he drove over and took him to the Doctor for a breathing treatment.

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.

I hope it is much better for her once she gets there Patricia.

 

[madge]

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.

quoting myself, LOLOL ...

we're home, have been since around 4pm.

DS left about 30 minutes ahead of us, and by the time we go to his dorm room, everything had been unloaded and taken to his room. Last night when we were loading everything up, DH was very concerned that DS had TOOO much stuff packed. I assured him if we did, we'd just bring home what DS didn't need. What looked like a lot in our living room didn't seem to look so bad in the dorm room ... especially compared to what the roommate brought. Holy COW. I think mom thought Bed Bath & Beyond was serious with the dorm supply list they put out I don't It was a LOT of stuff. We left with DS to pick up an outlet converter - all the plugs are 2 holes and we needed to make them 3 holes/grounded. (roommate's dad was snapping the grounding part of the plug off so they'd fit. ) When we came back from that errand & lunch, roommate's mom had everything all set up and organized. Not sure where the roommate was, though. We did help DS with the mattress pad & memory foam - he sleeps on a futon at home, and had never wrestled all that stuff onto a bed before. I made one suggestion about furniture set up and then we left for home. I was fine, then.

Drove home, DH had his heavy sigh moment ... and then we went to pick up our other two kids. DD (first grader) was hot and tired, and when we walked in the house, she went in DS room and sobbed, and sobbed, and sobbed some more. Poor thing. She had a popsicle and a shower and seems to be good now. She'll have her moments, we all will.

Now begins a new chapter for all of us.

:::sigh:::

 

[TEENEE]

madge, I feel bad for your dd. Poor baby is going to be lost. Maybe your dd and ds can write to each other. Little sister would probably get a big kick of getting mail from her big brother.

 

[madge]

madge, I feel bad for your dd. Poor baby is going to be lost. Maybe your dd and ds can write to each other. Little sister would probably get a big kick of getting mail from her big brother.

today has been better - DS called this afternoon, to add things to the growing list of items he wants us to send with an upperclassman moving in on Sunday

DD did have a very good idea - she wants to make her brother some homemade cookies to send to DS in school

 

[Amy]

today has been better - DS called this afternoon, to add things to the growing list of items he wants us to send with an upperclassman moving in on Sunday

DD did have a very good idea - she wants to make her brother some homemade cookies to send to DS in school

Ah, isn't that sweet, wanting to make cookies for her brother! My DS16 hasn't even asked how DS18 is doing at college; BOYS!

 

[madge]

Ah, isn't that sweet, wanting to make cookies for her brother! My DS16 hasn't even asked how DS18 is doing at college; BOYS!

she's 6. That has something to do with it, I'm sure. LOLOL.

Amy ... can you believe I didn't take one picture yesterday? I had my S3 in my purse and didn't even get it out.

 

[Patricia]

Well the move in went well as far as setting up the room and the roommate and all the details. My daughter was in a fairly calm state considering the crying that went on literally all night before. She and her boyfriend were so sad! She is very busy with freshman week activities and is going to everything so that is a good sign. She says she knows she likes it at the school, she just wishes she could turn back time. I told her I totally agree with her, I feel that way every time I look at her or her sister who is already grown and out of the house. I am just keeping my fingers crossed that it all passes once classes start on Tuesday. As for me, I am home with my husband and my son, now I will live in a boys world. Every tv with sports on!!! Guess it's time for paybacks, it's been a lot of years that we girls have kind of dominated. AHHHHHHHHHH

 

[donac]

We leave bright and early MOnday morning. I have a long list going on in my mind of things we need to do today but I think ds just wants to see his friends. He hasn't seen them since before he left for vacation and we just got yesterday.

I have been crying in private already and I hope I will be okay on MOnday when we drop him off. I don't want him to be upset. He leaves Tuesday for a Freshman thing in WV and gets back on Friday. Over the weekend is a lot of activities and school starts on the 2nd. I know he is excited and I am very happy for him. He is lookking forward to the first weekend. Bowling from 9 to 1 and another night is Walmart at midnight.

Good luck other parents.

 

[aka-mad4themouse]

Unlike the rest of you, my DD is commuting, so I'll see her just about every night. I didn't give much thought to getting her a meal plan. I just figured that we would play this semester by ear and then decide next semester.

Now, I find out that they have a specific plan just for commuters...5 lunches per week and a $50 credit for on-campus snack shops plus 5 free meals for guests each semester. Of course, there are about 13 other meal plans as well! How in the world do you decide ahead of time which one works for your child? My head is spinning over all of the choices!

 

[Galahad]

Well, DS's college is in our city - though across town. Moved him over there today. Got the rug down, the beds bunked and the stuff in his room. Left him at a welcome BBQ and came home. His roommate had not yet arrived. We'll go over for orientation meetings tomorrow. The house does seem a bit empty even if he's only 30 minutes away......

 

[madge]

Unlike the rest of you, my DD is commuting, so I'll see her just about every night. I didn't give much thought to getting her a meal plan. I just figured that we would play this semester by ear and then decide next semester.

Now, I find out that they have a specific plan just for commuters...5 lunches per week and a $50 credit for on-campus snack shops plus 5 free meals for guests each semester. Of course, there are about 13 other meal plans as well! How in the world do you decide ahead of time which one works for your child? My head is spinning over all of the choices!

are you required to purchase any of them?

We didn't have a choice, but DS is living on campus. We had to get the 19 meals/week for freshman ... which I think is ridic, but what can you do? I ust don't think about the money wasted in meals not eaten.

Anyway, if you don't have to buy one, then maybe let DD see how it goes this semester? Even as a commuter, she may find herself hanging out on campus with friends and want to eat with them? Or she may not? I don't know....

 

[Kath2003]

Wow, it's much simplier here. Either you live in catered accommodation - semester duration only, so you gotta clear your room at Christmas & Easter vacations - and get 19 meals a week (3 Mon-Fri and 2 at weekends), or you're self-catered and get no meals (but you get the accommodation for both the Christmas & Easter vacations). There are set mealtimes if you're catered (I think an hour duration for each) - if you miss it, it's gone forever! I worked in a catered hall with 500 students and they said they only make 30 breakfasts each morning! I went self-catered and made my own meals from day one!

 

[Green Tea]

I am home after nearly a week. Though I cried a lot the nights before the final farewell, that was actually not too bad. I thought maybe I didn't have any tears left, but then I found a few more as the plane took off for me to return home.

All seemed okay there. I spent a lot of time with the suitemates and another of the families. All seemed nice and ds is getting along. I feared the boxes would never fit in the room, but everything turned out. The room looked very homey and comfortable.

It is a busy week for orientation. I talked to him very briefly when my plane finally landed 12 hours after saying goodbye but he said he had to go-busy there.

I guess that means he is adjusting. It is easier here than it was there. I think I will be okay.

 

[aka-mad4themouse]

are you required to purchase any of them?

We didn't have a choice, but DS is living on campus. We had to get the 19 meals/week for freshman ... which I think is ridic, but what can you do? I ust don't think about the money wasted in meals not eaten.

Anyway, if you don't have to buy one, then maybe let DD see how it goes this semester? Even as a commuter, she may find herself hanging out on campus with friends and want to eat with them? Or she may not? I don't know....

As a commuter, she is not required to purchase a meal plan. But I know that she will probably want to eat lunch in the dining halls with her friends. The lunches are $9 when purchased one at a time. The dining plan is $605 for what amounts to 65 lunches, so it's not as if we would be saving any money by signing up for it. I'm leaning towards just loading up her student account with funds and having her use it as she needs it. If we find out that she will use the dining halls a lot, we'll sign up for a meal plan next semester.

 

[RitaE]

As a commuter, she is not required to purchase a meal plan. But I know that she will probably want to eat lunch in the dining halls with her friends. The lunches are $9 when purchased one at a time. The dining plan is $605 for what amounts to 65 lunches, so it's not as if we would be saving any money by signing up for it. I'm leaning towards just loading up her student account with funds and having her use it as she needs it. If we find out that she will use the dining halls a lot, we'll sign up for a meal plan next semester.

Holy Crap a $9 lunch? That is a very expensive turkey sandwich and fries.

 

[aka-mad4themouse]

It's more like an all-you-can-eat buffet. I suppose that some commuters who are living in their own apartments might use this plan to eat lunch as their big meal of the day. If this were for my DS16, they would be losing money on him!

The express meal is only $5.75 - $6.75 for lunch, which is pretty much a sandwich, side and beverage.

Like I said, we'll probably just play it by ear this semester. But I really feel for those parents of resident students who are required to have some sort of meal plan. I don't know how they decide what to purchase when there are so many plans to choose from. When I went to college, there was one meal plan and if you lived on campus, you had to have it.

 

[Nancy]

It's more like an all-you-can-eat buffet. I suppose that some commuters who are living in their own apartments might use this plan to eat lunch as their big meal of the day. If this were for my DS16, they would be losing money on him!

The express meal is only $5.75 - $6.75 for lunch, which is pretty much a sandwich, side and beverage.

Like I said, we'll probably just play it by ear this semester. But I really feel for those parents of resident students who are required to have some sort of meal plan. I don't know how they decide what to purchase when there are so many plans to choose from. When I went to college, there was one meal plan and if you lived on campus, you had to have it.

The freshman at my daughters school don't have a choice,you get the one with the most meals. My daughter is dorming but she is 15 minutes from home. I wanted to skip the meal plan cause she could come home whenever she wanted but the school said no. So she has the plan. But they can exchange some of their meals for campus cash. Campus cash can be used for any other expenses both on and off campus. Some of the local store and eateries that are close to the school accept the campus cash. She is already exchanging some of it and she's only been there 3 days.

 

[Mermaid02]

We move my dd on Saturday. The school is in the same town so I'll get to see her (that and I work a stones throw from her school!) It will still be hard though.

 

[DJR]

Well, we got our DD off to school on Saturday and, all things considered it went about as well as we could have expected. There were a few tears, but not as bad as I had feared. I wrote her a letter and gave it to her to read when she got a chance. There were some things (fatherly advice) I wanted to share with her and I knew it wasn't something I would be able to express otherwise. That helped me a lot, and she told us last night she liked it.

She's been so busy with the soccer team practices and team activities, that I don't think she's had much chance to be homesick so far. She sounded good on the phone so that was reassuring. We're hoping that continues. We may try to get up for a weekend game even if it's 2 1/2 hours away, otherwise we'll have to wait until Family Weekend in late October.

 

[MaryAnnDVC]

DD's very first college class got canceled this morning because the professor didn't show up. I want a refund. Of course, DD thinks it's pretty cool..."I could get used to this".

DJR, how cool your DD is playing college soccer! My DD was very into soccer at one time (and was really good!), but gave it up in high school (partly due to double knee surgery in 8th grade...made her a very tentative player). I'm hoping DS plays in college (HS sophomore now). Good luck to your DD!