<p>“Bad things about the university”
- It’s not in NY…lol
- can’t just jump in the car for a day trip on a whim to see DS</p>
<p>If you were to ask my son what the worst thing about UA was for him last year, his answered would be the torrential rains. This is a kid who does not tolerate heat/humidity well at all - and yet the monsoon weather would be #1 on the list of 'bad things about UA". He will be better prepared this next year.</p>
<p>NYBama’s #2 “can’t just jump in the car for a day trip on a whim to see DS” is actually one of the good things for us. If D had not chosen UA, she’d most likely be in Pittsburg or Boston and we are in TX. When she began leaning toward Bama, I told her that if she ever really needed me I could hop in the car on the morning and be there by dinner. It’s 9 hours by car and so for us that is a GOOD thing. But she’d probably have liked it even better if it had been in NY (your #1 item)! She is hoping grad school takes her up there somewhere.</p>
<p>RTRMom2 - what will your S do to be better prepared? My S is scoffing at all my suggestions for rain protection. It might help to be able to tell him this is what didn’t work for this student, and this is what he is doing instead. Thanks!</p>
<p>Buy your son a good packable rain jacket and leave it in his dorm, even if he swears he still never wear it. He’ll wear it.</p>
<p>We bought D an actual rain coat over spring break because her rain-resistant coat was leaving her soaked.</p>
<p>No, he won’t. He won’t wear it at all. OR the rain shoes you knock yourself out ordering OR the right-sized backpack cover. He will sit and moulder in his rain-soaked clothes, letting the multiple fans of his super-computer slowly dry him out.</p>
<p>Boys are weird.</p>
<p>I’d rather buy and pack a huge list of stuff for a girl than deal with the imponderable brains which lurk within the heads of men.</p>
<p>For sure. D reported that her backpack cover did a great job even if her non-raincoat did not.</p>
<p>My son does not care what he looks like as long as he stays DRY. </p>
<p>We will be getting him some sort of raincoat (maybe two - one for fall, one for ‘winter’) and he has asked for a large, sturdy umbrella. He is not ashamed to carry one the size of a golf umbrella as long as it keeps him DRY. His plan is to have a compact umbrella for his backpack for the unexpected storms, but a giant, sturdy umbrella when he knows he will be needing it. </p>
<p>He seems happy with the Clark’s boots that M2CK recommended last year - but we may get some NeverWet - just to be safe (and for the sheer fun of it).</p>
<p>(Backpack cover was a NO here, too.)</p>
<p>Hah. Yep.</p>
<p>DS just returned from Study Abroad program in Greece. Tatiana, his prof, had told the kids to bring some nice khakis and a decent polo shirt, for the group’s one dinner out at a fairly fancy restaurant. </p>
<p>The polos were no problem. I work for a giant apparel company that specializes in knits (not wovens), and over the years, at various employee sample sales, I have acquired more men’s polos than you can shake a stick at. But DS didn’t have a nice-ish pair of khakis at home. (He’d left most of his clothes in storage in T-Town.) So, I ordered him a new pair of khakis (fairly dressy; no cargo pockets) via Amazon Prime. And, when the khakis arrived, I packed them, still in their Amazon packaging, in DS’s duffel bag.</p>
<p>Fast-forward to his return from Greece. </p>
<p>Mama: “So, did you wear your new khakis to that nice restaurant in Athens?” DS: “What khakis?” Mama: “The ones I packed for you. The new ones.” DS: “Oh, those. Those are still in the package.”</p>
<p>I guess there’s something in the Young Male Brain that prevents 20-year-old guys from figuring out how to remove pants from a package.</p>
<p>Mama: “So, what did you wear to the nice restaurant, then?” DS: “I don’t remember.” Mama: “On second thought…I don’t want to know.”</p>
<p>Weird. DD would have ripped it from the UPS guy’s hands before he rang the bell.</p>
<p>Frustatring as the male brain is, I’d rather deal with that than worrying about that list of things girls need (who knew there was all that itching, chafing and fungus going on?)!!</p>
<p>I swear by my LL Bean long trench coat. On days I commute to work I walk to the office and it’s the best at keeping me dry (also wore it for move-out). </p>
<p>Bought my son a good quality rain jacket from REI. Don’t remember which but he does use it after swearing up and down buying it was a waste of $. He did not ever use his backpack cover. </p>
<p>The rains in Tuscaloosa are hard and fast and drenching - different than many regions of the country. Only NRDSON is too stubborn to wear a rain jacket.</p>
<p>Buy your son a good packable rain jacket and leave it in his dorm, even if he swears he still never wear it. He’ll wear it.</p>
<p>I finally got my boys to use these when I stuck them in an outer pocket of their backpacks.</p>
<p>I’m a realist, there’s no way my son will wear a back pack cover or a rain jacket. Last torrential rain we had DS and his friends bought a giant 20’ x 100’ft plastic tarp, spread it out on a hill near his HS and tweeted all his other friends to join him on the giant “slip and slide”. He came home covered in mud and grass and somehow thought jumping in our hot tub was a good idea to clean off so as not to drag mud into the house.</p>
<p>I have a girl, and her backpack cover is still in its little pouch. And she wore her Adidas shoes more than her Hunters in the rain. I’m not sure about her raincoat, but I think she wore it if it was raining when she left the dorm. Carrying it in her backpack or anticipating rain later in the day are just not in the cards.</p>
<p>Beth’s mom, what are “Hunters”.</p>
<p>I haven’t heard anything about umbrellas. Do kids not carry umbrellas these days?</p>
<p>Yes, D asked for a new umbrella for EC and fall. When we visited last October and it was raining most of the kids had umbrellas. Girls were wearing Nike shorts, tshirts, rain boots and carrying umbrellas.</p>
<p>I had heard about the Nike shorts and oversize t-shirts and from my visits, it’s true. Not a fan of the look personally.</p>
<p>Hunters = brand of expensive rain boots.</p>