<p>I HAVE to stop visiting this thread - I’m SO jealous. Here’s what <em>I</em> got just last week:<br>
(Me) “Honey, what kind of bedding would you like for your room at Alabama?”
(DS) “Comfortable.”
(Me) “What about your walls? What would you like to decorate them with?”
(DS) “My television.”
(Me) "Well - how about towels, do you prefer the fast-dry like I got you for<br>
your dorm last summer or the kind you use now?
(DS) (Eye-roll) “Whatever.”
(Me) “Okay - dishes - do you want to show some school spirit, or get some in
your favorite color or just plain white?”
(DS) (No response, pitying stare.)
(DH) Colleen, I keep trying to tell you - he doesn’t care about all that stuff,
he’s a GUY!</p>
<p>I reserve the right to visit bamagirls and beth’s mom’s D’s so that I may oooh and aaah and admire houndstooth fabric projects while enviously stroking a crimson chenille throw and plotting a way to sneak a Big Al pillow pet into my son’s monk-like chambers…</p>
<p>NRDMOM: Some guys, believe it or not, do like to plan for their rooms or want their moms to help to plan them. My son loved when I suggested that white walls were dull. So we got some art for them. Try [AllPosters.com</a> - The World’s Largest Poster and Print Store!](<a href=“http://www.allposters.com%5DAllPosters.com”>http://www.allposters.com) for some ideas. Towels, just order them. Same thing with sheets – although my son confessed when he was home and got to feel the fleece sheets we had that he wished he had them on his bed at school. He was also grateful when I packed a set of dishes for him – and they have been used over the years. My advice is that you do some shopping, then put everything away until July. See if your son brings up the idea of leaving for school and that he needs certain items. You can surprise him.</p>
<p>My daughters and I are all rolling on the floor laughing…D said come on over any time. While she is home for spring break we have been enjoying shopping for things for the apartment she and her roommate will be living in next fall. I say use the opportunity to pick out some things you think he’ll like…he’ll appreciate it I’m sure. My two high schoolers love to do their sisters laundry while on campus and I shared one of their entertaining stories on another thread. As they were doing laundry, two guys sauntered in and dumped several baskets of laundry onto the laundry room floor. Apparently, their moms had given them instructions on the importance of sorting their clothes before washing. The two guys quickly sorted colors, lights, and whites and threw them all into the same washing machine to wash. The girls were very entertained by their enthusiasm and determination to do as their moms had instructed. My girls returned to tell me how much they wished they had a brother!</p>
<p>The website is terrific - cheap, fun art, what’s not to like? I think the take away from DS is he knows it needs to be done, he just has no opinion. So - I’ll do as you say and pick up stuff he needs. And, well, if he winds up with a princess pink room and a dozen Big Al pillow pets artfully placed, that’ll teach him to say “I don’t care - YOU pick!”</p>
<p>NRDMOM…we have 1 S and 3 D’s…when my son started high school he would not shop for a back pack or any type of school supplies so his sisters did it for him! when he walked down the halls the first day of school (picture 6’3 290lb offensive lineman) he had a pink back pack with unicorns on it. When he opened it he discovered he had Lisa Frank flocked notebooks (very girly). He took a lot of teasing that day and after a semester he suggested we go shopping for something that had sports equipment on it.</p>
<p>My daughters are all at the table painting their finger nails and laughing hysterically at all three of you mom’s who have sons and your comments. They say go for it and have a great time doing it!..they’d love to help</p>
<p>The laundry story is too funny - I can’t believe how many clones my son seems to have out in the world. My DS did laundry on his own ONE time, last summer at a dorm. He called me up, wrote down all the details, and started the loads the morning we drove over for family weekend. He did everything right except realize that to get clean, laundry has to MOVE in the machine. That’s right, he stuffed the machines so full, the best they could do was a half-hearted, straining jiggle. I don’t think all of the clothes even got wet! Guess you know how I spent family weekend… Thank’s for the great story, helps me feel ‘less alone’ in the mysterious world of XY…</p>
<p>Pottery Barn Teen has (or had last year) laundry bags with the washing instructions on the bag in manly colors. No worries, he’ll meet some nice girls in the laundry room who will help him out. A word of caution…the dryers dry really hot.</p>
<p>ROFL at that laundry story!!! It just doesn’t seem that hard, but maybe it’s not as intuitive as we moms think. It would not have occurred to me to tell them that after you sort the laundry you need to put it in separate machines. Of course, I don’t always follow my own advice, and I was banned for the first 15 years of our marriage from doing my husband’s laundry after I turned all of his underwear pink. What a sacrifice. I’m not sure how I earned the right and privilege of doing his laundry again.</p>
<p>NRDMOM, if it makes you feel any better, so far my daughter is not an active participant in the dorm decorating thing. Her answers to all of your questions (so far) have been “I don’t know.” The difference is that she WILL get into it at some point - it’s in her procrastinating nature not to think about it too soon, though.</p>
<p>Yeah, but he’ll have to screw up the courage to talk to them. We better just stick with Pottery Barn Teen. In all their spare time, your girls could start a dorm decorating business for guys. You know how many mother/son relationships they could rescue with this service? Me and my son, my son’s roommate and HIS mom, untold numbers of angst ridden, head-bashing, frustrated mothers who would give actual body parts for an excited 15 minute discussion regarding linen selection opposed to the shrug, grunt and eye-roll that comprises most of their studly communications. Ah, well, THIS mom can dream…</p>