<p>Send D1, who is abroad, a card w/ a letter every week even though we talk and skype several times a week. Send D2, in USA, a card every month or so w/ a letter or a coupon, clipped cartoon or article. D2 and I talk almost daily.</p>
<p>They have told me they LOVE to get regular mail just like we did long, long ago. I also send packages once in awhile.</p>
<p>Isn’t it a hassle to change the address on the mag subscriptions at the end of the school year? I think that’s such a great idea, but D will have three different addresses by next year (jr. year) – two different dorms, then an apartment, plus she’s home for the summer.</p>
<p>My S has left the magazine address as the campus mailing address. He lives in an apartment but swings by to check his mail while on campus. He lives in a converted rooming house and thought the mail would be safer at the campus site. </p>
<p>He said it wasn’t a problem getting the address change for summer figured out. It cam to my house and I forwarded it on to the camp where he works in the summer along with --yes–brownies.</p>
<p>Last yr we did a 6 month subscription for Newsweek- ran from Oct-March. This year we did a year, but we can cancel in the spring and add the remaining months to my existing subscription or freeze it and let it start again in the fall. Also, address changes can be done on line, and do take effect pretty quickly.</p>
<p>Occasionally I send a lottery ticket with my letter…just to make sure they open it!</p>
<p>I never sent a letter to S1 when he was in college. Why? When he went to summer camp (the sleepaway type) I sent him letters fairly regularly, and when we went up to see him on visiting day we found unopened letters! He didn’t have time to open them or forgot about them. :rolleyes: We do email and speak on the phone, though. I will probably give writing a try with DS 2 and 3 when they head off to college next year and see how they respond. This thread has induced guilt. The good kind, if there is such a thing.</p>
<p>momof 3–I stopped sending any kind of snail mail to my S. He rarely picked up. One time our church sent him cookies. He never picked them up. They eventually were resent to our home. I believe they were sent to him around Thanksgiving and returned to our home in mid-January. He did not even open the package for fear of what might face him!</p>
<p>I wanted to send letters to my neice at college but she said she never checked her mailbox. She lived within driving distance of home, so her mail continued going there or she communicated via email.</p>
<p>Since my son will be going to college far from home, I hope he’ll use his snail mail box. I really enjoy sending cards and letters. It makes me feel closer to the person when I write them. </p>
<p>However, if someone is not a letter writer, then I don’t think they should feel any guilt. Our kids are so plugged in that they are always communicating someway. I’m sure if I’d had email, texting, etc. then the empty mailbox at college would have not been such a big deal.</p>
<p>DW sent DD1 a letter a week while she was a freshman. DD2 is a freshman now and hasn’t received the same amount of attention. 
We need to be better about that.</p>
<p>There is a beauty and intimacy in a letter. My husband and I try to send one every 3 weeks to DS. We talk about the neighbors who came to dinner, how we decorated the table with pumpkins, nothing earth-shattering, but a clear view into the “window” of our home. Recently we found a notecard with a photo of a cow. We drive by cows to enter our house. We made the card from the cow. He really seems to enjoy these silly, but loving gestures.</p>