<p>Coolbrezze:</p>
<p>I can’t add anymore to what RWE and Beast have already said. Having one in college already, we found that compact, upbeat farewells worked best. Our schedule was to arrive at the university in the morning, drop off and unload, grab lunch, make a supplies run to Target/Walmart, let the student have a bit of “alone” time in the afternoon (to check our their dorm floor and new floor mates) and then have a fun family dinner out that evening (maybe even invite the roommate if they are available). We’d then depart the next morning.</p>
<p>It also makes it much easier for the student if their roommate is there and gives them a ready-made pal to visit with, eat with and start the acclimation process. It has been my personal experience that parents in general will have a harder time than the student when it comes time for the parents to head back home. </p>
<p>As far as communication with the student after the drop-off and during the first semester, we found that a weekly phone call and 3 or so text messages/week between us worked out about right. We were lucky that our oldest S was outgoing, made friends easily and had an independent streak. He’d let us know if we tried to communicate too much with him. It’s funny, as parents you’ll soon discover that even the shortest of text messages from your student brings a smile to your face and reassures you that everything is “OK”.</p>
<p>As has been stated many times before Coolbrezze, everyone is different. I’m sure that you and your family will soon figure out whats best for you. Best of luck.</p>
<p>To All:</p>
<p>Now on to less important topics. FUTONS - the store that we have been visiting with is called the “Futon Shop” (website: [Welcome to iowacityfutons.com - Home of The Futon Shop](<a href=“http://iowacityfutons.com”>http://iowacityfutons.com</a>). They are not cheap. A fully equiped ensemble including frame, mattress and cover starts at $250 or so and heads up from there. For an additional $40 fee, they can deliver and setup the futon in your student’s dorm room. This works especially well for parents and students who are flying in from OOS. So long as you order by 8/9/2010, the store will guarantee delivery by, I believe, 8/22. This is a chunk of change to many families but, my personal experience has been that a cheap futon costing $120 for everything will have a hard time lasting 9 months at school. As such, much like Christmas lights, you may need to buy one every year. We purchased a quality futon for our S for his 1st year in the dorms and now that he is off-campus, his futon is the only survivor of he and his roommates’ futons from his freshmen year. Anyway, give this store a call. The staff person I visited with was very helpful.</p>
<p>If you’re looking for fridge/mocrowave and don’t want to pack one with you on your move-in, there is a business in Iowa City called Husky Rentals that rents combo fridge, freezer and microwave units (website: [Welcome</a> to Huskie Rentals at University of Iowa](<a href=“http://iowafridges.com%5DWelcome”>http://iowafridges.com) ). You probably picked this name up at Orientation. For an annual fee and deposit of as little as $150 or so, they will drop off your fridge/microwave unit at the beginning of the year and pick it up in May when you leave. Just to be clear, if tranporting the fridge to and from the University of Iowa is not an issue for you, you can buy a good little fridge and microwave at Best Buy/Walmart/Sears for the same price as the rental and then there is absolutely no cost to you after year 1. Its up to you whether you rent or buy.</p>
<p>Hope this helps. Take care.</p>
</p>