Kid 1…we took him the first three years because someone had to schlep the “stuff” in the car. He didn’t have a car. Fourth year…he lived in an apartment so we had to do the move to that.
Kid 2. Moved her in freshman year across the country. Never went back until graduation. She stored her stuff between years 1 and 2, and moved off campus after year 2 where she lived until graduation. So…no…didn’t move her after first year.
No cars for the vast majority at son’s school so having one was never an option. We were the move in transportation for his two dorm years, his first furnished apartment with friends and then I got to drive the truck with furniture and stuff from home for his last college move. H or I were most often the drivers for trips back and forth for school breaks. Don’t recall ever meeting any roommates- it was a drop son and stuff in his room for him to set up mission every time. We would not have gone if he had to fly. And, it was nice to have the two of us together for long trips.
Each year the distancing became greater- independent of parents and parents glad for it. The first time was emotional- especially since son was young (still 16) but other times were finally he’s going back. Our home became less his home as time went by. Once you’ve seen the campus there is no need to travel unless you are needed. Once out of school son has walked around apartments with his laptop on Skype to show us his place.
None of my kids had their own cars, so the 2 who were within driving distance got dropped off their second years. They did not live at home after that so there was no move in - one got from summer housing back to dorms on her own, other lived in year round apartment near campus. Easiest of all was the one far away we put on a plane with her 2 suitcases in the fall. She got to her summer internship housing this year on her own, but I am flying out to spend some time with her in a few weeks and will help her move back to campus for her last year.
Still processing that this is the last kid and the last year. Oldest will head back to grad school full time in 2017 but that is all on her.
It’s been great to see such a range with how families do this.
For me, it looks like I will not do soph move in. She’s talking about driving east with a friend who is also in the midwest. We decided it would be more fun for me to come a different weekend so we can hang out and do stuff, which is more appealing to me than being there when she is trying to get set up and catch up with friends she hasn’t seen all summer.
The new dorm has an elevator and she has friends, so I think it will be fine.
Yes for all three of my kids since the DD1 was on the opposite coast and wanted our help each year.
Yes for DD2 since she moved 3 times to different locations with no car, she also requested help, but senior year, we only did move out.
Yes for DS1, since he was 2 hours away with no transportation and two different locales.
I had to travel by myself to move-in day as a freshman. 9-hour train followed by a 3.5-hour bus and a 10-minute cab for 13 hours in all. I may have to travel alone again as a sophomore, I may not.
I head back next Wednesday.
Wow that’s a lot of travel @LBad96 . How do you move your stuff?
Yes, as kid does not have car. Will probably have to go back in the spring to move from on-campus apartment to off-campus house (assuming that plan comes through). At that point, may not have to move him until he graduates. Will also depend on his plans for next summer.
Really depends on the situation and whether or not the kid has a car or has access to one to move stuff from storage to housing.
We’re the moving crew with the van (and we provide some off-campus storage for one kid’s friends), so yes, we do go to move in. But all we do is bring in the stuff, hug the kid goodbye, and leave.
No car. Opposite coast, so flying in. She’s on her own for sophomore year move-in and feels fine about it. She can get her things out of storage with help from a friend, unpack her boxes and decorate her room on her own this time. We did help with move-in freshman year.
@OHMomof2 I packed a lot of clothes and essentials for move-in, but then other stuff (such as my bike) came down later after being shipped. Move-out was a pain, though. I had to do that all by myself since I was among the last to leave my dorm for the summer.
I’ll be moving into an on-campus apartment this school year. Really psyched about starting year 2. Hoping I’ll get to fly or even drive down as opposed to taking a train + bus like last year.
Most of D’s stuff is in storage in or near the dorm where she’ll be living and she will manage this on her own or with friends. There’s no need for a car of any sort. I have a feeling I’d only be in the way.
D has too much stuff to fit into her small car. We will go too.
No one mentioned being there for (and to pay for) the WalMart run.
We took both each fall, but more a tradition than a need. It was only the fall of D2’s senior year that she took the 2nd car and drove alone. The college didn’t have much storage space.
We helped our daughter move in her second year. She was going up early for RA training and wouldn’t be having a car. She worked on campus between sophomore and junior years and again between junior and senior years so her stuff was already up there and we didn’t come up. Her fifth year (masters program) coincided with her brother’s first year, so we did go up. For our son’s subsequent move-in’s, his brothers took him.
My DD was 3.5 hours away…we dropped her off in Aug and picked her up in May and inbetween it was up to her to travel home for breaks.
bopper- so someone else got to haul the dirty laundry for breaks… I still remember being thankful it was winter when I hauled it for 3 boys (men) in my suv (open to the rest of the car)- they each had a separate container for their unwashed stuff so at least it was easy to unpack at the other houses. You trade about daily chauffeuring for less frequent but far longer trips with college kids.
Both of our kids were in easy driving distance so we went for drop off at start of fall semester and pick up at end of spring semester. Every year we spent less time on campus for fall drop off as they were more interested in seeing friends than in setting up everything in their room right away. We also went with my S to grad school which was far away but H drove out with my S and I flew out ( the grad school was my H’s alma mater so H was very excited) Although it never what you would call a fun day, I always felt better seeing their room and knowing that things were in reasonable shape.
Bottom line is if you can do it and the kids are happy to have you there, that is great. If not that is OK too. There is no one right answer, it is about what works for each kid and each family.
D1 goes to school about 12 hours from home. We all went for move-in the first year, and then her dad drove out to pick her up. She stashed the bulk of her stuff, including a heavy rolling dual-sided bookcase, at a nearby relative’s house. If she flew back she’d have no way to get her stuff from there to the school, so I think we’re going to be the transportation for the foreseeable future!
Since I don’t drive, my parents are pretty stuck with coming to move in.