<p>I think I'll get son a flat screen monitor for his computer, since the almost new thing came with the monster monitor. So little room in the dorms. May upgrade the memory, too.</p>
<p>We've been buying graduation presents for children of close friends and children of husband's coworkers. Mostly it's been nice monogrammed Jon Hart pieces. But I'll have a whole Girl Scout troop graduating next year - the monogrammed towels sound good for that.</p>
<p>My son's graduation present will be the new laptop he will need for college and the all-night graduation party sponsored by the high school.</p>
<p>In the past I had bought fleede "throw" blankets in the color of the grad's new school and had them monogramed in the school's other color.<br>
This year I found small posters (approx 11X14) of a beach scene of our town, as I found that my two older children really want something on their wall in college to remind them of their hometown.
When my daughter went away, two gifts that I thought were great were a monogramed laundry bag and a sewing box.
It is a toss-up in my mind between looking forward, and reminiscing back, but since this is my last child, I am feeling more nostalgic and want him to remember home.</p>
<p>My son having recently discovered the virtues of caffeine, we will give him a gift of a coffee-maker small enough for his room and a basket of fancy coffee with a stainless steel scoop from G. and filters, a good mug, etc. It'll probably mostly get lost, but he does like nice things, so he'll probably appreciate it for a while.</p>
<p>There's also the T-shirt from Signals that says "Always Be Nice to the Lunch Lady" that appeals to both his sweet nature and his sense of humor. He'll get that to wear to college.</p>
<p>ctymomteacher, is your son going to Tulane? Just curious...</p>
<p>Being of the medical persuasion, I make a first aid kit for kids going away for college. I personalize it with their name( get a container from anywhere- sometimes I use little clear train cases for the girls, containers from the Container Store for guys). It usually includes a digital thermometer, tums, advil, cough drops, bandaids, neosporin, q tips, imodium( i have little sample bottles from reps),tylenol.... you get the idea. Most kids really like getting this and their parents too. I usually get feedback the next year when they say" hey, I was so glad I had a thermometer last winter when I got sick"...</p>
<p>I'm looking for suggestions for what to get a co-worker's daughter who is going off to NYU for college. I've been trying to think of something that would specifically relate to NYC or NYU, but most of what I've come up with are just general college ideas that could work anywhere.</p>
<p>nceph - Gift certificate to Zabar's might be nice. It's uptown (ca. 76th and Bway - my memory is failing), but sooner or later she'll want to head up that way.</p>
<p>Zabar's has every food imaginable (NY specialty, deli and otherwise) as well as a huge selection of "home goods" (fans, kitchen things, etc. etc.), so she could find somethiing fun or something needed. Zabar's is a NY institution, if you're not familiar.</p>
<p>Two graduation gift ideas for girls
1. Hot pink tool kit which can cost anywhere from $10 up. Hot pink is great - noone, especially their male friends, will walk off with their hot pink tools! One of our church's adult youth sponsors gives this to each of the graduating Senior girls and they LOVE it. My daughter's is still in tact after 5 years! She has used it over & over again. Definitely one of the best High School grad gifts she received.
2. For special friend of ours, I chose 6 cards that had encouragement kinds of messages. I wrote a note on each card and enclosed a small cash gift. On the outside of the envelope, I wrote the date of the first 6 Fridays that she would be at her college with a message telling her not to open until that Friday. As she was a long way away from home with a very limited budget, this gave her something to look forward to each week and gave her some $'s to spend on a fun activity of her choice. She loved the gift and emailed me each week to let me know how much she appreciated it.</p>
<p>Great ideas! WHere do you order/buy the laundry bags and pink tool kits?</p>
<p>Almost certainly, Achat. Even though he hasn't yet heard from Chicago, Carnegie Mellon or Chapel Hill, Tulane's offered him such an attractive package--and they have his major, which Chapel Hill doesn't even though they're in-state for us and therefore cheap--that he's getting very focused on Tulane. We'll be going down for the Honors Weekend next week.
Why do you ask?</p>
<p>Try Lillian Vernon for monogramed laundry bags. They have had them in the past. Or buy one at any of the BB&B type stores. Many dry cleaners, uniform shops, in our area have monogramming capabilities now that computer programs do most of the work.</p>
<p>Lillian Vernon also has hot pink tool sets at a very reasonable price.</p>
<p>We bought our son the laptop computer that Rensselaer requires(he is responsible for all academic expenses-tuition, books, academic fees) and a digital camera. He has enjoyed both so far and has sent us pics of his road trips to Montreal, NYC, Senaca Lake and Philly.</p>
<p>My d and her best friend since birth (kid you not ... they traded pacifiers, etc.) have decided they do not want a graduation party, but instead want our two families to go on a cruise together. They want us to invite grandparents and other family members. I'm all for that after seeing what my sister went through for a graduation party for my nephew. They will not graduate until May 2006, so we have some time to plan. My best friend (d's best friend's mom) and I have decided we should make them matching scrap books, including pictures and activities they have done together since they were babies. We also plan to purchase a page in the yearbook (a senior tradition) with individual pictures and pictures of the two of them along with other friends. For d's close friends, I will make a smaller photo album that includes pictures of all of them together.</p>
<p>Being the pack-rat I am, I happen to have saved an old Dior bathrobe of mine with the loveliest pink & green flowers, and an old plaid flannel shirt of my husband's. They are very soft and faded from being laundered a zillion times and I know my D has memories of cuddling up to us wearing these when she was little. So I am going to have them made into covers for 2 small decorative pillows for her dorm bed.</p>
<p>(Not that I'd expect her to feel homesick more than a microsecond or two, but just in case.)</p>
<p>I want to take D's t-shirts from various championships/all star teams, etc. and make them (or have someone help me - more accurately :-) ) into a soft throw "quilt" for her dorm room. She still has them going back to age 11 and they have to go somewhere b/c she isn't parting with them!</p>
<p>Taramom, that's beautiful. I'll bet you a hundred dollars she'll still have them twenty years from now.</p>
<p>TaraMom, here in Silicon Valley, some parents will throw a graduation party while other parents give small gifts (money or something else) to the really close friends of their graduating S or D. You know, those who have been their friend since MS or ES, who have been together in soccer, marching band, debate, church, etc.</p>
<p>It can get expensive if there are a lot of private graduation parties to attend or if your S or D has a lot of really close friends. </p>
<p>Students always appreciate cash, but it's not very personal. Gift certificates to a college bookstore sounds like a terrific idea (never thought of that one).</p>
<p>If students don't own a camera, then one-time use cameras will come in handy for taking pictures at their new college campus or capturing pictures of family and friends prior to leaving for college. Just find a Wal-Mart or other warehouse/discount store and purchase in bulk on sale.</p>
<p>Gift giving at graduation time seems to be a tradition here in California, but that tradition depends strictly on your (or your S/D's) circle of friends.</p>