<p>I already picked up some college/dorm items that were on clearance at Target. I won’t give them as Holiday gifts but it will save us when it’s time to do back to school shopping!</p>
<p>D2 is getting a new Ipod since she punctured her old one with her track spikes! (Don’t ask!) I am also making a new fleece blanket in her school colors.D1 is also getting one.</p>
<p>I second the idea of the school related items for those accepted ED. It was fun for my daughter and her friends to wear these Sr year (and continued through the spring as acceptances came in.)
My neice had a funny holiday after we all found she was going to upstate New York for college - everybody got her something warm for Christmas!</p>
<p>Something I have made, for girls who know what school they are going to, is a jewelry pouch, and I make it in the colors of their intended school. The design is a big round circle, with a smaller one in the middle…you have 4 opportunities to use different materials…the outer circle, front and back, and the inner circle, front and back. You put a piece of cardboard between the two and sew 4 lines across the center of the middle to make the sections of the piece, giving you 8 pockets for earrings and or necklaces…leaving the central area for bracelets, when you pull the cords you have sewn into a ring around the exterior of the outer circle…anyone who sews even a little bit can scope these out in stores, and then go home and recreate it in the color combinations for your girls. It takes about 2 hours to make one, soup to nuts…and it is something they will have for years.</p>
<p>How about an I Tunes gift card for the IPOD. My S is a coffee drinker..we purchased a nice espresso machine with pods(illy cafe) for him to take away. He loves it!</p>
<p>I agree that kids always like gift cards even though it’s not exciting for us as parents to give. S2 was accepted to his college in Nov. last year so he did get a college hoodie and hat for Christmas and liked it. I know S2 would not have considered dorm items (unless it was a TV) a great Christmas gift just because college still seems so far away at that point when there is so much sr. year left. </p>
<p>For parents of athletes…S2 played football all 4 years of h.s…for his sr. year Christmas I put together a photo album/scrap book with pictures, programs, newspaper articles, etc of his years on the football team. He really seemed to like it but I think it will mean even more to him years down the road.<br>
Also had a pic of the defensive players covered in mud but smiling after a close win, enlarged and put on foam board at Staples for his bedroom wall. It wasn’t expensive and turned out great.</p>
<p>I think my S would have looked at me quite oddly if a Christmas gift senior year had been along the lines of bedding or luggage. Just sayin’.</p>
<p>We did the iPod that year and I think the college colors/college logo items are all good if they’re already in and decided ED or EA.</p>
<p>I’ve got a college senior this year. And I’ll probably declare this another “home made gifts only” year. I’ve done that several times over the last 5 or 6 years - as a way to steer away from a too-commercial holiday. This year, somehow, it seems so in line with the current state of our economy :rolleyes:.</p>
<p>So, if anyone wants to add gift ideas for the college senior and/or non-purchased gifts…</p>
<p>Along the lines of the homemade gifts, I’ve started knitting a blanket for my daughter. It goes with her current color scheme at home, but I’m secretly hoping she’ll want to take it with her to college for sentimental reasons. I suspect she won’t want to (since we don’t know where she’ll be going and certainly don’t know how she and her yet unknown roomate would want to decorate their room), but at least it will still look good (I hope) on her bed at home.</p>
<p>When my kids were in high school we did not buy them college “stuff” for Christmas the year they were seniors. There was plenty of time for those gifts for graduation…and folks were asking for ideas then. We had no desire to use up the ideas at Christmas.</p>
<p>But when they were already IN college, we gave lots of suggestions to the relatives for holiday (and birthday) gifts. Both of our kids went to schools that use Barnes and Noble bookstores. Gift cards to B and N were well received. We also suggested gift cards to the local grocery stores where the kids went to school. Gift cards to national chain stores (Target, Staples, American Eagle, etc) were also welcomed by our kids. Especially for DD who is across the country…the gift cards were the easiest to transport (something to consider, especially with the costs of excess and extra luggage). We did get DS a palm his freshman year…but he really wanted that. This year, we may contribute to the purchase of an IPhone for DS…something he really wants but can ill afford on his own.</p>
<p>Hey Jmmom!! and Thumper1 too…
We got our college senior an iPhone last year for XMAS…and it was a BIG hit and frankly, I think it has been his favorite gift ever…of all time, well, except maybe one pair of skies we split the price on… anyway, he certainly uses it more than anything else…and I must say I think they are great too…and this year, they are less than they were a year ago. So, I heartily endorse an iPhone as a college senior gift… another nice gift for a college senior is a Navy blazer… or a good raincoat…(thinking interview season!!)the blazer is also a nice gift for 21st birthday… Bose headphones… or the Bose iPod speaker/dock…they have dropped the price, recently… </p>
<p>for a hs senior, another idea for a girl, is a nice jewelry box… something she might keep for a long time…a pair of Ugg boots… a really good Down pillow.. or a great robe… a nice pair of speakers… a great pair of slippers…</p>
<p>a webcam and a SKYPE account.
This way, you can see and chat with them at least once a week.</p>
<p>Packmom, Those are great ideas for atheletes. Actually, we did that for both of our S’s. One played football and one was a wrestler. They loved it, too. Kinda forgot about that one.</p>
<p>SHHHH…DS’s birthday is coming up and then Christmas. I think the IPhone money will be our gift to him. He’ll be buying his own plan (he’s a grad student…needs to handle that “stuff” himself) but we’ll fund the phone.</p>
<p>Favorite gift we gave DS: a good, wide screen monitor that he could use with his laptop at his desk.</p>
<p>mafool, that is a great idea! Very useful!</p>
<p>thumper1, I asked at my AT&T Cingular store about the iPhone, as S wants one. I found out that in addition to buying the phone itself, the iPhone has an ADDITIONAL $30/MONTH service fee beyond what I was already paying for service.</p>
<p>That was a deal-killer for me.</p>
<p>Tshirt quilts are a great way to mark the childhood/teen chapters of a hs senior’s life. Here is a thread about it: <a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parent-cafe/371136-t-shirt-quilt.html?highlight=tshirt+quilts[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parent-cafe/371136-t-shirt-quilt.html?highlight=tshirt+quilts</a></p>
<p>Lafalum - isn’t that $30 for Internet service/access to email? Not a special fee for the iPhone per se. I have that type of fee for my Blackberry, because I use Internet/email access for business. But I can opt out of that service if I want. And I actually do opt out some months when I am travelling out of the country.</p>
<p>So… if he wants the iPhone for coolness factor and other features, but doesn’t care if he accesses email/Internet… he could drop that fee, I think.</p>
<p>I’d be interested in hearing about the possibility of opting out of the email option for the IPhone. Yes, that $30 is a huge expense. DS has to consider that, and if it is a must do, it will be a deal breaker for him too.</p>
<p>I’ll be interested to see what you find out also.</p>
<p>Sometimes, when there is a special deal on the device itself ($100s less than normal price), it’s tied to getting the “data plan” or whatever they call it. In that case, you might not be able to opt out. </p>
<p>Mine was such a deal (through the business), but I could opt out for temporary periods a few months into it, as it turned out. Maybe not permanently.</p>
<p>Please don’t jump too soon into the next year-graduation is soon enough for the college future. The computer monitor idea is good, other electronics may be priced lower next summer- computers are best bought the summer just before college to get the latest and best deals. Try not to rush this final year at home. Think of something used NOW as well as later. There is plenty of time freshman year to get college themed stuff.</p>