<p>We found that a top of the car storage unit made it easier to fit everything we needed to take.</p>
<p>A video webcam. Go to <a href="http://www.huehd.com%5B/url%5D">www.huehd.com</a>. These were featured on a segment of Good Morning America about two weeks ago. A great way to keep in touch and they're reasonably priced. BTW, thanks for the post on the Magna Cart.</p>
<p>Regarding wires and that extra-long ethernet cable referred to above:</p>
<p>The 3M removable sticky stuff (Command? I don't remember the brand name) has cord organizing hooks, though I couldn't find them when I looked last week. That should get you around the do-not-put-duct-tape-on-the-walls problem.</p>
<p>Finished the move in and we did pretty good except for forgetting the zip lock bags. 2 sizes would have been helpful but the smaller ones to contain pieces parts would have been great. We had to improvise where to collect the little things until she could really settle the "nest".. Other than that move in went like a well choreographed dance since they only gave us 1 1/2 hours total and no returning later.</p>
<p>This is a great and helpful list, everything you might want to have in your bag when travelling with only one bag. Check it and see if the things on it are things you would like in your dorm room.
<a href="http://www.onebag.com/checklist.html%5B/url%5D">http://www.onebag.com/checklist.html</a></p>
<p>My wife gave me this advice and I live by it to this day -- All college kids need extra long twin sheets. Easy gift (once you know their color preference), price can be on sale any given weekend at BB&B, and comes hermiticaly sealed in strong plastic bag.</p>
<p>We successfully moved in yesterday. Interesting, my son had half as much stuff as his roommate. I can't decide whether I'm proud that he's so low-maintenence, or if I feel like an inadequate mother for not sending him with more stuff!</p>
<p>We brought 24 hangers, he probably could have used a few more. Also I think I'll send him one of those backrest pillows with the arms on it (my aunt used to call it a "husband"). Very useful for reading/studying on his bed.</p>
<p>Lafalum84</p>
<p>Thanks! I feel vindicated! I was reminiscing about our dorm room with my college roommate as we talked about me taking my only child and her taking # 2 to school. When I asked "remember the corduroy 'husband' I had?" she acted as if I had a hole in my head for calling it that. Since she has a better memory about everything, I assumed I was incorrect and had been going crazy trying to remember what the heck else they were called.....</p>
<p>My son also had less stuff than roomie and I had the very same reaction you did :)</p>
<p>Ever notice how people are always running away from helicopters?</p>
<p>No, actually, I don't see people running away from helicopters. I'd agree that they step aside to enable landings, though. Your attempt at an analogy didn't really work, sorry.</p>
<p>By the way, this is the Parents Forum, we talk about parent concerns here. If the subject matter bothers you, you're free to (a) not read, or (b) not post.</p>
<p>I always have to think twice about the posts about helicopters, before I 'get it'. If being concerned about your child getting off to the best possible start makes you a helicopter mom, I'm guilty. I have found that by making sure he had the sheets, cables, etc, that he needed, it made the transition easier for ME. </p>
<p>Thanks for all the good ideas. Several of the suggestions did make it easier on move-in day.</p>
<p>I've always heard the 'pillow-with-arms' called a reader's pillow or a boyfriend pillow. When I told my daughter that she needed a 'boyfriend' before she went to school, her expression was priceless!</p>
<p>I had the WORST time trying to find the "husband" pillow online. After searching "reading pillow" and a million other terms, I finally looked in my JC Penney catalog and found that they call it a BACKREST PILLOW. I didn't want to search "husband" or "boyfriend," lord knows what websites I'd have found! I knew they were easily available in stores but thought it would be easier to buy it online and have it sent directly to him, rather than buy it here, and have to box it up and mail it. (PBTeen also sells "boyfriend" pillows).</p>
<p>Other items that we are sending that he should have brought with him: his baseball glove, a baseball, a small football, and a deck of cards. He also asked for a wiffleball bat and ball. Things kids can use to "play" with new friends.</p>
<p>Okay - this is too late for this year, but a friend just gave me great advice I'll pass along. If there is a Bed Bath and Beyond near the school your child is attending, you can go to the store nearest you in the summer and "register" for the stuff you need to buy. Then the store will send the list to the store nearest your school and box it all up for you. You arrive at said destination, check out the dorm, go to BBB and remove any items you actually don't need and add the ones you do, pay for it, and voila' you didn't have to ship it all! Getting it home at the end of the year will be another story.... Also - they allegedly will allow you to use a pile of those coupons they send in the mail - one per item.</p>
<p>video web cam? As in you can see them and they can see you? I'll pass on that one. From the way my son's room looked last April I can only be glad I didn't have to see it on a daily basis.</p>
<p>Walmart and BB&B both have the "husbands" by us for $8. Son was not excited last year when I got him one, but said it wound up being one of the best things he had with him. Leaving again in two days and has yet to unpack the stuff he brought home in May. Lost his cell phone on a roller coaster on Sunday and is getting the runaround from Sprint on how to get a replacement (looks like it might have been better to skip the $7/mo insurance and $50 deductible and just get him a new phone). I'm all anxios about his packing and he is relaxed enough to nap most of the day away. But I'll miss him next week, nonetheless!!!</p>
<p>We just moved DS into an apartment. One thing he thought of (we didn't) was a plunger. It's one of those things...when you need it you NEED it. So, I would suggest that if your kid is moving into a apartment, this would be an essential.</p>
<p>Tools...Got my D one of those $30 briefcase size tool kits before she went to college. We used at least 20 times during move in and everyone came to her to borrow tools (had her mark everything with sharpie).</p>
<p>Be aware, though, that just like many things, BBB "pickup" is not perfect. I know people who got damaged goods, didn't get the things they ordered, had their order mistakenly given to someone else, had items missing, etc. True, they hadn't yet paid for them, but they were much annoyed at having to run around a store that didn't have much left, picking out new things. I decided it wasn't worth the potential aggravation for me.</p>
<p>We were in good form this time, but the only thing that caught us all by surprise was those wooden study chairs provided in the dorm rooms. We have padded tushie study chairs all over our house. So we ran over to a nearby box store (Targets or WalMart, can't recall, it was a quick grab). We bought two of those tie-on pillows for the back and seat. We only knew what was right after seeing the actual study chair, which had an unfortunate hole in the lumbar back area. So the pillow had to be big enough not to slip through.</p>
<p>We urged him not to replace the chair, even though we saw some in the box stores under $35 that are ergonomic "task computer" chairs. We told him he'd be responsible for retrieving the college-issued chair at year's end, so shouldn't just put his hard wooden chair out into the study lounge, as some kids were doing.</p>
<p>Keep in mind, whenever you replace a college-issued piece of furniture, to know and follow the college's system for storing their piece. Otherwise you pay at year's end in the "damage" deposit if their piece is missing at final inventory.</p>