<p>The time has come. My daughter will be in the Taft and I will have to leave her on the 7th of Sep. Since I live across the country and can't come back anytime sooner, I want to be as helpful as much I can for my daughter to make her dorm comfortable before I leave. ( will be crying missing my D all the way home :( )
Please give me some tips on what to bring and what to do for her.
One more thing. Will it be better for us to be there one day earlier to buy the stuffs she will need ( lamps, small chairs if she needs..etc ) at the local store as we will be staying in the hotel? Thanks for the tips.</p>
<p>A box of Kleenex will come in handy. :D</p>
<p>Here’s a useful link to the “what to bring” list!<br>
<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/12415671-post890.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/12415671-post890.html</a></p>
<p>I’d suggest giving yourself the flexibility to help your daughter move in and then be around for the rest of the day to run errands and pick up any items that she needs. With a 15 minute drive of Taft you can find stores to pick up fans, lamps, etc if you don’t want to ship them.</p>
<p>Yes! </p>
<p>We went the day before and stayed at a hotel. Ate lots of comfort food and shopped at the mall to get things too bulky to bring on the plane (comforters, blankets, sheets, etc.). If you are flying and getting a rental car, there are malls on the way to Watertown. One is nearby in Waterbury, but there are more choices closer to the airport. </p>
<p>Last year the school had the boy’s sports teams unload the girl’s cars instead of “working out.” Those kids worked hard but got everything delivered to the incoming girl’s rooms. Very well organized. The students wore shirts that said “Taft Moving Company.” </p>
<p>Your daughter will be contacted over the summer by her “old” girl - a more senior student who serve as guide that day and will take you and your daughter around to meet her teachers, explain the class schedule, help you find classes in advance, and explain how to get to their mail boxes. You can also find out your roommate if you call later in the year. My D and her roommate started communicating via Facebook.</p>
<p>Depending on the room and dorm there are some things that are helpful to get once you’re there:</p>
<ol>
<li><p>we bought a shower caddy at the nearby K-Mart (plastic tote/bucket for shower and bath supplies). </p></li>
<li><p>I bought a hanging shoe rack for her closet but she ended up hanging it on the curtain rod and used it to store things such as her alarm clock (she was on the top bunk).</p></li>
<li><p>Her roommate’s dad brought them both one of those closet organizer shelf kits (two shelves) because they were the right width and height to put on a desk for extra storage.</p></li>
<li><p>a combination lock (or key lock). One drawer on the desk or dresser is lockable for valuables.</p></li>
<li><p>I bought a metal shoe rack at Target because there is NEVER enough space for their clothes, etc.</p></li>
<li><p>Get hangers! (we bought the thin velvety kind at Marshall’s down the street).</p></li>
<li><p>Detergent and misc. if she’s doing her own laundry (and a roll of quarters).</p></li>
<li><p>I bought them 3-M and over door hooks so they could hang their robes and coats on the door. </p></li>
<li><p>I insisted she use a microbial mattress cover. The dorms are clean but still - I liked having the extra layer between her and the school mattress. We also got a new pillow. </p></li>
<li><p>Some “snacks” for her room to get her started.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>Mostly - we marked up the Taft packing list they post on-line with “what we wanted to pack” and “what we could buy locally.” It was fun bonding because if we didn’t do something we’d be crying all night about the pending separation. But Taft really makes you feel welcome when you arrive and if she contacts her “old girl” she can get tips about what works and what people often forget. </p>
<p>But like I said - if she forgets something (or you do) there is a Marshall’s in town, a K-Mart not far away, and the Waterbury Mall which the students visit on the weekend (takes about 30 minutes via city bus).</p>
<p>For dress code - one or two formal dresses for sit-down dinners. After a while the girls “trade” clothes. No t-shirts with writing on them or logos are allowed in class. Or jeans. Those can be worn on weekends and free time, but think “conservative” when choosing what clothes to bring. Warm clothes and boots since there was a lot of snow this winter.</p>
<p>If you go early enough, you can scope our her room, then make a dash for the store to get whatever you think you need (extension cords, alarm clock, whatever…). I also discovered that I can ship her “care packages” from Amazon.com. If you know someone with a Prime membership, they can share it with up to 3 people at no cost. That way you can get free 2-day shipping to send packages to Taft.</p>
<p>Have fun!</p>
<p>You can also pre-order what you need at Bed Bath & Beyond from one near your home and pick the stuff up at one near Taft. They set aside the stuff for you at the store near your school.
Please do leave time to meet with your child’s advisor- you may need to call or email him/her ahead of time to make sure you can get together.
Most schools do NOT want Mommy and Daddy to stay past the first day, so whatever you need to do needs to get done before that.
I would make sure that your child has met their student dorm rep (a senior called a Prefect or RA), and their room-mates before you leave.
Most kids like some help from parents setting up their rooms, doing last minute errands.
You may want to head to the bookstore together to make sure the student gets their books and supplies, and open their student charge account, and also deal with the phone cards, laundry cards, etc. to get them set up before you leave.
A trip to the health center to make sure all the paperwork and prescriptions are in order is not a bad idea. Also a trip to the Post Office to learn how packages are received and sent is helpful for all. Your student will need a box number and combination or key.
You may also need to set up a local bank account and leave some prescriptions at a local pharmacy.
It is also a good idea to do a quick tour of the surrounding area in your car together to give your child the lay of the land: shops, restaurants, movie houses, drug store, cell phone store, sporting goods store.
You could also learn about how the students get around: to the local town, to airport, train or bus station, what ever.
I also recommend that you set up specific regular times for you and your child to talk on the phone.
It can be a lot of fun! And teary at the end…
p.s. Depending on where you live, make sure you leave them with a small piece of luggage for trips home for vacations.
p.p.s. Where to keep valuables is always hard to figure out: money, wallet, ID, keys, cards… Try to set up a system for your child in the room. Some schools expect these things to be locked up, esp if the rooms do not lock or if their are room-mates…
p.p.p.s. Family photos- turned out to be very important! Make sure they have some!!!
p.p.p.p.s. A mattress cushion of some kind: fleece, foam, down–something. The mattresses are usually very thin, so the kids really appreciate this!!</p>
<p>Meet the advisor, and the dorm parent/faculty on his/her hall, and discuss frequency of communication that you want/hope for. It has taken us a couple of tries (over 2 kids) until we have a level of communication with the school that is comfortable for us-- flipflopping from: we didn’t want to be a pest to we’re not hearing enough unless we do pester, etc. Decide what works for you and let those around your kid know your plan.</p>
<p>Thank you very much for all of your very thorough infos.
Yes, a big box of kleenex is on my list :)</p>