<p>I've been waiting for an appropriate thread to drift by and haven't seen one in the two weeks I've been looking so I thought I'd post this as a standalone:</p>
<p>Never forget that your priorities & schedule might not align with your D's or S's. </p>
<p>When preparing for the move to college, D had been working at getting ready for a day and a half. In the early evening before the morning we were to fly out, the suitcases were largely empty. But she had finally finished loading her iPod.</p>
<p>OMG, my son has a twin!! Picked him up from first session of CTY on a Friday, got home, started doing the seven (!) loads of laundry required, so that he could be repacked and we could leave about noon the next day for his next session of CTY, which is far enough away to require driving up the day before and a night in a hotel.</p>
<p>Laundry and repacking continued Saturday morning; before I went out for a hour-long bike ride, I let him know what he needed to do while I was gone (shower/get dressed, chiefly). When I got back and got a shower, I told him I’d like us to be ready to leave in about 30 minutes. </p>
<p>WHAT?!?! No, no! He hadn’t even STARTED loading his new MP3 player (old one “disappeared” at first session; I think it more likely that he gave it to someone)! He had to move all the music files over from the eMac to his new laptop first!! Where was my external hard drive?! (He couldn’t find his.) This MUST BE DONE!!!</p>
<p>Of course, he had barely left the laptop from the moment he’d walked in the door the previous afternoon, and though he had showered, he still was NOT EVEN DRESSED. </p>
<p>It was after 4 PM by the time we left.</p>
<p>Thank goodness the laptop will go with him to college!!</p>
<p>It’s the same after college, too! I predict a marathon session of packing just before we hit the road. Unfortunately, I probably will be the designated packer. After all, I’m the one making lists of what to pack. And if I forget something, I’m sure to hear about it once I’m back home.</p>
<p>Thanks. It is always good to be reminded that we are not alone. My rising college jr has not even thought about what he needs for his on campus apartment. He leaves in about 3 weeks but is presently away and will go away again for a week right before departure.
My D did the IPOD thing on Sunday. She was going away on Monday am and needed to be packed on Sunday. She was busy loading her IPOD for the car drive. The week away was going to be spent in the wilderness so the music was just needed for the car.
Marite- I am going back and forth on being the designated list maker and packer. I don’t want to be but fear if I am not there will be nothing to pack.</p>
<p>sigh…I have been bemoaning this on the 2013 thread for a while. D2 leaves bright and early tomorrow morning. She FINALLY started packing yesterday…BUT…has taken a break to play with friends!! She went to the movies yesterday, half price apps at Applebee’s last night and when she got up early this morning I thought she would finally buckle down! Nope…she is now golfing with the boy toy for the day. She has a long OOS drive tomorrow so I told her no late night tonight. Stay tuned!</p>
<p>TheDad–You’ve been looking in the wrong place for the thread–check out the 2013 thread. Shopping and packing are in full swing including pulling out ancient red hot pots. :)</p>
<p>I’ve got the opposite thing going here. My DD has had three boxes filled with dorm stuff for going on a month. (she doesn’t leave till mid-Sept). Looks like mine is a little more anxious to leave the nest then some of yours are. sniff sniffle…</p>
<p>Glad to hear that kids still have their priorities straight!! I can remember the music that I listened to in college and I STILL own it, but now way can I recall what kind of shoes I had or if I even owned more than one box of “dorm stuff”. Music is infinitely more important to a students experience than matching coverlets and pillows.</p>
<p>We’ve been getting a steady stream of itunes receipts for the last few weeks. She must have every app available for her ipod touch! Someone gave her $30 itunes cards and I noticed them sitting out so they must already be loaded.</p>
<p>All I can add is that after 4 years of this (son is a rising college senior) I don’t wing out as much as I used to. I think I have mellowed, I think I have more confidence in DS pulling it off, I realize that a lot of the stuff I thought he needed was, apparently, unnecessary, and I think I am learning to let go. But, boy, was I like all the other parents of college freshmen here. </p>
<p>We are both growing.</p>
<p>I offer this, not to be smug, but to give testimony to the notions that this is not really terrible, life goes on, and we all can continue to learn. But the process can be, ahem, a challenge.</p>
<p>My D is suffering the “I want to get out of here” and the “I can’t believe I’m actually leaving”. She has some stuff packed, there are things that have not even been taken out of the bags we bought them in. (good thing, less repacking) but she still has not attacked her room. Her HS backpack is still as she left it the last day of school in MAY!!!</p>
<p>I guess it is better than total procrastination. I too will keep tuned and updating.</p>
<p>Bandie, much of my D’s stuff—books, notebooks, etc.—in the “homework corner” is still exactly where it was when she graduated from high school…5+ years ago. TheMom consolidated some things to eradicate <em>some</em> of the clutter. As for her room…</p>
<p>Otoh, she’s coming home for 10 days and her untouched (for the most part) room will be a comfort to her I’m sure. <memo to=“” self:=“” before=“” she=“” gets=“” home,=“” remove=“” the=“” excess=“” stacks=“” of=“” stuff=“” from=“” home=“” office=“” that=“” you=“” piled=“” in=“” there.=“”></memo></p>
<p>Well…she is gone but the packing was not finished. She took what was ready for the next week but the rest of the stuff that we bring next week is not packed, just sitting out. Lots of tears and puffy eyes.</p>
<p>Priorities- yup, loading the tunes onto the laptop borrowed from Dad (no desktop on the plane for a 2 month summer trip), son stayed up all night finally packing his suitcase/backpack for the early am trip to the airport- he cleaned his room before leaving for the first time after 3 returns from college during that night! His closet is organized thanks to a mother who forced the issue last winter (method- put all things I would get rid of in piles in spare room- he either chose what to save or it disappeared after he returned to school, gone are more childhood toys as well as HS papers). He had already taken the GRE before leaving and is signing up for the fall subject test- truly does have his priorities in order there. He has one week at home to plan the solo apt (but I will have done a lot of the work- rented truck, acquiring household supplies and other stuff his roommates had provided last year). He typically starts his packing after I thought we would be leaving for the college town. Next year he may go from college apt to grad apt, with any luck…</p>