<p>Shout out to new member mnopqrnj ~ keep an eye out for posts by veteran member ellemenope. Say it out loud and you’ll hear why I think you’d enjoy those posts. </p>
<p>Great minds run in similar channels. :)</p>
<p>I figured out ellemenope, but am at a loss for the significance of “nj”</p>
<p>New Jersey?</p>
<p>bump for 2012 :)</p>
<p>At S’ summer orientation yesterday…</p>
<p>Campus security is describing services…mom raises hand and gestures to son sitting next to her “what if my son is, say, beaten up by someone. What can you do for him?”</p>
<p>Son sinks into chair and places head so low it almost touches lap. I felt for the kid :)</p>
<p>Also had to laugh at the fourth or fifth mom to ask, in the same session, when report cards would be sent home, how to get password to view grades, how to get a login for online progress reports (grades for homework and papers and tests)…</p>
<p>When D started college last fall, I arranged to be on vacation in my hometown so that I could help move her in. Her father, my ex, and I split the goods between our two cars-neither was very large. We met about halfway to the school which was an hour away. </p>
<p>We all-both of my D’s, my ex and his wife-helped bring stuff into the room. My ex went to find a bike shop to get an unexpected problem repaired on D’s bike, then left. D asked me and younger D to stay and help unpack and we did. Then all three of us went and ate at the student commons, open especially for move-in day. Then we headed back. </p>
<p>The only faux-pas I can think of was stepmom getting all ramped up over whether D would remember the combination to her room. All the parents were pretty nice and sensible. I didn’t see anyone steam-cleaning the walls or buying toilet seats.</p>
<p>My younger D won’t be going to college for a few years and unless things change drastically it will be on the other side of the country. We plan to fly out and bring the minimum, buying any big ticket stuff on site. As for behavior, if anyone gets all crazy while my H is there, they’ll probably wish they hadn’t. He doesn’t suffer fools lightly.</p>
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<p>I don’t think anyone asked this at my S’s orientation, but they may have pre-empted that by being quite clear in the presentation preceding the Q&A that parents would not have access to grades, progress reports, etc. </p>
<p>They do have a policy of letting parents know if the student is in “big trouble” (academically or otherwise) if they believe that notifying parents would be “in the student’s best interest”, provided that the student is financially dependent on the parents (assumed unless proven otherwise for undergrads). I do think that policy is at least somewhat reassuring for parents.</p>
<p>We really embarrassed my daughter when we moved her to Rice in 2003. She was going to be in a suite with 3 other girls, and the girls all communicated in advance about what furnishings for the common/living room they would bring. D was bringing a futon sofa. My husband wasn’t worried about renting a small UHaul to tow so he put it off. By the time he called UHaul, they only had the large trailers left, which was completely overkill, but we had no choice.</p>
<p>When we pulled up to the dorm unloading area, there were darling upperclass boys to help unload the new freshman. One yelled over a megaphone “Here comes SISTEROFWILDCHILD with a big UHAUL!” She still hasn’t forgiven us! The boys were relieved to open it up and discover it was only about 1/5 full!</p>
<p>I had to rent a Uhaul because my mothers car was waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay too small (see two door). We wanted a van one but they ran out at last minute so we got stuck with a truck. -_-</p>
<p>After a lot of breakfast coffee and 3 hours of running up and down to help D to retrieve boxes shipped to the mail room and to unpack, I really needed to go to the bathroom. But the bathrooms in my D’s dorm house required keys. Finally I saw 3 people walking in in the yard with the broomsticks and cleaning pails. I asked them to show me the way to the public restroom. They did not know and they were just parents helping their kids. I thougt they were the cleaning crew of the college.</p>
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<p>I rented a truck and I filled it! :P</p>
<p>My son’s room will be the size of a small uhaul and include 2 beds and a roommate. We are flying with a couple of duffle bags and sending a couple of boxes ahead.</p>
<p>bump for 2013 move-in parents!</p>
<p>Thank you for the bump! Can’t wait to re-read these gems.</p>
<p>All these stories have done is make me feel very insecure about my plan to just drop her off, help carry her stuff in, maybe have a look around the dorm, and say goodbye!</p>
<p>Now I’m thinking I may need to: sanitize the walls, change the bulbs to compact fluorescents, have our pest control service check for bedbugs, cockroaches, and rodents; contact the health clinic to see if they would fill a prescription for medical marijuana should this ever be prescribed, sterilize the bathroom fixtures; replace the toilet seat; remove the door knobs and boil them for a few minutes; install a pressurized keg of Purell in the common room; sign her up for Clorox Wipe of the Month club; and rent a moving van to drive her and any friends she might accidentally wind up with to IKEA to buy furniture for their apparently bare rooms.</p>
<p>Have I missed anything?</p>
<p>Massmomm! LOL! :)</p>
<p>I have a new freshman that will move into the dorm mid August and a Junior moving into a new apartment. I’m soooo excited!</p>
<p>Freshman’s dorm is brand spanking new though, so I would imagine I won’t need to go crazy with steam cleaners and sanitizers.</p>
<p>Seven deadly sins of move in:</p>
<ol>
<li><p>wearing leopard print leggings and/or cleavage baring skin tight tops. I see this all the time. Seriously.Moms, dress like a mom. Dads, just dont wear black socks.</p></li>
<li><p>Saying " we’ll just pick that up this afternoon" Or “when I went here”</p></li>
<li><p>carrying a case of beer into the apartment rented by underage students (this was my son’s first apartment, so we just gaped at this dad)</p></li>
<li><p>Bringing any sibling who cries, whines, or sits in the middle of the hall, or wanders parking areas</p></li>
<li><p>saying “whazzzup” to the roommate</p></li>
<li><p>eyeballing students in a way that gets creepy. Ick. </p></li>
<li><p>PICKING FIGHTS in the restaurant, in the street, over who forgot the mattress, the chair, the whatever. </p></li>
</ol>
<p>The less a parent talks, and the more they listen, the happier everyone will be by 5. And try to not cry. I have never moved my kids because I am a lousy goodbye-r, but I got to apartment shop!</p>
<p>Planning for a minimalist move-in project. Still don’t know what dorm Lake Jr. will be in but only one Residence Hall has an elevator; the other dorms have only two floors. In any event, I’m constantly reminding Junior to get confirmed for a double room in the elevator building, LOL.</p>
<p>This will be a 3.5-hour plane ride, so the objective is to pack lightly as possible. There will be little of my stuff in my suitcase because we’ll need the space for Junior’s stuff. Anything that won’t fit, I’ll ship when I return home. This event needs to be STRESS FREE, as the whole college admissions process has already worn me out.</p>
<p>By the way, here are a couple more parental sins that I hope not to see on move-in day;</p>
<ol>
<li>Moms…please, no low-riders or Daisy Dukes shorts.</li>
<li>Pops…please, do not wear paraphrenalia from your own alma mater like a WWII medal. We’re all glad you’re a proud alumnus, but if it isn’t the same school as your newly-minted Freshman…well, you understand, don’t you?</li>
</ol>
<p>When I moved into my first dorm, I had just turned 20 and was moving in with a soon to be 18 year old freshman. Her parents asked me how old I was and then exchanged looks with each other before looking back at me like they thought I might eat their daughter.</p>
<p>They did end up inviting me to go to dinner with them, which was nice, but I didn’t go when their D threw a fit about wanting to go out with friends instead. Those friends appeared at the door a minute later and they rushed off together without an introduction, then parents left. </p>
<p>It was a really awkward first encounter.</p>