Parents of the HS Class of 2011 - We're awesome!

Parents Forum Class of 20xx Community
2061

<p>mathmomvt - glad you are feeling better.</p>

<p>madbean/classof2015 - good to hear that your kids are launched and off safely.</p>

<p>We leave tomorrow for our long drive. Dreading it. D is mostly packed - a few last minute things still to do (mostly on my end!). </p>

<p>H sent me a link to these cartoons - had me laughing…so take a break from the packing</p>

<p>[College</a> Costs - Picture Stories- msnbc.com](<a href=“http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/44163581/ns/business-picture_stories/displaymode/1247/?beginSlide=1]College”>http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/44163581/ns/business-picture_stories/displaymode/1247/?beginSlide=1)</p>

2062

<p>Thank you guys. You’re making me feel so much better. D is struggling with the fact that she leaves on Saturday, so the packing is slow and emotional. We were not expecting this, as this is a kid who started ‘packing’ for college in second grade. She will be fine when she gets there - and she knows it - but transitions have always been difficult and this one especially so. Yesterday was her 18th birthday, which also came across a big “No U Turn, you are now an adult” moment rather than as a happy celebration. And I don’t know what to do except to stay nearby, reinforce practical steps (she is upstairs right now taking her online calculus placement test and I am not going to hurry her even though she needs to get to the tailor to hem her new jeans before 3pm), and tell her it will all be OK. It helps to know I am not alone, because all I want to do right now is go off somewhere for a good cry.</p>

2063

<p>Hang in there HighHead. Soon we’ll be on the other side with happily launched kiddos ;-)</p>

2064

<p>Just got invited by the Us newspaper to get a weekly package of the newspapers dailies…for …wait for it…$300 a yr…</p>

<p>While I appreciate the generous offer :wink: , I have been reading the Us daily online for the better part of a year now.</p>

2065

<p>Re makeup & clothes allowance – I second momofboston’s approach. A set amount per month to cover all spending. In fact, unless the student went to a HS with uniform requirements, I’m not sure why clothing needs in college would be so drastically different once the winter basics are out of the way. D went to a university famous for its end of term Balls – and with three terms a year, new gowns added up. But she budgeted for them/traded with friends/improvised with charity shop finds (vintage – very prized here!). As for make up – as I think somebody else said, it’s really only the skincare products which can add up. My own mother was a fervent believer in Shisheido and when she visited me in college twice a year, she’d bring a generous supply each time, telling me she’d had extra currency to use up in the airport duty free. I appreciated it but went back to Ponds cold cream/Nivea/Whatever-Was-On-Sale as soon as I graduated. These days, I try to remember to treat D to her favourite skincare line (Clinique) but am nowhere near as consistent as my mother was. </p>

<p>Am reading all the winter clothing advice with great interest. S recently spent a week in Edinburgh where it poured every day and so has become quite interested in acquiring a good waterproof. He asked me whether Paddington Bear’s coat would keep off the rain! We’ll send him off with what he uses here (basic goretex, a long classic cashmere coat – another charity store find) and expect him to find something the other end if that’s not adequate. There are enough old Barbours lying around the house that he can help himself to one if he’s truly worried about the rain. Poor lad has very little experience with snow but he’s got the amazon.prime (thanks to the heads up here) and I do trust that he will figure it out. After all, WE all did, didn’t we?!</p>

2066

<p>D is officially launched. Took her to school yesterday ( 1 day early to avoid the insanity that today’s official move-in will involve). I am happy to report that we had a drama-free & tear-less move-in! D was well-settled in her room w/ 5 of the 6 suitemates arriving yesterday or before. Also met one set of parents who were lovely people. </p>

<p>She is coming home Labor Day weekend for a family wedding. Knowing that I’ll see her so soon made it easier to leave :slight_smile: I am thankful that it was a good day for her (and me).</p>

2067

<p>Reporting back from a very successful launch at the University of Missouri yesterday. (Would have posted sooner, but work got in the way. How dare it?!?)</p>

<p>DS2 and I left our home at 4:15 p.m. Tuesday, in the mommy van and DS’s car. Stopped at DH’s new place of employment 70 miles from here to get him, and headed to Columbia, Mo. Checked into our hotel, moving our suitcases out of DS2’s trunk and clearing the back seat of his car to go to dinner. (The mommy van was filled and thus had only two available seats.) Let DS drive us like a chauffeur since his desktop computer was buckled into his passenger seat. He successfully found his way to one of his favorite restaurants where we had a lovely, late dinner.</p>

<p>He got a text from his roommate (BF from HS) that their suite mate (a marching band member who moved in Sunday) was in the room if we wanted to drop anything off. So he dropped off the computer and some other things and met the suite mate. He’s a very nice young man from a town 20 miles from us. His father is also retired military after 23 of active duty. Dad now teaches at Command and General Staff College at Ft. Leavenworth.</p>

<p>After a good night sleep in the hotel, DS wanted to be “in line” by 9 a.m. so I did not stop to load up the smaller cooler with drinks. As it turns out, the Res Life folks had tubs of bottled water for us. And both moms had baked brownies and cookies.</p>

<p>Move-in traffic flow was wonderful. Mizzou turn streets into one way and have it all mapped out. (You download the map to your phone or print from the website.) Pulled up in front of dorm complex and were directed down the double-wide sidewalk between the four buildings, right to an unloading spot next to the exterior door closest to his room. Both cars unloaded and stuff in the room in 15 minutes. (Helped to have borrowed a small dolly from a friend.) They gave us temporary passes for the top two floors of the closest garage for the rest of the day and until 2 the next day.</p>

<p>By 11, beds were made, clothes were hung up or put away and we were ready to go to Walmart to pick up fridge and microwave that I had ordered site-to-store and our list of other items we had developed. (Stored on my iPhone.) Helped to have a tape measure to know sizes for area rugs, bath mats, TV stand, etc.</p>

<p>Worked our way through Walmart pretty quickly. Paid a little more than I had hoped for the TV stand but got bargains on bath mats and area rug for between the beds. Site-to-store for the appliances is such a great idea.</p>

<p>Headed to famed Shakespeare’s pizza for lunch. It was packed with other parents who had the same idea. So that took longer than expected. But the pizza was worth the wait.</p>

<p>Then went to the Parking Office to get DS2’s parking pass. The garage he drew is not a bad walk from his dorm and it’s covered. He has to move on football weekends to the garage nearer his dorm because they sell the other garage spaces closer to the stadium on game day. Of course, if he forgets to move his car back on Sunday, it’s a $200 fine. Think we will remind him since we will be at all the home games.</p>

<p>Got back in the dropoff line again about 3:30 to deliver the appliances and TV stand. DH assembled the stand while DS and roommate and I unpacked and set up the appliances and took all the misc. cardboard to the large recycling dumpsters outside the dorm.</p>

<p>Went to the bookstore to look for the Mizzou afghan that I had promised DS for his birthday and pick up his books that he had ordered online. Not too bad a line and DS actually thanked me for staying “so long.” (DH retreated to the adjacent Student Center for a rest and drink break.) Book cost was $346 with the Physics text book being $123 itself.</p>

<p>Then back to the dorm for pictures and final goodbyes. Luckily, that was the same time that the fourth suitemate arrived with his parents from north of Chicago. Another nice young man and family. These boys are going to have a great time.</p>

<p>The suite is two bedrooms, one bath with shower and sink, one bath with sink and toilet, and a living room. Because boys don’t ask each other these things, they ended up with three refrigerators and four microwaves. So the Chicago family said they would take their microwave back. They will have a fridge/micro combo in each bedroom AND one in the living room for guests. Since DS saved for a 42-inch TV, they could become “party central.” And they are next to the study room so they get Wifi while other parts of the dorm are wired access only. They were ecstatic about that.</p>

<p>We took pictures outside the dorm where we ran into his roommate’s GF. She had found another Physics major to meet DS. They were both so glad to meet each other! DS walked us to the garage to say goodbye and move his car to his new garage space. On the second hug, I did start to cry and he did too. But then we laughed, knowing that we’d be back in 16 days and that he was incredibly happy to finally be “launched.”</p>

<p>DH and I drove back to the Kansas City suburb where he now works and spent the night at a hotel so I could see his new office, meet his employees, etc., this morning. Then I drove home to a very, very quiet house.</p>

<p>DS’s first tweet from college, at 1 a.m. after an late-night, new-student barbecue on campus: Can you imagine how ridiculous it would be if the weather followed an inverse tangent graph as opposed to a sine curve? #nerdythoughts</p>

<p>I have no idea what that means, but I do know it tells me he has found his niche.</p>

<p>If you read this far, you are a true cyberfriend. Can’t wait to read all of your stories as they appear.</p>

<p>And we’re off!</p>

2068

<p>OWM-thanks for the report! sounds like everything went wonderfully. congrats on launching DS!!!</p>

2069

<p>I loved the move-in recap owm. It sounds like it was a great move-in and your S is in a wonderful suite. Congrats! How fun that you will get to go to all the home games. </p>

<p>Missypie: It had not occured to me that the residential life support systems also serve to protect the schools from litigation, but I think you are right. D is my first, so I may be naively hoping that D will have resources if needed. I think I have “spent” all my emotional energy already on this journey and may be wishful thinking.</p>

<p>In MN, we wear NorthFace and UGGs and the like. Even on our coldest days, kids often leave coats in the car. Crazy!</p>

2070

<p>Loved your report OWM…read it all
…I love the tweet and have no clue–though my student does…haha</p>

<p>Love hearing all the great move in reports!! YAY!</p>

2071

<p>Forgot to mention his second tweet. All it said was: Day #2 of my bed @Mom You’re welcome. And it included a picture of his MADE bed.</p>

2072

<p>Great move in report. I envy all the space. D’s room will be tiny.</p>

2073

<p>Loved the move in story OWM! A perfect launch, I would say!</p>

<p>I’m feeling a bit sad here. I’ve been working on a photo collage for son’s upcoming party on Sunday and it was funny/sad to look at all the different stages of his life. The family vacations, cub and boy scouts, band, robotics, the GF and here he is now a real man, but still sort of a boy. It was easier to hold it together with my older son because every time I would feel a little melancholy, I would think about how I still had my youngest. But I can’t comfort myself with that now. I guess it’s a good thing that I don’t have a lot of time to wallow - time to clean up and pack up! We’re off one week from today.</p>

2074

<p>OWM- loved reading your detailed move in report. I have no idea what your S’s first tweet meant either. What a riot, though.</p>

2075

<p>@ OWM</p>

<p>re cars and parking…
My freshman year my car was parked in a lot close to my dorm
and I was to move it before home games…</p>

<p>There were some Sat ams–when I had to run out there and move my car because I had forgotten and people were tailgating in the lot.</p>

<p>Your DS will handle it fine–in part because going to the game is part of the social fabric etc and even if he forgets by Fri eve, he is liekly be able to move it early Sat am ‘’</p>

2076

<p>OWM - Amazing!! Congratulations. As I sit with about 36hrs left until we leave I am a mess and in total awe at those that seem to have done this with so much ease. I don’t feel like I can take a breath. This launching is a soul sucking process. As much as I’ve planned I don’t see how it’s all going to come together. The anxiety is overwhelming. </p>

<p>I’m so glad that everything worked out so lovely and OWSon is settled, finding his people, and if only once made his bed. I love it!! Hugs! :)</p>

2077

<p>OWM - Sounds like a successful and stree free launch. Congratulations to you all.</p>

<p>My friend sent this poem. Read at your own risk :-)</p>

<p>Cutting Loose</p>

<p>His clothes are packed now it’s time, for him to take his leave,</p>

<p>Emotions are all jumbled up; I’m happy but I grieve.</p>

<p>I knew someday this time would come but it just came too soon,</p>

<p>I thought I would be happy; now I sing a different tune.</p>

<p>For eighteen years my life revolved around his wants and needs,</p>

<p>I never thought that I would have emotions such as these.</p>

<p>We talked about his leaving and we even made the plans,</p>

<p>We worked so hard to make it right fulfilling all demands.</p>

<p>But now I look around the room while sitting on his bed,</p>

<p>The emptiness I’m feeling now, in words just can’t be said.</p>

<p>The planning and the preparations we’ve gone through this year,</p>

<p>Has caused so much excitement mixed with happiness and fear.</p>

<p>For almost twenty years we had a unit that was tight,</p>

<p>And we worked hard to keep that unit running smooth and right.</p>

<p>We knew someday it would divide and each would go their way,</p>

<p>But now it seems it came too fast because it is today.</p>

<p>I try to hold the tears back but it’s hopeless as they flow,</p>

<p>And I feel foolish crying ’cause I knew someday he’d go.</p>

<p>But as I think of losing him from underneath my wing,</p>

<p>I also think about his future and what that will bring.</p>

<p>I try to get excited as he steps out in the world,</p>

<p>But it is hard; I feel I’m losing my sweet precious boy.</p>

<p>I will always be here for him and he knows that but,</p>

<p>In my heart I know that when he leaves the cord is cut.</p>

<p>So as I sit and look around his room that is almost bare,</p>

<p>I think of all the memories that we had time to share.</p>

<p>I think of all the happiness, the good times and the bad,</p>

<p>And now the tears flood forth again, why do I feel so sad?</p>

<p>I guess the pain of something ending always hurts this way,</p>

<p>But endings bring us new beginnings and a different day.</p>

<p>These feelings now that I am feeling, I am not alone,</p>

<p>There are others feeling what I am, with others grown.</p>

<p>But now I face the mixed emotions as so many do,</p>

<p>When it comes right to the day, when they are leaving you.</p>

<p>So as I dry my eyes and take another glance around,</p>

<p>It’s finally here and on Thursday my son’s college bound.</p>

<p>Author unknown</p>

<p>.</p>

2078

<p>Great story OWM, almost felt like I was there :slight_smile:

</p>

<p>haha!! I have a feeling we’ll be in a similar situation with 5 other boys in the suite…</p>

<p>So I live in a big state university town and they are moving in today. This is generally a day when locals know to stay away from Target, BBB, etc, but I needed to be in town so I braved the chaos. I was extra nice to the confused and heavily laden parents I saw trying to negotiate unfamiliar parking lots and trying not to look too shell shocked at the price tags. I was extra patient at green lights and didn’t honk or look annoyed at the long lines and general confusion they created. Hoping my niceness pays it forward to next week when we’ll be the clueless out-of-towners!</p>

2079

<p>MomofZach…</p>

<p>sob!! pass the kleenex!!</p>

2080

<p>

</p>

<p>I really have to get my act together. I truly feel like leaving work right now, swimming some laps in the pool, taking a short nap and eating a highly nutritious meal. I feel like I am making myself sick with lack of exercise and good food and sleep. I’m usually more together than this, but the other two kids are having their share of drama (younger D is a Texas HS cheerleader, so that should tell you everything you need to know). My house is an utter mess…I can tolerate the dining room (move staging area) and D’s room being a mess, but because I am consumed with the move, nothing else is being picked up. H’s role is to not deviate from his newspaper/work out/computer games schedule while saying to any request to go buy anything “she doesn’t need that.”</p>