<p>Mathmomvt- I only found out about the bedbug outbreak when I googled ds’ dorm looking for pictures- imagine my luck in finding news stories and tv news reports about the bedbug outbreak in his very dorm over spring break this year! The covers from what I read act to contain them if already present and if they move onto that mattress cover then at least they may be easier to spot. Don’t know how useful that would be! But the fear allows these covers to demand prices way out of proportion to what they are.</p>
<p>Welcome Zeeba and Jam!</p>
<p>We got a malese puppy 7 years ago when My D1 started HS and D2 started MS. I think that the dog to baby has really helped me back off and give my daughters space. I’m really glad that she’ll be here to fill our empty nest. Jam, the puppy stage is tough, but things will get a lot easier. At least you can leave a puppy home alone in a crate.</p>
<p>I have a plastic mattress cover that I bought for D1 in '08, but that was before all the beg bug outbreaks and I don’t know if it’s effective against bed bugs. I’m very bug phobic, so I’ll probably buy a new one for D2. I did check the mattress when I stayed in the dorms at BU last week.</p>
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<p>That’s kind of what I’m thinking – that it’s mostly a “scam” to get scared families into wasting money on something that costs way too much and may not even help!</p>
<p>FYI - OUR 10 year old dog stays in his crib (don’t tell him it’s a crate) whenever we leave the house. He is totally OK with it (he told us). When he sees us getting ready to go out, he goes in voluntarily. BTW, DH is a vet and is a big advocate of using a crate.</p>
<p>Thanks for the condolences for the family of D’s bf. </p>
<p>D seems “okay” in terms of her grief. Having experienced her grandpa’s death 18 mos ago probably gave her some perspective. Bf seems better than I would expect. </p>
<p>D is waiting for RM & SM ( suite mate) info. Dorm is also supposed to send list of what to bring & what not to bring. Not sure why that list is not already out there somewhere. Trying to hold off on buying anything until we get more info, but I’m starting to worry about BBB & Target being sold out by the time we get our info!</p>
<p>Math is D’s weakest point (we attribute it to having several bad math teachers in HS). Her math placement test score was 4 points below score needed for the math class she wanted to take (college algebra ). So she is taking a tutorial on the areas she was rusty on, & she has been assigned a math professor for any questions. She’ll re-take the placement test later this month and (hopefully) get the needed score. Frustrating that her HS didn’t prepare her better. She keeps saying, "I’m teaching myself 3 yrs of HS math in a summer. " Arrghh!</p>
<p>On a fun note- D1, D2 & I had lunch at a really cool Japanese BBQ place today where you cook your own food on a grill in the center of the table. We all enjoyed the food & cooking including the very un-japanese s’mores for dessert!</p>
<p>I hate this. Just got solicited from the schools residence hall association for care packages delivered to the freshman a day or two after move in. And of course, the include a flyer “Students Notice!! One RA mentioned the students get so excited to get a care package. The worse part is telling a student they didn’t get a package. They’re so sad!” OK so who did they hire to write this??? Great marketing. The most popular package runs around $60. The cheapest is $20 with stuff I know S does not like. Am I in? of course. How could I not? I was planning on sending S a care package with stuff I know he likes and probably still will, but I feel like I am dealing with Whitey Bulger and the Winter Hill Gang here. And I know I will get a mailing at midterms and finals. I just bought a Groupon last week for 24 cupcakes delivered to S’s school for $25. I figured I would order them 2nd or 3rd week of Sept. The best part of the “care package” is where they state “you need to let your student know you have ordered a care package for them and how important it is for them to pick it up to ensure they get it.” So i guess they don’t deliver to the dorms. S is in the dorm furthest from place it needs to be picked up. I am not so sure he will want to go pick it up. Although I feel guilty I may just do my own care package and save him the trip, but the mommy guilt hits me again, and I write the check. gosh…</p>
<p>Regarding bedbugs. If S’s school ends up with bedbugs, I figure the best I can do is have S strip off all his clothes and leave his clothes in our garage when he returns at Thanksgiving til I treat them.</p>
<p>Mamom- I was planning on sending D care packages that I put together myself b/ c the prepackaged ones that were marketed didn’t seem to suit her tastes. I’m sure your S would love getting your "homemade " care package. And it would be different than the ones everyone else gets.</p>
<p>Love your bedbugs solution, btw!</p>
<p>Ds school food service team hit up all the parents at orientation for their care package “deals”. I fell for it too. But they did let you substitute things you know your kid likes: I substituted Sprite instead of Coke for the soda. I got the 4 package deal: welcome basket, winter finals, valentine’s day and spring finals.</p>
<p>We will still send our own care packages throughout the year. D2 makes the best red velvet cupcakes so I will have to figure out how to mail them.</p>
<p>mommylaw - I may just go ahead and ignore the marketing and put my own care package together with stuff I know he loves rather than spend the money on stuff I know he doesn’t. still feel guilty, but at least he won’t have to lug it from one end of the campus to the other and then try to find other students who want most of it. </p>
<p>Just went over S’s preliminary schedule with him. He can’t register for classes til 1:45pm Monday. Registration is staggered, so trying to plan is a waste of time. Students have been registering for the past week and a half. We have come up a couple of preliminary schedules only to find some of the classes full later on. The women in his dept. who takes care of providing permission to take a class shown as full has indicated she will give S permission to override a full class, but I am not sure she will give him permission for 3 full classes which is where we stand right now. And it requires an email or phone call to her which takes time so who knows how things stand. From the 2015 FB page it sounds like they open up slots in all classes right before registration times open up, but with a 1:45pm registration time I am not sure we can take advantage of it. I will be at work and so will S. H said he will jump in if needed, which we might, I don’t know he will have the patence for it. ie if we change this class we want this prof and then we want this prof for this class, etc. We have researched the professors teaching the classes he wants but it doesn’t look like he will luck out and get them all. He doesn’t care, but I do. There is nothing worse than getting a crappy teacher, or one who doesn’t speak very good english, even if it is a class he can get AP credit for. …oh well, I am still trying to work it out even if he has given up.</p>
<p>Wow I never even heard of care packages for college students. I can’t imagine that there is anything in there that D would want and we plan on dropping her off fully stocked. What is likely is that a month later she wants to come home so we will probably take her shopping then to pick up what she needs.</p>
<p>D was very proactive and stopped at BBB this pm to see what they had. She said looking at things like shower caddies and storage tubs is better in IRL rather than online. So I guess we will be progressing on that whenever she wants to. Tomorrow is her first day of paid work- hurray! In a library and everything. Fingers crossed it goes well.</p>
<p>ooh, I was just thinking wrt bedbugs. If one of us picks him up at the airport, which will probably happen, then our car gets contaminated, right?? I guess I will cross that road when I come to it. We can always order a cab. Welcome home son, come in through the garage, strip everything off and put on this paper gown.:eek:</p>
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<p>Sheesh. Passive-agressive much? :rolleyes: Me, I’d be giving that purple prose to D1 and saying “prepare to be sad”. ;)</p>
<p>I fell for the school care package hard sell my D1’s first Halloween. She thanked me for the package, but said not to send one again because it was full of fattening junk that she didn’t need. She’s much happier with the ones I put together. Mamom, I’m sure that your son will prefer the packages you put together yourself.</p>
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LOL. I knew you guys would come through. I am feeling better and better about saving that $60!</p>
<p>I don’t know if boychild’s school does the care pkg stuff but there is no way I’d send him one. Because he was a camper at sleep-away for 8 years I doubt he would care if he was the only one who didn’t get one. </p>
<p>Meanwhile - he is done with his schedule - registration starts tomorrow. He met my gf’s daughter for coffee this morning and she said his schedule looked good and then told him all the things he should bring (3 power cords, a desk lamp and a floor lamp, about 20 towels, tons of jeans, a Northface jacket & the LL Bean boots.) She also told him she would be his driver for the year - if he has to get someplace off campus that’s not walkable. Very nice of her to offer. Too bad her parents are moving in Sept.to S. Fla otherwise she would have been his ride to and from school.</p>
<p>We got the care package thing yesterday in the mail too!! I was considering it too because of the “more than 50%” of students get them part (I can be quite gullible when it comes to my kids, lol). So glad to hear others are getting these offers and declining. My D doesn’t like most of the stuff in the packages anyway and the 5 care package plan was a “bargain” at $95! (seriously??)</p>
<p>I will probably make my own and send them!</p>
<p>In Re: care packages. Think of some little surprises and mail them when you feel like it. A few weeks into the first semester when lots of kids start to feel a little homesick is a good time. Go to the post office and pick up a few of the mailing boxes w/a standard mailing price so you can mail something when you think of it or if you think your kid needs it (and if you print off the postage at home you’ll save a few cents as well.)
My older daughter was almost as happy to get $10 deposited in her account as she was a care package. </p>
<p>She also liked getting goofy postcards, so if we were off someplace and saw a funny one we’d pick it up for future mailing.</p>
<p>D and her camp counselor roommates have had great fun receiving the used cd’s I’ve been ordering. D delighted in realizing they are replacements from her middle school days and can’t wait to see which one comes next. They are SO much less fattening than the normal care package and so easy and cheap to send. They’ve been such a hit that I plan to continue this fall.</p>
<p>I asked S his freshman year about the school’s care packages. He said to his knowledge, no one on his hall got one. When I told him the contents, he wasn’t interested.</p>
<p>Save your money for more important shipments - cookies from home.</p>
<p>I discussed the care packages with older D when I got the first flyer 3 years ago and she couldn’t find one where she liked even half of the stuff. We’ve just sent our own and she has been happy to receive them. </p>
<p>Wrt bedbugs, I am still on the fence about buying the cover. As has been said, it’s not going to be much help generally if they are everywhere but it could help in her own bed. Who knew, all those years ago, that “don’t let the bedbugs bite” would have some truth?</p>