<p>mathmomvt - this may help [Health</a> Care Proxy–Who decides on my care? | Law Office of Bridget E. Murray](<a href=“http://estate-planning-manchester-ma.com/health-care-proxywho-decides-on-my-care]Health”>http://estate-planning-manchester-ma.com/health-care-proxywho-decides-on-my-care) . Also a person may not want to be kept in a vegetative state. These documents will clarify his/her wishes.</p>
<p>By chance when I was online cleaning up FA and other informaiton that S has no interest in, I checked the meal plan options as a decision is due at the end of the month. I inadvertently found that his school’s dining service has a catering department and it includes delivery of cakes and other special occasion goodies including goodie basket care packages.</p>
<p>I am mentioning this as I don’t believe this possible source of BD cakes and goodies has been mentioned before.</p>
<p>thank you. I will check into it!!!</p>
<p>AvonHSDad – thanks – I’ll check it out too. D’s b-day is in September, and it would be nice if I could send her something that doesn’t arrive stale or smushed.</p>
<p>Mamom – I was totally leaning toward the micro-fridge – we didn’t want to buy or transport or store a fridge --but D’s roommate announced end of June that she’d gotten a fridge as a gift. D didn’t know what to say – especially because it doesn’t have microwave, which she thought would come in handy. I told her she should just say" that’s great" and move on. What’s she gonna do, have a big pow wow over that’s not the one I was thinking of, etc? Not worth it. D will bring coffee pot and microwave and the rest they’ll figure out when they get there.</p>
<p>S is back from orientation. He registered, made some friends, got to know the campus a little better, and had a good time. They had a completely separate parents program mainly the same things, but they really wanted to have the kids on their own. I thought the school did a good job. One thing that I found interesting is the number of parents that asked where else my son had considered. Is that usual? Now that the choice has definitely been made, I wouldnt have expected any questions about other schools. </p>
<p>We are also planning to rent the microfridge. When I read the post about it just not being worth it to try to get it there and back, I thought thats exactly how we feel. We have done a little bit of shopping with our S. Its been fine, but we have never gone to more than one store at a time and we accept that he doesnt want to browse or spend any time mulling about choices. We set some limits on cost, he goes in, picks something and leaves.</p>
<p>Vmac - I found the parents were talking about what options led their kid to this particular place, but I think my ds didn’t have that same vibe, the kids were moving forward in their thoughts. If you were in the parent advisory session I went to where they were trying (and succeeding) in laying out the worst case scenarios of college, I was definately rethinking whether this was the school for my ds, or if any school would be a good choice at this point. I was thinking whether it was possible to send him to a monastery.</p>
<p>Ohiomom - Bubble wrap is exactly what I was thinking about!</p>
<p>I like hearing about the different orientations and find it interesting that so many of them are not just an earlier start date before returning students come back, which for me, makes more sense. My son is going to one of those just-for-fun orientations next week. Yes, we did pay extra for it, but when I think back on all those years that we paid for summer camp with no goal except fellowship, this seems okay. I find it soothes my worrying knowing that he’ll start college knowing a few people.</p>
<p>Hey, anyone know if there is a way to charge a cell phone on Amtrak? Son is going to take a looooong train ride up to his college in Vermont and can’t take his laptop but will have his windows phone but it won’t last the whole ride without needing a charge.</p>
<p>We got a funny solicitation today for a laundry service for son’s college. [Boarding</a> School and College Laundry Services from E&R Cleaners](<a href=“http://www.eandrcleaners.com/campus-laundry-services.html]Boarding”>http://www.eandrcleaners.com/campus-laundry-services.html)<br>
Prices start at $525/year for “Just the Basics” which covers once a week laundry service. They give you a canvas bag that holds between 25-30 lbs. of laundry - no comforters allowed and if you’d like dresses or button shirts on hangers, then you would go with the “Look Sharp” plan for $875/year. The pitch is that you are giving your child and ACADEMIC ADVANTAGE by freeing up their time.</p>
<p>Frankly, I would prefer a self sufficient adult that can do their own laundry and learn how to manage their time. While I would normally think that’s priceless, apparently it’s worth $575 - $875 a year!</p>
<p>kathiep- many Amtrak trains have electric outlets. We take NY Regional Empire/Keystone service between NYC and Hudson and they are easy to find (but work better if you have the window seat). Is that the service to VT? Here is what the Amtrak site says:</p>
<p>The availability of electrical outlets varies by train equipment and by accommodation. Amtrak cannot guarantee the availability of an electrical outlet for your trip. Additionally, electrical power from these outlets is subject to interruption due to en-route train switching, and there may be unpredictable periods without power.</p>
<p>Long-Distance Coach Cars
Most Superliner (Western overnight trains) Coach cars have very few outlets. There is not an outlet at each seat. Some cars have outlets throughout but their availability cannot be guaranteed.</p>
<p>Most Amfleet II Cars (Eastern overnight trains) are equipped with an electrical outlet under each window.</p>
<p>Sleeping/Bedroom Accommodations
Each sleeping compartment features a 120-volt electrical outlet.</p>
<p>Acela Express Trains
All Business class and First class cars are equipped with an electrical outlet under each window.</p>
<p>Northeast Regional, Empire and Keystone Service
Most cars are equipped with an electrical outlet under each window.</p>
<p>**I have taken the first and last move-in dates for this countdown from the list on this thread. To try and list all of them would be overkill to say the least.</p>
<p>First new student move-in is the University of Georgia on August 9th. (Excludes cadet training at West Point)
Move-in day in 18 days.</p>
<p>Last new student move-in is the University of Southern Oregon on September 22nd<br>
Move-in day in 62 days.**</p>
<p>If there are earlier or later move-in dates, please post them so that I can pick them up and adjust the countdown postings.</p>
<p>Some good news today about something I first posted about way back before graduation. I am officially going to become the Volunteer Resource Coordinator for the parents of gifted students at our sons’ high school. I will have real weekly office hours at the school and present several programs throughout the year. The principal wants me to focus on helping families of gifted students with the social and academic transistion to high school and then help them take the steps to finding the right college.</p>
<p>My first suggestion–made back in April–was to place the gifted freshmen in the same FLEX seminar classes. These are 40-minute classes in the middle of the day for homework help with mentors, leadership training, college/career advisement. Up until now, the freshmen were divided randomly and stayed in those FLEX groups for four years. Now the school will intentionally group the gifted students together–and assign a mentor (junior or senior) who is also gifted. </p>
<p>This idea came out of an impromptu dinner at our house last fall. My sons’ friends were lamenting that it had taken them until junior year to “find each other.” They wished they had known each other so they could have “hung out” as freshmen and sophomores when they felt isolated.</p>
<p>Our school district has a very good GATE program K-8 but not a single gifted freshman class and only one gifted sophomore Language Arts class. Then IB classes start junior year. And our college counselor focuses 99% of her time getting kids enrolled in the local directional schools. She is a former admissions counselor at one of them. No one helps the top tier kids make the right college choice–and most parents have no clue. (They do not know about CC either!!!)</p>
<p>I’m excited about this new gig and hope that I can make a difference. I’m sure I will pick your brains for ideas!</p>
<p>Wow, OWM, that sounds incredible and it sounds like you have a chance to make a real difference for those kids!</p>
<p>Owm~This is wonderful news.Good for you, and the kids! Ss had a similar program in HS, we went through 5 years between the two boys , so ask away I have some strong opinions on the subject :rolleyes:</p>
<p>Waving to all…Heat is disabilitating here :D</p>
<p>Hi everyone. We just returned from a wonderful family vacation to Sedona and the Grand Canyon. It was nice to enjoy the scenery and forget about college stuff for a while. </p>
<p>It sounds like things are moving along on this thread. Welcome to the new posters. I’m glad to hear that most orientations have gone well. It sounds like most of you are much further along on dorm shopping than we are.</p>
<p>I’m trying not to worry too much about the things that can go wrong for our kids at college. Although there have been some bumps in the road, most of my D1’s friends have had good experiences in college. We’ve spent the past 18 years preparing our kids to leave us, and they’re actually pretty competent when they need to be.</p>
<p>Amanda, it’s interesting that the professor encouraged relationship break-ups. I’m hoping that my D breaks up with her BF before she leaves, but I’ve learned to let her run her own relationship. I know that there’s heartache to come, but it would be nice if she could head off unencumbered.</p>
<p>momjr: hopefully it was cooler where you were than here; we loved Sedona when we were there; how did the girls like it?? (we were there solo and were wondering if we should return with ours)…</p>
<p>Been thinking about a few things that have been talked about in the last few days …</p>
<p>I agree with letting the “what ifs” go. I’ve racked up so many stories these past few years as D1, her friends, nieces, nephews, etc. have been finding their paths. Just have to keep faith and an open mind. It’s hard to let the idealism go … but they’ll be all right, no matter what happens. We’ll all just face the future and get through.</p>
<p>I’m in the early orientation fan club right now. It was great for D2. It wouldn’t have been necessary for D1, by personality and her early click with the college and students there (in fact she turned down the extra bonding activities). D2 is so charged, so pleasantly surprised by how well it went, having a great time communicating with the flesh-and-blood kids she met. </p>
<p>Our dining table is covered with plays and black clothes for drama classes. I guess everyone has their own slant on packing for college!</p>
<p>OWM - what you’re doing is a wonderful service. I’ve been working in a TAG advisory role in our school district in many ways for many years. Our schools can’t seem to make up their minds about what to do about this issue … they swing, as many do, from “inclusion,” to “clustering,” to separate classes, to dropping the whole distinction. It’s great you’re catching an opportunity to maximize the experience during a time when they’re open to services. Our district seems to be closing up again; I hope that parents can keep a voice in the process and keep poking it back open.</p>
<p>Something really rang a bell for me yesterday - about parents asking where else other kids at the school applied and got accepted. I had to stop and think about this one. I realized that ever since D got back from orientation I’ve been sprinkling my conversation about her new friends with those exact questions. D’s answers have been “I don’t know,” “We didn’t talk about that,” etc. Her response to why her new best buddy is going to her school was “It offered him the most money” (both parents are unemployed). I could tell she thinks I’m weird for caring anything about this, that she is really past all that.</p>
<p>I do think this searching for a sense of how their peers fit on the “scale” is a parental hang-up, possibly also shared by kids who thought more competitively about their college admissions and maybe can’t let that go. I don’t think I was over-the-top obnoxious, but I now plan to drop this topic completely, as she clearly has, and move on. Thank you for giving me a very helpful mirror on my own behavior and attitudes.</p>
<p>OWM - so glad everything worked out for you with your new job. So many kids will benefit from your expertise. If you or anyone at your school want to talk to admin at DS’s school about IB I’d be happy to make an intro. Our school has a very high success rate and the students score very well. Alltho the GC does a great job of keeping the kids on track, the focus is on getting the kids into state flagship. As we all know it takes A LOT more work to get kids into private schools and get the price to be = or < than state schools.Let me know. Congrats again.</p>
<p>Thanks for the information about electrical outlets kinder. Son may have to take one of those old fashioned books too, just in case one of the trains is not equipped right.</p>
<p>OWM - Congrats on the awesome job. That really does sound like a good one!</p>
<p>My daughters bedroom is now our College stuff gathering room. Daughter does not live here now, which is handy. We now have all the bedding that son needs for now. Trying to decide whether to take out the egg crate pad now to let it air or just take it up in it’s convenient carrying case.</p>
<p>Just to clarify, my “job” at the high school is a volunteer one. I am still keeping my paying job. It is an offer I made to the school based on my passion for giving gifted students the same support as the other end of the spectrum “special” students.</p>
<p>OWM–Congrats and thanks for volunteering your time to help others succeed!</p>
<p>I appreciate the Amtrak info also! DS will be using Amtrak to get to and from school most of the time.</p>
<p>In this era, we’re going to need lots of parents willing to step in as volunteers to support gifted students (as well as plenty of others). Thanks for doing your part! I’m impressed the school is so supportive. Good for them!</p>
<p>About the cell phone - there also are external battery-powered chargers if he can’t plug in the train. My D1 bought a second battery for her very complicated droid-type phone. She keeps it charged in her bag because her phone konks out so easily.</p>