<p>D is offically moved into her dorm. Move-in day was not nearly as hectic as I thought it would be. Mainly because she chose not to live in the freshman high rises. I saw the line of cars there just waiting to get into the parking lot. A friend and I moved most of the stuff into the room while D was off at cheer practice. Only for her to come in and say we had put stuff in the wrong place. She was cranky but I just attributed that to being out in the sun for most of the morning and being overwhelmed at the amount of stuff that needed to be put away. She apologized for being cranky and was in a much better mood after things were put away. She said it looked so homey. Her roommate is moving in today so we will see how it goes when both are there. I am glad that roommate was a day later because we didn’t have fan on our list since her doom has room controlled air/heat but it was very hot in her room and the thermostat said 68 degrees. There was no way it was that temp. I dropped fan off at roommates house last night to take with her today. So they should be much cooler than we were moving in. I did not cry at all yesterday. I think mainly because we were in such a rush to get things done before she had to be back at practice. A friend of mine went with me and we talked so much on the way back that I didn’t have time to get all sad. Plus I will be back in 2 weeks.</p>
<p>Good luck to everyone getting ready for move-in day. Hope yours goes as smooth.</p>
<p>WOW! Been away for our last getaway before launch and so much has happened!</p>
<p>Congrats to the new grandmom-to-be and to the cadet’s mom. I could feel your joy and pride in your posts.</p>
<p>I teared up a bit thinking of our first launch to college from this board. I can’t believe it is that time already. I hope I handle it as well (though I bet I don’t)</p>
<p>Last of the college books ordered online arrived while we were out of town as did some other packages. It was like coming home to a college Christmas…lol</p>
<p>I have to say, I did not want our long weekend to end. We had such fun as a family. I caught my husband looking at DS wistfully (which is not his nature) and I know I had the same look at times. How do momma birdies do this??</p>
<p>When we moved Son in there, it hadn’t rained for months (just like now.) It rained, I swear, from 4-4:10 pm…it started raining when we pulled up to the dorm and stopped when we were finished unloading. (Quite the omen.)</p>
<p>All the CCs where I am a signer or my husband’s account or he is on mine show up on both of our credit reports. But as I said, my S does not appear to have a credit history yet. (He tried to request his free annual credit report to check, and was told that there is no report in that name.)</p>
<p>hlsess, a lot of people here have used both CSI and NSSI. There have been a few threads about it that you can search for. The bottom line is that people are very happy with both companies and you would be fine with either. Much better options than going through your homeowners, and covers more than apple care or any mfg. warranty.</p>
<p>hlsess, the Apple Care plan for the laptop covers a lot but it doesn’t cover things like liquid damage or theft. We will get both for D1’s laptop.</p>
<p>Speaking of liquid damage, a public service announcement: make sure that your kid knows what to do if they spill liquid on their laptop!!! Acting quickly can make all the difference between a dead metal brick and getting your machine back and functioning. Once it happens, there’s no time to do a google search on what to do.</p>
<p>Immediately turn the laptop over so that the keyboard is facing down. </p>
<p>Power off the machine (don’t worry about doing this in an orderly fashion–do a hard power down), and remove the battery. </p>
<p>Remove any other cables or peripherals. </p>
<p>Place the machine so that the keyboard is resting on something soft, dry, and absorbent. Blot off any liquid on the screen or casing.</p>
<p>Leave the machine alone for 24 hours (!) so it can fully dry. </p>
<p>If the spill did not involve sugary liquids, you should be good to go to turn back on. If the spill was soda, sugared coffee, etc., the safest thing to do is to have a licensed tech open up the case and confirm that there’s no residue on the motherboard that could cause a short. The tech should be able to clean off any residue if it’s there.</p>
<p>I’ve had to run through this twice, so our entire family knows the drill. Well, maybe except for the spouse, who is just not a tech-savvy type. There seems to be one in every family. :)</p>
<p>Mathmomvt- you and your husband’s credit is linked because you are married (people getting divorced sometimes find this out the hard way). Your son will not inherit your credit rating just because he can sign on your cards. You can’t find any credit reports in his name because he doesn’t have any credit yet. One other option you have is to get him a card in his name and be a guarantor, that would start to establish his credit, but make sure he makes his payments!</p>
<p>Also, sltheytove, thanks for a really informative post, I hope I never have to use it!!</p>
<p>PHBmom- congrats on your D’s awesome accomplishment.</p>
<p>Missypie- sorry to hear about the Baylor-bound teen who died in your community. How very sad. </p>
<p>Gamomof3- congrats on a successful and (so far) tearless launch!</p>
<p>Slithey- great laptop saving info. I have successfully used the “bowl of rice” technique when I dropped camera and phone in water. The hardest part is waiting 24 hours to power the device back up.</p>
<p>D and friends are off on a 2-day end of summer adventure to Cedar Point which is about a 5 hour drive from here. I added D to my credit card so she could charge hotel room. She has her own debit mastercard, but hotels sometimes put multiple holds on debit cards which would tie up $$ in her checking account. She has gotten a few applications for CCs in her own name but didn’t apply for any. I recall getting my first CC in college- but I think credit rules have been tightened in recent years.</p>
<p>Hard to believe that 1 week from today, we’ll be moving D into her dorm. Yikes!!!</p>
<p>D moved into dorms this morning and everything was seamless. Her room mate moved in on Monday, there was less chaos. The doorstop was a great idea while H was building the futon. The roomed seemed less cramped with the door open. We took a cooler with drinks and a few snacks which helped mid morning and we were able to stock the girls fridge with the extras. We had a quick lunch together at a cool mexican restaurant and then dropped her back at the dorms.</p>
<p>Pleasantly surprised how easy it all was. No tears from anyone ( we get to see her again on Saturday as it is her 18th birthday)</p>
<p>I think the anticipation was worse than the actual day. I read the move in day tips again last night and it really helped. Good luck to all in the next few weeks. I am excited to see where all these fabulous kids land!</p>
<p>Congratulations Gibson on a successful launch day. I am dreading it…seriously dreading it. The packing has got me in fits…tubs or boxes? DH says duffel bags and I don’t agree. Bluejr’s room is still a mess despite multiple requests to clean it. I finally laid into him saying it had to be cleaned first…I can’t pack through a mess. Plus he doesn’t get to leave me with a disaster. The rest of my family can fly by the seat of their pants and do things last minute. I am not type A, however I don’t operate well at the 11th hour. I stress if I can’t at least see a clear path of how things will easily be done on time. Right now I just don’t see it…</p>
<p>Easy… they just push the babies out of the nest. They don’t worry about where they are going, will they have enough stuff when they get there, will they make friends and find their own way :)</p>
<p>So happy to hear these move ins are going well. I feel like there is so much left to do, but in two more weeks, either it will be done, or it won’t matter.</p>
<p>Re: credit history, a traditional amex card will not really build credit history. Since they have to be paid off at the end of each cycle, you are not showing that you know how to make timely payments. I used to be a credit analyst a few years back and mc, visa or even a major store credit card will build credit history with a low balance and a few months of timely payments. Kind of stinks that you have to pay interest to build credit history but resist the urge to pay in full each month until you (your child) start to establish yourself.</p>
<p>This is what I wanted to do at my credit union–they said no dice.
Kiddo is being issued a card on our acct though…and I am getting kiddo one from the AmEx on my card…
hope to find another option too…</p>
<p>Years ago–I got an AmEx as a student–I think jr or Sr year…
and also got a Sears card which was considered the hard one to get but best because they are conservative…did it before graduation and without a job.
I did however start with a MC that my parents cosigned Sr yr of HS so I could have a card in college.
The bank tells me that this changed because of kids racking up debt etc…all those credit card offers.
Every so often my younger kiddo gets a cc solicitation …I think they bought kiddos name through the delta airlines ff# etc…</p>
<p>Today kiddo spent some time looking at course options.
And did send a message to the roommate about making plans.
Hemorraging money here…</p>
<p>Kiddos new laptop arrived - it is quite the machine!
Nice, very fast, and plenty of memory without being too big.
Kiddo has been paying for all of this–and the younger sibling has been salivating over the purchases…</p>
<p>I casually commented about how kiddo1 has saved this money for years…not lots of clothes shopping, etc etc and that’s why kiddo1 has the $ for the new cell phone, new laptop etc…
and 3 years from now it’s kiddo2’s turn Hint hint–SAVE your birthday checks now)</p>
<p>BI, DS will pack mostly in duffel bags. Why not? they’re easy to squish down and get out of the way once he’s unpacked, and easier to fit into the car than boxes or tubs (and can be used as checked luggage too for those flying). He will be leaving his room a disaster, I already can see this. He won’t be home long enough to deal with it. We will make him deal with his bedroom during winter break. In the long run, it’s not a big deal. </p>
<p>I thought that having a credit card and paying the balance in full each month would be sufficient to build credit. I’ve never paid interest on a CC but of course I have mortgage payments and car payments to show. DS will have student loans to begin establishing his credit, but maybe not until he graduates and has to begin repaying? Not sure if making interest-only payments for unsubsidized loans begins establishing credit. Paying interest on credit cards seems like a horrible way unless you have a card with an introductory low rate! The rates are insane!</p>
<p>^ I guess I think things will simply be neater and easier to carry up to the dorm in tubs/boxes. Anything he takes, less one duffel, will be coming home so it really doesn’t matter what will fit in the dorm and what won’t (as far as packing materials). As far as leaving his room a total dump…he’s not far from home while his roommate is OOS…19hrs OOS. If he even thinks he wants to bring anyone home for a break and some real food he’s not leaving it a mess because I’m not doing it. I’ll clean his bathroom, vacuum, change the sheets, etc., but I’m not moving around a mess and organizing.</p>
<p>I am with you Blue, I can’t deal with the last minute. I did get ds to clean out his room because I gave him 3 big rubbermaid tubs with index cards taped on the rim saying “garbage” “memorabilia” “take to school” “donations/oldclothes/toys.” I threatened to throw his phone away if he didn’t stop “checking” it every five seconds. I would swear he is ADHD because he couldn’t stop looking at the pc, at his phone…it was stupid. I shut the phone off and put it in my pocket finally. Then he finally got through it once I said he couldn’t go out until it was done.</p>
<p>So now, we have a cleaned up room - but there is a mountain of clothes in his closet so the next task is to sort through all that - probably half will be at Salvation Army this weekend. Ugh.</p>
<p>Today we finally got the band packet - that references the “first mailing” which we never ever saw. And they will be travelling to one game and SURPRISE!!! NEED A PASSPORT? So that is next on my list to get done before next Wed.??? Swweeeeeeet!</p>
<p>^^ Whoot-whoot!! Thank God for small favors. We just spent weeks trying to get another copy of Bluejr’s SSCard so I can understand your thrill when finding the passport amanda! We try to keep the passports valid with family overseas.</p>
<p>In Bluejr’s defense, he works full time with an hour commute each way. By the time he gets home and eats I feel like a terrible mom making him work at it. Now he has no choice. I’d planned on this weekend, however a little birdy told me that a slew of his friends are leaving next week to our state flagship. How dumb was I to think I could get his attention this weekend! Oh well…Friday is his last day of work so he’s off next week.</p>
<p>Oh, btw amanda, so glad you finally got the paperwork regarding band. Odd that you didn’t get the first mailing.</p>
<p>We don’t have to schlep stuff up to the dorm room (DS’s school provides helpers for freshman move-in day that do all the schlepping for us) but we have found for camp that a duffel is pretty easy to move, and requires fewer trips than a bunch of little boxes/tubs. He’ll probably have a couple of small boxes as well for things heavy/dense things like books and reams of printer paper. But whatever can go in the duffels is actually really easy to move, IME.</p>