<p>
arrgghhh. Girl scouts are resourceful.</p>
<p>@bajamm, too funny!</p>
<p>Hi all, coming up for air again. Finally finished the comforter cover…To remind you, my DD decided she didn’t like any of the commercially available covers, and wanted one made from old dresses I’d made for her over the years. Stupidly, I agreed (I guess she learned well that flattery gets you pretty far). I made it in a “Lone Star” pattern, so it’s not obvious that the fabric pieces have any meaning for her unless she wants to tell. She likes it so much, it’s on her bed now and she won’t let me pack it yet.</p>
<p>Last night we went to a little party organized by the mom of one of DD’s kindergarten classmates. It turned out that the beloved kindergarten teacher (now retired) wanted to meet up with the girls in her class, to find out where they were all headed. About half the girls made it, along with several moms (including a couple whose D’s couldn’t come). The teacher had made a cake, with her wishes for the girls on it:“Dream. Soar. Laugh.” All in all, a happy party, though occasional sniffles popped up.</p>
<p>Can’t believe we’re leaving in a week; no one feels ready!</p>
<p>Congrats on the Gold award to bajamm’s d!</p>
<p>D here is finishing up quilting her quilt- it isn’t one for a bed but rather one she will hang up in her dorm. She thinks she will have little wall space and between it and her huge four month at a time calendar, she thinks that may be it for decorating. She thinks she is going to be bored in college, especially in the four days before classes start. I have already thought of that and since her birthday is only six days before she goes off to college, two of her presents should help- Netflix and music downloads.</p>
<p>sigh</p>
<p>what if the roommate doesn’t seem to be “up to speed” on what it takes to furnish a common room…after saying the parents were willing to help furnish it…</p>
<p>Both families live across the country from the school so its not like there will be vehicles nor move in helpers etc “if they wait til later…”</p>
<p>What <em>do</em> most kids want/need to furnish a common room? DS’s school has very few, and they are of a style where the hall door enters into the common room, and then there are two double-rooms that are attached. But the ones I’ve seen, the only thing in the common room was the 4 kids’ desks. DS only has a regular double so we haven’t had to get up to speed on that, but now I’m curious :)</p>
<p>fogfog, just that much more incentive to make friends that also happen to have cars… need can be very motivating towards striking a conversation and making life long friends…</p>
<p>From pics we have seen, the common room needs a rug, sofa/seating, fridge, floor lamps…some kids bring TVs and game consoles though we aren’t fans of that…
the school provides desks and chairs…</p>
<p>…and there are plenty of upper classmen move in helpers to help the frosh get the stuff into the buildings
…and its an urban area so I have a feeling cars are not very common…except for zip cars and you aren’t going to get a sofa from Walmart or Ikea into a taxi or in a zip car…</p>
<p>I’d concentrate on sofa/seating if your kiddo definitely want to have that. The rest of the stuff will be easier for the kids to get on their own.</p>
<p>Sigh…really missing my D right now. Comes home from a summer as a camp counselor Saturday and we leave Wednesday morning. Originally I didn’t plan to do as much as I have for her but, possibly for my own benefit, I’ve spent close to 7 hours cleaning out her room (mounds went to Good Will, some in the garbage, some to D3) and put like with like (who knew she had so many pair of jeans…or black tights…and why are DH’s pants in here??). I’ve made it as easy as possible for her to pack because in the 3 days she’s home she will
- have friends over en masse
- attend a send off for 6 2011 grads – family friends
- play a round of golf with her dad (they were both so excited it was hard to say no)
- have her hair cut
- go to the dentist
- renew her passport
- go to bff’s bday party
- go to the bank
- write a couple thank you notes
- get her nails done
- and her eyebrows</p>
<p>oh, and, yes, somewhere in there pack!</p>
<p>I did look through the amazing list that someone compiled back in '05 (on a thread here) with every possible thing someone might choose to bring to a dorm and created a list for D that she needs to review…by each item that she’ll purchase across the country I’ve listed the store (Target, Staples, BBB) so, as she enters a store, she’ll know exactly what she needs.</p>
<p>Have definitely enabled my D who’s so engrossed in her camp life right now that college seems very far away–even though move in is one week from today! She says she has 45 min left on the alcohol edu online class and just a few chapters left on the book all the freshman are required to take/read. Really hope those are both done by the time she arrives Saturday.</p>
<p>This all feels rather surreal…</p>
<p>Better now. Had a little meltdown because my ds, seems to be newly bipolar (jk). I know he’s scared (he’s admitted), psyched and excited all at once. It results in lots of roller coaster emotion moments which probably are more familiar to perhaps, parents of girls? </p>
<p>So he came home last night at 10:45 pm after being away from home for the last 4 days going to amusement park with gf and family, and then asks whether I have decided whether he can go to the sleepover at this girl’s house with all the kids (boys/girls) from the prom who he “might never see again” - the one he told me has been drinking and smoking weed all summer before she goes off to the ivy league. </p>
<p>ds: “Please mom, this is the last, very last time we will all be together!”
dear me (dm, aka dumb mom): “So they will be drinking?”
ds: “No!!! We asked and she’s afraid to get in trouble with her mom”
dm: “So then they will be smoking.”
ds: “No!!! her mom smoked in college, so she knows the smell so it would be too easy to get caught.”</p>
<p>Mind you, my brain shuts down succinctly at 11 pm - I get quiet and annoyed if someone talks to me. Mind you he is not talking, he is bouncing off the walls.</p>
<p>dm: “No that is it, I am putting my foot down, you JUST GOT HOME!! Can’t you just go to bed?”
ds: “FINE!!!” (storms off)</p>
<p>Five minutes pass - ds comes in my room (past 11 pm, I am even more annoyed by “requests”)
ds: “Sorry mom, I just had alot of coffee and I was a little hyper. It’s ok because there is going to be a sleepover Friday night after the party” (knew about the party, not the “sleeping”)</p>
<p>Why is it they think the sleepovers with both sexes present are now, post-prom, just fine with Mom? Did I flush part of what little grey matter I have left down the tubes?</p>
<p>Then today, I yell at him to pack and find he has “misplaced” a good ($100) sleeping bag (needed for band camp) and a good columbia raincoat ($60). UGH. </p>
<p>Final straw, “She-who-must-not-be-named” just picked him up for coffee - all decked out in her dark eyeliner, stripper heels, bits of clothing and heavy perfume. I tell you as I told him this am, “I cannot wait for you to go to college!!”</p>
<p>OK, took advantage of the fact we are MI-Day minus 10 to take Son to private sushi dinner tonight, just the 2 of us. (He’ll be with his dad this week through early next week, mid week next week is his 18th bday with the approprite hooplah, then we do the final packing and get on the plane next saturday.) The key mother messages were:</p>
<ol>
<li> Only one risky behvaior at at time.</li>
<li> ALWAYS, Always, always wear a condom.</li>
<li> Drugs are illegal and simply aren’t worth the risk.</li>
<li> Its the best years of your life–volunteer, get involved, have fun. Dont hold back out of fear, shyness, etc.</li>
<li> Look for someone who looks lonely the first day and make a friend.</li>
<li> Move In day will be stressful. I’ll back off. You cut me slack. You can rearrange everything after I’m gone.<br></li>
<li> I wont bug you the first few weeks. But an email, or text or two would be nice. Sundays are a good time to call.</li>
<li>I have every faith in the world in you. You are wonderful. I will always be your biggest fan. Life is good.</li>
</ol>
<p>He didn’t squirm too much. I didn’t repeat myself. No one was harmed in the making of this mother-son bonding moment.</p>
<p>10 days to go…</p>
<p>Collage1 – I’m with you on the kiddo so engrossed in camp life that they can’t focus on college! We were able to visit with DS today but didn’t talk about school stuff much. He will only be home 1.5 days which will include haircut, doctor visit, friend visits, thank you notes, and a cr@pload of laundry 
And packing 
And sleeping off a long-standing camp counselor sleep deficit! </p>
<p>It will all work out just fine :)</p>
<p>Proudmom, great messages. I regret that I won’t have a chance to really have a good private chat like that with my S before he goes. He knows all that stuff, but I’d still like to tell him one more time! I plan on writing it all down (plus some more mundane stuff) and either print it out and give it to him or email it to him at some point either shortly before or shortly after drop off (haven’t figured out all the details yet, as you can see).</p>
<p>Gibson _ I would call the FA office.</p>
<p>Proudmom - nice list.</p>
<p>AK - “bits of clothing” LOL S asked if he could bring his “good friend” on again and off again GF to our place in maine this weekend. Trying to figure out the sleeping arrangements. Usually all the kids sleep in one room. Now 11yo D will be sleeping with them so I know/think there will be nothing going on, but it was so much easier with the same sex friends. </p>
<p>dizzy - would love to see a picture of the cover!</p>
<p>We all went to the Verizon store tonight to get new phones for S & me and 11yo D’s first phone. Yikes the monthly contract is expensive. I usually get the cheap free phone but told H I was going to get a smart phone this year and join the real world. They had a buy one get one free on one of the Droids so that is what S and I got.</p>
<p>@fogfog: Well, they can walk to IKEA and get a mini-van cab back with sofa, or if that doesn’t work I am sure there is some sort of cheap delivery service. IKEA may even rent trucks by the hour like Home Depot. I can’t imagine that they haven’t figured out how to make a profit from the adjacent university!</p>
<p>@mamom: I had my wake-up call on sleeping arrangements last weekend. D and HS friend (female) in sleeping loft in main house. Boys (mother/family friend present and sleeping in guest room in main house) in guest house ( not as fancy as it sounds; a converted shed 15 feet from the back door, but it means we have to leave the outside doors unlocked so guests can come in to use the bathroom). I learned later that family friend’s 16YO son and D’s friend - who had met for the first time at 4pm that day - went down to the dock and had sex at 2:30am. Really?? Was this necessary?? Abusing
hospitality much?</p>
<p>I may need to stop reading this thread for a bit…it’s kind of stressing me out!! Can anyone else feel the angst and anxiety jumping off the screen?!</p>
<p>I think a lot the stress is coming from everyone’s (mostly moms as far as I can tell) paralyzing goal to make the move-in one perfect and complete act. All the words of wisdom, all the supplies, all the furniture, all the details, need to be set and in place in one four hour period…when else in life does that ever happen, right?! Cut yourselves some slack, realize that this is just one day in many days in August and September and things won’t be perfect and that’s OKAY!!! </p>
<p>Flattened useless blue trunk…okay, garbage bags,…unresponsive roommate…okay, they’ll be together for an entire school year, they’ll have it figured out by mid September…sleepovers…I feel you on that one, no answer for you except Advil PM and deep breathing…pushing the feelings of despair at being empty nesters down like a beach ball in a pool…I’m right there with you…but dammit, that beach ball can stay underwater a little while longer, right?</p>
<p>…and to the quilt maker of her DD’s dresses over the years- I am conflicted at how much I hate you and love you at the same time, but seriously, you have my total and utter admiration and your daughter is one lucky girl.</p>
<p>yalemom, I have often had to pull away from CC because I was getting panicky reading here! But I keep coming back like a moth to a flame because you all understand! :)</p>
<p>Yalemom- agreed. but, I am now the other side with D successfully launched. As I said before the anticipation is much worse than the actual event. </p>
<p>We have been doing well with D1 leaving this week until her younger sister had a melt down today and then the tears flowed. D2 has never done well with change. In one week her sister left, she started HS ( a different program than her middle school), and she made varsity softball with all the pressure and an intense coach. We were waiting on it happening, but it really knocked us.</p>
<p>I was so proud of myself for holding it together. Tonight I escaped to bookclub, had a few glasses of wines and a lot of laughs with the moms I have know since first grade. gotta love these type of girlfriends.</p>
<p>Hugs to everyone. I feel overwhelmed and the bittersweet as many of you feel. I told H about the condom issues discussed here. That probably something we don’t need to worry about. S is very bashful around girls and never had a date. I worry he will be left out more than anything else.
S and roommate only communicated two sentences since the assignment came out. I suggested a few things to say to roommate to get acquinted. S said to me “I know what to say!”…OK son… Is not my roommate. I am not saying anymore…<br>
We let S order one cocktail drink himself and shared a couple drinks with us while we were on vacation in the Bahamas (minimum drinking age is 18 there) last week. He developed minor allergy reaction just like I did in my younger years. I don’t know if we did the right thing to let him drink but at same time it is good that we’re aware of the allergy early.</p>
<p>Yalemom, great post!</p>