<p>Woohoo woody!!!</p>
<p>Safe travels Woody!!!</p>
<p>S**t! I mean, Woohoo, Woody!!! Safe travels!</p>
<p>Hope the drive and drop off go well Woody!</p>
<p>My son had a ton of thank you notes to write. I offered to address and stamp the envelopes once they were written, and that helped him out a lot. I think he actually was truly grateful for the pouring out of well wishes! But if he hadn’t done it, there would have been hell to pay on my end. I don’t care if he is 18. Somethings just need to get done.</p>
<p>We leave on Wed. for Charleston!!! Very excited. Really nervous too. Hope all is ok for him. This is my first to college, so I am definitely wackaloon over this last week!</p>
<p>DD is finishing her Thank You notes today. We start our drive to launch in 5 short days. DW is taking off from work on Thursday/Friday to help with packing.</p>
<p>Thank you. We will skype him and see what happens. We talked about him everyday. My husband is a worried-type. We have only one son. Sometimes I wish we have more.</p>
<p>Woody - woohooo! You go wackaloon! Have a great trip and fill us in on all drama along the way.</p>
<p>For thank you notes - my kids went to a private school their entire lives and way back when the school was really great they actually learned how to write proper thank you notes in 2nd grade. It actually taught me how to write one too. I wish I had known before my wedding, showers, babies, etc that you aren’t supposed to start a thank you note with the words “thank you”. Who knew? But 10 years later, we’ve got it down.</p>
<p>Thanks so much for the offer. I will discuss with him and his grandma first about what he/they plan to do. Reading this thread really makes me laugh. Thank-you notes? In the past, his grandma would write a few for him and posted. All other notes were left in the suitcase.</p>
<p>Mihcal, how is your D? Better, I hope.</p>
<p>Yay Woody, and good launching luck to you.</p>
<p>I can’t believe all the wackaloon wisdom teeth action this summer! PN, I hope it goes well with your older S and without a single complication to be had.</p>
<p>S is having a grand time connecting with all of his friends–he just has a few things on the to do list this week, as do I. </p>
<p>I was pretty pushy about him getting his thank you notes done in a fairly timely matter earlier this summer. I set his thank you cards at his place at the kitchen table and had him do 3 or 4 at a time. The expectation was he had to do them before he was allowed to go out with friends (an agreement between us). I also gave him guidance when he was stumped with what to say. It was a fairly herculean task but breaking it down was good for him. Most of these kids don’t have much letter writing experience, so they need help with it. It really is different from popping off an email or writing a text.</p>
<p>Just a little humor to start the week for those parents who have already dropped your student off and those who are getting ready to come to campus together we will all make it through:</p>
<p>[First</a> Day Of School Vs. First Day Of College Comic | Funny Pics, Funny Gifs, Funny Videos, Funny Artists](<a href=“Two Circus Elephants Hug Happily After Being Separated For More Than 22 Years”>Two Circus Elephants Hug Happily After Being Separated For More Than 22 Years)</p>
<p>Thanks for all the good wishes for D. Unfortunately, the fever is worse, 101.5F this morning. Packing and work will just have to wait. </p>
<p>I suppose I’m grateful that she got sick now, at home. It’d be worse if she’d been newly installed in the dorms, without anyone to take care of her, and missing out on all the beginning-of-school stuff.</p>
<p>A true wackaloon tactic for getting thank you notes written:</p>
<p>I tore up a check for $200.</p>
<p>I told him that if he couldn’t be bothered to write the notes, he couldn’t accept the money. The next day he finished his notes, including one to the $200 giver (my brother). I emailed my brother and described the scenerio. He was kind enough to send a check for $202.69. He figured the extra $2+ would cover some personalized note paper for my S.</p>
<p>mihcal: Sorry that your D is sick. Hopefully some rest and tylenol will have her feeling better soon. </p>
<p>Now is a great time to make sure kids know how to evaluate their symptoms. My S will go to school with a thermometer, various fever/pain reducers, cold medicines, immodium, pepto bismal, etc.</p>
<p>Micah - wishing your DD a speedy recovery.</p>
<p>Getting anxious about the packing here. You guys are talking about many suitcases. We thought DS’s clothes would all fit in 2 suitcases, which we are checking on the plane. Guess if need be we can ship him more. I mean what do most boys need? I figured 4 weeks of underwear and socks but 2 weeks of t shirts and shorts. Three or four pair of jeans, two chinos or khaki slacks, 4 button down shirts, two pairs of sneakers, one pair of sperrys, one pair of nice flip flops and cheap shower flip flops, rain slicker or poncho, three jackets of varying warmth, 2 hoodies, two bathing suits (in case he does swimming for his PE credit)…what am I missing?</p>
<p>We are finally rolling! Passing out of Texas in about 20 minutes. You know it’s not real til you’re out of Texas. :)</p>
<p>Have a nice launch Woody!</p>
<p>Success! D reduced her load by one suitcase. The transporter will be picking up her car this afternoon and we’re off this evening. Hoping the flights are on time as we connect halfway. My friend gave me coupons for in flight drinks. I asked her what kind of drinks and she replied, “the kind you’ll need.” 
Hmm, we should make time for a sushi
dinner since it will be months before she can have that again!</p>
<p>Seiclan - lose the extra 2 wks of socks and underwear or he’ll never, ever launder his other clothes! Lose a jacket and one swimsuit. You will have lots more space for important things like maybe a Ziplock bag of homemade cookies from mom. :)</p>
<p>“I haven’t killed her yet but earlier today I imagined the headlines in tomorrow’s local newspaper and it wasn’t pretty.”</p>
<p>Love it, Woody!!! Hopefully the trip to college won’t end Thelma and Louise style! ;)</p>