Parents of the HS Class of 2012 - New beginnings

<p>ckent-- I think this happens often-- it certainly did in my family. My mother was 21 when I was born and I think when she saw I was going off to college to start a life of my own, she had a huge feeling of loss and anger for what she had missed by having a family so young. Especially since you’re the first to go to college (congratulations!), there’s bound to be some jealousy mixed with the pride. It is a really hard, and sad, thing to go through, and will probably get better once you’re at school. I don’t know a good way to resolve it. A friend of D’s is in a similar situation and it breaks my heart-- in her case her mother will be angry and suspicious no matter what she does and she has tried hard to no avail. I’m sure your parents love you and are so proud. This is a tense time even in the best parent-child relationships.</p>

<p>ckent-- all of us are proud of you and wish the very best for you. Enjoy your college life-- enjoy it SO much. Let your parents know how you feel before you go. There may be some anger and tears, and they may not say much or get it. But you should get it off your chest; you’ll feel better for it, and it will mean that you tried. Hugs.</p>

<p>ckent–I am with jaylynn. Wishing you the very best at college!</p>

<p>Not every girl has a mountain of clothes. :)</p>

<p>We live in a fairly modest 1980s-built home with not especially large closets. D purged her wardrobe before packing for college, which was doubtless a good thing to do anyway. However it turned out she has more closet space in her dorm room than at home, and about the same amount of dresser space.</p>

<p>“too much stuff…” brought this classic to mind. RIP.</p>

<p>[George</a> Carlin Talks About “Stuff” - YouTube](<a href=“George Carlin Talks About "Stuff" - YouTube”>George Carlin Talks About "Stuff" - YouTube)</p>

<p>ckent your past posts are a little confusing, you sometimes refer to yourself and sometimes refer to your D. Do you share your account with your parent or something?</p>

<p>Time to call today’s Launches!</p>

<p>Congrats!!</p>

<p>ALREADY LAUNCHED!
7/15 huxleyalum S1
8/08 weatherga’s D
8/10 MemphisGuy’s S
8/11 vlines’s S, TX12DanceMom’s D, RTRMom2’s S
8/12 momophony’s S, DctMom73’s D
8/14 Debbie7452’s D, Lilmom’s D, GoIrish2013 S
8/15 ReneeD7’s D, familyof3boys’ S, woody35’s D, MeteorMom’s S, geogirl’s S, hsmom2dncrs’ S, ready2bdone’s D, Elkyes’ S, katie93mom’s D
8/16 jackief’2 D, psychmomma’s D, mequonmom’s D, irishmary203’s D</p>

<p>STILL TO LAUNCH:
8/17 Oldfort’s D2, michal1’s D, Chrissyblu’s D, Tebow1’s D, 911C2S’s S, gaelicbred’s D, JGCMom’s S
8/18 annasdad’s D, MizzBee’s S, Rushedmom’s D, soh2000’s D, bubmom’s D, TNVandymom’s S, ENsMom’s D
8/19 kleibo’s S, mspearl’s D, nervousnellie1’s S, PinotNoir’s S
8/20 jmnva06’s D, showmom858’s D, Buttercup1735’s D
8/21 college_query’s S, momsings S, stressed56’s D, allboyz’ S
8/22 Mom2M’s D, kc1214mom’s D, Sunshinestatemom’s D, WalkingTessie’s D, Itsthatime’s S, student2D’s S, JenPam’s DS, ohiobassmom’s S, StantonMom’s S, Intouch1520’s D
8/23 eyemamom’s S, Lakemom’s S, PNWedwonk’s S, 1012mom’s D, hawkeyes55’s S, SnowflakeVT’s S, MomOf3Stars’ D, dwhite’s S, Partyoffour’s D
8/24 mimk6’s S, Bucasmom’s S, MommyMommy’s D, IJustDrive’s D, The3bears’ D, tozubri’s D, tozubri’s S-2, CaliMom3’s D, MidniteMom’s S, laserp’s S, CIEE83’s D
8/25 MathinOKC’s D; Mom0809’s S; pacnwmomof2’s S, seiclan’s S, JenPam’s DD, KarGaro’s D, EmptyingNest’s D
8/26 marciemi’s S, kathieh1’s D, disneygals’ D, notakid’s D, MaCappella’s D, Lark123’s D
8/27 Glido’s D, maidenMom’s D, student4ever’s S, talaria’s D
8/28 rerunagain’s S, chemusic’s S
8/29 downtoearth’s D, megan12’s S, tozubri’s S-1, bhmamacita’s D
8/30 Gwen Fairfax’ D, glopop11’s D
8/31 elka67’s S, Swimmomonthego’s S
9/01 jaylynn’s D, saintfan’s D, giterdone’s D, Mary13’s D, MAOnemom’s D
9/05 absweetmarie’s D, dentmom4’s D, huxleyalum’s S2, amtc’s D
9/12 northernwoods S
9/18 Mom2jl’s S, Texaspg D
9/20 SteveC’s S, pcaz’s S, GeminiMom’s D1
9/23 UChiMom’s D</p>

<p>1012mom’s D - Tufts University
5boys’ S - St. Lawrence University
911C2S - Bucknell University
absweetmarie’s D - Kalamazoo College
amtc’s D - Knox College
Angry Dad’s D - U of Chicago
annasdad’s D - Truman State University
AnotherFSUdad’s D - U of Alabama Honors College
bbarty - Macalester
BeeZeeMom’s S - U of California at San Diego
bhmamacita’s D - Wesleyan University
BluePoodle’s D - Case Western Reserve University
BobWallace’s D - Agnes Scott College
Bubmom’s D - American University
Bucasmom’s S - U of Connecticut
Buttercup1735’s D - Pepperdine
Cal1983’s S - William & Mary
CaliMom3’s D - Georgetown University
CalmlyiChaotic’s D - Sewanee, The University of the South
Chardo’s S - U of Alabama
cheekymonkey’s S - Tufts
chemusic’s S - Vassar College
Chrissyblu’s D - UC Berkeley
CIEE83’s D - Yale
cindymoose’s Twin A - MIT
collconf01’s D - Kenyon College
college<em>query’s S - Bowdoin College
commasplice’s S - Columbia University
Cortana431 - Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
CPUscientist3000 - Harvard
Creekland’s S - U of Rochester
DctMom73’s D - Oklahoma State University
Debbie7452’s D - Texas A&M
dentmom4’s D - Kalamazoo College
disneygals’ D - Adelphi
downtoearth’s D - Northeastern
dwhite’s D - Wake Forest
Elka67’s S - Rutgers
ELKyes’ S - College of Charleston Honors
EmptyingNest’s D - Kenyon
ENsMom’s D - McGill University
Everythingbut’s S - Lafayette
eyeamamom’s S - U of Rochester
familyof3boys’ S - Hiram
fiddlinmom’s S - College of Wooster
forthree’s D - Case Western
fourkidsmom’s D - NYU Tisch
fredricksdottir’s S - U of Chicago
gaelicbred’s D - Kenyon
GeminiMom’s D1 - Northwestern
GeminiMom’s D2 - Cornell
geogirl1’s S - U of Miami
giterdone’s D - U of St Thomas
Glido’s D – Wellesley
glopop11’s D – Landmark College
GoIrish2013’s S - Indiana U
Gourmetmom’s S - Harvard
gradygrad’s D - NYU
Gwen Fairfax’s D - The Hartt School (@ Univ of Hartford)
hawkeyes55’s S - Temple University
Highbury’s D - U of Chicago
hookedondwd S - Rochester Institute of Technology
hsmom2dncrs’ S - U of Notre Dame
hutch14’s D - Carleton
HuxleyAlum’s S1 - Rose-Hulman
HuxleyAlum’s S2 - Knox College
IJustDrive’s D - Yale University
Illyria’s D - St. Mary’s College of MD
intouch1520’s D - Syracuse University
irishmary203’s D - U of Notre Dame
Itsthatime’s S - Columbia University
jackief’s D - Case Western Reserve University
jasper44’s D - Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
Jaylynn’s D - University of San Diego
JenPam’s D - U of Maryland
JenPam’s S - U of Maryland
JGCMom’s S - U of Central Florida
jmnva06’s D - Beloit
jupiter1’s S - U of Chicago
Kandjad’s D - U of Alabama
KareninCA’s D - Lewis and Clark
KarGaro’s D - Towson University
kathieh1’s D – Pomona
katie93mom’s D – Southern Methodist University
kc1214mom’s D - Syracuse
Kleibo’s S - Carnegie Mellon
kttmom’s S - William & Mary
Lakemom’s S - University of Rochester
Lark123’s D - Pomona
laserp’s S - Georgetown
lilmom’s D - Morehead State
lillypod’s S - Amherst
linnylu’s D - U of Alabama
lisabees’ S - Oberlin
lovemykids2’s S - U of Alabama
MaCappella’s D - Amherst
maidenMom’s D - Wellesley
MAOnemom’s D - Princeton
marciemi’s S - MIT
Mary13’s D - U of St Thomas
MASSMOM1’s D - Purdue
mathinokc’s D - Olin
megan12’s S - Haverford
MemphisGuy’s S - U of Alabama
mequonmom’s D - Rollins College
MeteorMom’s S - Univ of Miami
MidniteMom’s S - Yale
MidwestMom2Kids</em>’ S - U of Mississippi
mihcal1’s D - UC Berkeley
mimk6’s S - Yale
Missread’s D - U of Alabama
MizzBee’s S - Wabash
Mom0809’s S - Sewanee, The University of the South
Mom2jl’s S - Stanford
Mom2M’s D - USC
Mom60’s D - UC Davis
MomfromTN’s D – Pitzer College
MommyMommy’s D - U of Vermont
momof2inma’s S – Tufts
MomOf3Stars’ D – The University of the Arts
Momsie’s D - NYU Florence
momsings’ S - Chapman University
mother<em>of</em>perl’s T1 - Yale
mother<em>of</em>perl’s T2 - MIT
mspearl’s D - Ohio State
Mutti2012’s S - U of Chicago
NDSmom’s S - U of Alabama
nearandfar’s S - University of Notre Dame
nervousnellie1’s S - Ohio State
newtothismom’s D - Bryant University
NJMom23s’s S - Cornell
nly2012’s S - Lewis and Clark
northernwoods’ S - Northwestern
notakid’s D - Barnard
NWMom2’s D - Case Western Reserve University
ohiobassmom’s S - Capital University (conservatory of music)
ohksaj04’s D - Denison
oldfort’s D - Cornell
pacnwmomof2’s S - Colorado College
pamayawaa’s D - WUSTL
partyoffour’s D1 - Denison
pathways D - Umass Lowell
pcaz’ S - Northwestern Univ
performersmom’s D - Yale
pghmomof2’s S - University of Oklahoma
PinotNoir’s S - U of Rochester
PNWedwonk’s S - U of Rochester
PRJ’s D - NYU
Proudmama3’s S - U of Alabama
psychmom’s S - NYU
Psychmomma’s D - Southern Illinois University
pullinghair’s D - Duke
rayrick’s D - Olin
ready2bdone’s D - Dartmouth College
ReneeD7’s D - Tulane
rerunagain’s S - Swarthmore
rescue23’s D - Willamette University
rushedmom’s D - Texas A&M
S2012d2017’s S - Davidson
Sactonative’s S - U of Alabama
saintfan’s D - St Olaf
sbjdorlo’s S - MIT
seiclan’s S - Emory
sewhappy’s D - Princeton
shootingsilver - U of Chicago
showmom858’s D - FIT (Fashion Institute of Technology)
skibum4’s S - MIT
Sniner D - U of Alabama
Snowdog’s D - USC
SnowflakeVT’s S - St. Lawrence U
SoClose’s S - Bryant University
soh2000’s D - UNC - Chapel Hill
solat10’s D - U of Alabama
StantonMom’s S - Florida State University College of Motion Picture Arts (Film School)
SteveC’s S - Northwestern University
stressed56’s D - College of the Holy Cross (Worcester, MA)
student4ever’s S - Harvard
sujormik’s D - Northeastern University
sunmachine’s S2 - Willamette
Sunshinestatemom’s D - Florida State University
Swimmomonthego’s S - Loyola University, Maryland
talaria’s D - Univ of Pennsylvania
Tebow1’s D - Univ of Notre Dame
Texaspg’s D - Stanford
The3bears’ D - Yale
TNVandymom’s S - Vanderbilt
tozubri’s D - Franklin & Marshall
tozubri’s S1 - RIT
tozubri’s S2 - U of New Hampshire
UChiMom’s D - University of Chicago
vlines’ S - U of Alabama
WalkingTessie’s D - Syracuse University
wdaveo’s S - U of Alabama
weatherga’s D - U of Georgia
Woody35’s D - Earlham College
xxjcat’s - U of Alabama
Yalemom16’s S - Yale
ypcccu’s S - Princeton</p>

<p>COLLEGES ATTENDING:</p>

<p>Adelphi - disneygals’ D
Agnes Scott College - BobWallace’s D
American University - bubmom’s D
Amherst - MaCappella’s D, lillypod’s S
Barnard - notakid’s D
Beloit - jmnva06’s D
Bowdoin - college<em>query’s S
Bryant University - newtothismom’s D, SoClose’s S
Bucknell - 911C2S
Capital University (conservatory of music) - ohiobassmom’s S
Carleton - hutch14’s D
Carnegie Mellon - Kleibo’s S
Case Western Reserve University - BluePoodle’s D, forthree’s D, jackief’s D, NWMom2’s D
Chapman University- momsings’ S
College of Charleston Honors - ELKyes’ S
College of the Holy Cross (Worcester, MA) - stressed56’s D
College of Wooster - fiddlinmom’s S
Colorado College - pacnwmomof2’s S
Columbia University - commasplice’s S, Itsthatime’s S
Cornell - GeminiMom’s D2, NJMom23’s S, oldfort’s D
Dartmouth College - ready2bdone’s D
Davidson - S2012d2017’s S
Denison - ohksaj04’s D, partyoffour’s D1
Duke - pullinghair’s D
Earlham College - Woody35’s D
Emory - seiclan’s S
FIT (Fashion Institute of Technology) - showmom858’s D
Florida State University - Sunshinestatemom’s D
Florida State University College of Motion Picture Arts (Film School) - StantonMom’s S
Franklin & Marshall - tozubri’s D
Georgetown University - CaliMom3’s D, laserp’s S
Hartt School, The (@ Univ of Hartford) - Gwen Fairfax’ D
Harvard - CPUscientist3000, student4ever’s S, Gourmetmom’s S
Haverford - Megan12’s S
Hiram - familyof3boys’ S
Indiana U - GoIrish2013’s S
Kalamazoo College - absweetmarie’s D, dentmom4’s D
Kenyon - collconf01’s D, gaelicbred’s D, EmptyingNest’s D
Knox - amtc’s D, HuxleyAlum’s S2
Lafayette - Everythingbut’s S
Landmark College - glopop11’s D
Lewis and Clark - KareninCA’s D, nly2012’s S
Loyola University, Maryland - Swimmomonthego’s S
Macalester - bbarty
McGill University - ENsMom’s D
MIT - cindymoose’s Twin A, mother</em>of<em>perl’s T2, sbjdorlo’s S, skibum4’s S, marciemi’s S
Morehead State - lilmom’s D
Northeastern - downtoearth’s D, sujormik’s D
Northwestern - GeminiMom’s D1, northernwoods’ S, SteveC’s S, pcaz’ S
NYU - fourkidsmom’s D, gradygrad’s D, PRJ’s D, psychmom’s S
NYU Florence - Momsie’s D
Oberlin - lisabees’s S
Ohio State - mspearl’s D, nervousnellie1’s S
Oklahoma State University - DctMom73’s D
Olin - mathinokc’s D, rayrick’s D
Pepperdine - Buttercup1735’s D
Pitzer College - MomfromTN’s D
Pomona - kathieh1’s D, Lark123’s D
Princeton - ypcccu’s S, MAOnemom’s D, Sewhappy’s D
Purdue - MASSMOM1’s D
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute - Cortana431, jasper44’s D
Rochester Institute of Technology - hookedondwd’s S, tozubri’s S1
Rollins College - mequonmom’s D
Rose-Hulman - HuxleyAlum’s S1
Rutgers - Elka67’s S1
Sewanee, The University of the South - CalmlyiChaotic’s D, Mom0809’s S
Southern Illinois University - Psychmomma’s D
Southern Methodist University - katie93mom’s D
St. Lawrence University - 5boys’ S, SnowflakeVT’s S
St. Mary’s College of MD - Illyria’s D
St. Olaf - saintfan’s D
Stanford - Texaspg’s D, Mom2jl’s S
Swarthmore - rerunagain’s S
Syracuse University - intouch1520’s D, kc1214mom’s
D, WalkingTessie’s D
Temple University - hawkeyes55’s S
Texas A&M - Debbie7452’s D, rushedmom’s D
Towson University - KarGaro’s D
Truman State University - annasdad’s D
Tufts University - 1012mom’s D, momof2inma’s S, cheekymonkey’s S
Tulane - ReneeD7’s D
U of Alabama - Chardo’s S, Kandjad’s D, linnylu’s D, lovemykids2’s S, MemphisGuy’s S, Missread’s D, NDSmom’s S, Proudmama3’s S, Sactonative’s S, Sniner’s D, solat10’s D, vlines’ S, wdaveo’s S, xxjcat, AnotherFSUdad’s D
U of California at Berkeley - Chrissyblu’s D, mihcal1’s D
U of California at Davis - Mom60’s D
U of California at San Diego - BeeZeeMom’s S
U of Central Florida - JGCMom’s S
U of Chicago - Angry Dad’s D, fredricksdottir’s S, Highbury’s D, jupiter1’s S, Mutti2012’s S, shootingsilver, UChiMom’s D
U of Connecticut - Bucasmom’s S
U of Georgia - weatherga’s D
U of Maryland - JenPam’s D, JenPam’s S
U of Massachusetts (Lowell) - pathways’ D
U of Miami - geogirl1’s S, MeteorMom’s S
U of Mississippi - MidwestMom2Kids</em> S
U of New Hampshire - tozubri’s S2
U of North Carolina - Chapel Hill: soh2000’s D
U of Notre Dame - hsmom2dncrs’ S, Tebow1’s D, nearandfar’s S, irishmary203’s D
U of Oklahoma - pghmomof2’s S
U of Pennsylvania - talaria’s D
U of Rochester - Creekland’s S, eyeamamom’s S, PinotNoir’s S, PNWedwonk’s S, Lakemom’s S
U of San Diego - Jaylynn’s D
U of St Thomas - giterdone D, Mary13’s D
U of the Arts, The – MomOf3Stars’ D
U of Vermont - MommyMommy’s D
USC - Mom2M’s D, Snowdog’s D
Vanderbilt - TNVandymom’s S
Vassar - chemusic’s S
Wabash - MizzBee’s S
Wake Forest - dwhite’s D
Wellesley - Glido’s D, maidenMom’s D
Wesleyan - bhmamacita’s D
Willamette University - rescue23’s D, sunmachine’s S2
William & Mary - Cal1983’s S, kttmom’s S
WUSTL - pamayawaa’s D
Yale - IJustDrive’s D, mimk6’s S, mother<em>of</em>perl’s T1, performersmom’s D, The3bears’ D, Yalemom16’s S, MidniteMom’s S, CIEE83’s D</p>

<p>Woohoo, jackief, psychmomma, mequonmom, irishmary203!!!</p>

<p>Let us know how it’s going!</p>

<p>Oldfort, michal1, Chrissyblu, Tebow1, 911C2S, gaelicbred, JGCMom - You’re on deck! </p>

<p>:):):):):):):):)</p>

<p>Just want everyone to know that my DS has survived 2 1/2 months with 1 pair of shorts, one shirt, a pair of shoes, a backpack, a sleeping bag and pad, a headlamp, a hat, hiking poles and an i-phone. Remember… LESS IS MORE…LOL!!! I know this is probably more for the girls than the guys, but my DS14 is a shoe and clothes horse… so who knows.</p>

<p>eyemamom… AHHH… I totally know where your coming from with the missing chaperone…my kids are at least an hour away from their HS, and now I have to go back to driving… it was SOOOO nice while it lasted.</p>

<p>We are driving up right now, half an hour from the school. D2 is very quiet.</p>

<p>Car would be allowed (and convenient) at Olin, but D hasn’t finished her DL practice hours. At the moment, I’m glad we’re not adding a car to the list of things to buy. There are shuttles and other students with cars and mass transit; she will survive.</p>

<p>They do have zipcars available, but you have to be at least 18 to drive a zipcar.</p>

<p>My son gave me a big hug this morning at 5:30 a.m. then drove off with his dad for the 5.5 hour drive to CSU. Now I have two sons there - and I am officially an empty nester!! What a strange feeling. I am not as sad as I thought I would be. He was ready to go and I was ready, too. The cycle of life.</p>

<p>I’m struggling a bit with the less is more concept. Last night I unearthed two down jackets, both hand-me-downs. One was a jacket my mother-in-law gave DH and I (we each got one) when we married almost 33 years ago. Still in great shape (maybe because we live in SoCal where you basically never need a down jacket and, yes, it was a strange gift to start with). Then I found DD’s college jacket which is a different style and very warm. We were so torn that I put them both in the pile to ship which part of me knows is insane. Also, I now have three warm hats in the ship pile. It’s really hard for a SoCal mom to hold back from shipping every warm thing in the house to New England. I figure by spring he’ll bring home one of the jackets and by then he’ll probably have switched over to wool coats anyhow. We are on deck. DS leaves Saturday for a pre-orientation trip and I’ll meet up with him next week. But all packing and shipping happens today/tomorrow.</p>

<p>Giterdone, thanks for the link to the George Carlin video. Needed that laugh today and he was alwasy one of my favorites! What a genius…</p>

<p>A week to go for us. We had no fouling of the nest at all, but there are still seven days left and a lot can happen in that time! He’s taken to signing off all his texts with “Love you mom.” Sniff! He seems to be getting excited and still not showing a lot of nervousness. His pile of stuff has grown, but it’s still pretty manageable. </p>

<p>DH has been complaining about any and all purchases (happen to hit a lull in the consulting business just now, bad timing), but there are certain things we have to get. I suppose I could cut the old twin sheets and add a strip in to make them long enough, but new twin XL sheets for $20 seemed like a better idea! DH went to Big State U 30 miles from home, so all this is new to him. I pointed out that if I buy laundry detergent, shampoo and so on here I will look for bargains and there’s no sales tax. If ds buys it at school, he’ll have to walk to the nearest convenience store and it will cost more! DH still mumbles “Nobody bought detergent for me.” I show great restraint and don’t point out that I have spent the last 18 years doing what his mom didn’t so that our kids would never resentfully say “Nobody ever did … for me!” </p>

<p>5boys: There are some fires here in Oregon and they’ve been announcing some closures of the PCT. I think the fires are considerably north of where you ds is. Hope his travels are fire-free and safe.</p>

<p>Looking forward to hearing how all the launches are going!</p>

<p>Thank you for the kind words everyone (mamita, swimmomonthego, MommyMommy, and many more). It won’t be easy, but I will be looking for the right moment to have a conversation with them before I leave because I agree that it is important. If it turns out that this is just their means of coping and not as a result of something else, I will find it easier to accept how they’ve been towards me during those seemingly inevitable bouts of homesickness. You’ve all been so reassuring.</p>

<p>rerunagain - Despite all of this, I’m very excited for Swat. Good luck to you and your son with the trip!</p>

<p>For everyone (rightfully) confused about my posting history: my parents know I come here frequently to read advice and news shared here, especially on the Parent forum, and when they’ve had particularly pressing questions (only once or twice) they have asked me to post what they’ve written under my own username instead of creating their own account to keep tabs on. This has always been my own CC account; I hope this clears things up.</p>

<p>ckent–sounds like you have a good plan for approaching your parents. Have fun in your final preparations and packing getting ready for orientation. Swarthmore is a wonderful place (I went there too as did my H). S is excited to go make it his own!</p>

<p>ckent - goodluck. dont worry too much about your parents. they are the adults.</p>

<p>ckent1789-I am hoping this is just their way of coping and you can get things cleared up. Trust me-this is an especially stressful time and I am choosing to lash out at my co-workers instead of my S. Doesn’t help that I am absolutely hating my job at the moment. You are getting ready to start a wonderful part of your life and will have so many (hopefully fond) memories and will figure out who you are…I am exited for you and all of the other “kids” who get to do this! Embrace it! If I could do it over again, I would have taken a different route but am grateful I get to watch this experience through my S’s eyes.</p>

<p>On that note…time for S to get packing and I will be there to prod him along. He leaves Sunday morning!</p>

<p>I take back everything I said earlier about overpacking. I’ve been on DS all day to organize and pack so we could go to the UPS store to ship everything. Turns out, the only thing we need to package and ship are all his posters and then there will be a few books I need to ship book rate after he leaves. Everything – including a duvet cover, a set of sheets, some books, school supplies, shoes, all winter items but warmest jackets (which will go either on my back or in my carry-on) fit in two suitcases and we are under the weight limit. (Plus the stuff in his duffel bag he is taking to pre-orientation.) I am so excited! In fact, I might just get the package for the posters and carry them on the plane.</p>