<p>megan - This link has a pretty extensive list:</p>
<p>[What</a> to Bring to College](<a href=“http://www.thedormitoryonline.com/WhattoBringtoCollege.html]What”>http://www.thedormitoryonline.com/WhattoBringtoCollege.html)</p>
<p>Thanks all! I will keep you guys posted. Good luck to everyone else still to launch!</p>
<p>Chatted with son today and he seems fine. He’s made it to the cafeteria, already figured out one was much better than the other. Said the RA is good about getting them all together. He is hanging in other kids rooms, though he said no one has come to his room since his is at the end of the hall. He thinks he knows what classes to take and meets with the advisor tomorrow. Lots of help available for registration. He got a migraine last night (I’m sure stress induced) but bayer took care of it. He’s participating and seems like once classes start and he has a schedule he’ll be feeling way better.</p>
<p>Of course he wouldn’t really talk much about potential friends - he’s always been pretty quiet about that. I don’t really know what he’s doing with his time, but that is my issue not his. </p>
<p>His roomie hasn’t really been around. That will end up being fine by him, though I wish they hung out together more right now.</p>
<p>I am absolutely addicted to reading all these launch stories… and I have to admit a little sad. As much as I support what my DS is doing, I wish I was in in all this launching stuff. A few thoughts from the outside to all my wackaloons!</p>
<p>eyemom… I am sure your S will be fine… a week orientation, IMHO, is way too long. My thoughts are with you and your S this week dealing with the stress of trying to figure out how your S is doing. </p>
<p>Woody…OMG!!! Enough said…</p>
<p>seicaln… Emory sounds like a special place… wish my kids had better grades to add to list.LOL!!</p>
<p>Love the NYU launch story:-)) My DS14 has it at the top of his list…BFA theater kid… but I always think in the back of mind it is so big and unfriendly. Glad to hear a positive story about it and your D’s first few days there.</p>
<p>My S is now almost to WA, and I have booked my flight to Seattle. I will drive with my parents to Vancouver to meet him there. I can’t believe that in almost 3 weeks I will have my arms around my handsome mountain man. H is SO sad he can’t go as his work is reallly crazy right now( self-employed). But, I am throwing a huge party for my DS when we return. </p>
<p>All the drinking stories are intersting. I know my S has seen a lot of it on the trail… crazy as that sounds. But remember, the majority of people on the trail are 30-40 year old guys. He has mentioned many a tequilla induced crazy nights… not by DS, so he just thinks it is funny. I know once in college, he will be more than ready to handle that challenge. My biggest worry with him is that he will find the whole freshman thing immature.</p>
<p>The launch was great, the university did a wonderful job and my son seems very happy, with one minor exception - he is having a hard time sleeping!! I think its just the excitement of it all, the long orientation schedule, etc. Of course, it has only been 2 nights but he is the kind of kid that really needs sleep or he gets a bit wacky. He sounds frustrated but, of course, I am worried because that is what I do best! Any advice???</p>
<p>Very occasional use of a couple of Tylenol PM can help once in awhile. The “pm” is simply Benadryl. Have him take two an hour to two hours before he goes to bed. Works well for some people.</p>
<p>5boys - I left school for a year and when I came back I was several years more mature than my classmates. That being said - it will be nice for your son to not be flustered going to this new environment and I think he’ll be way ahead of the game.</p>
<p>dwhite - I’ve been worrying myself. But I keep coming back to - what am I going to do about it? This is where they take over their lives. And I realized my worrying isn’t going to change anything. And his experience is not my experience. They will find their way. It reminds me of when they were little - if they were hungry enough they would eat, when they got tired enough they would sleep. As long as they know they can call us and talk to us about anything and I remain supportive what else can I do? As long as he signs up for the right classes and is eating I can’t tell him how to live his life. I’ve been talking to myself all day giving myself pep talks and really thinking through my role in his life right now.</p>
<p>One of my husband’s partners, a mom of twins who went to different colleges, gave me some good advice. When she would get a call about a problem (some small, some big) from one of her sons, she trained herself to say:</p>
<p>“Can you think of someone there who can help you with this problem?”
and/or
“Can you think of something you can do there to help solve this problem?”</p>
<p>thereby putting an idea in their heads that there WAS a way to do problem solving there, where they were, with their own problem-solving skills. She didn’t NOT help them, but she tried to instill a “how can I fix this” idea in their heads first. She said it did bring results; they’re happy independent young men.</p>
<p>Thanks Seiclan! Just double checking that I didn’t miss anything before sending S off to school!</p>
<p>Launched my younger-by-three-minutes daughter last weekend fairly uneventfully – minus her pillows. Oops! Luckily my husband drew the short straw for the Target run since I am a better unpacker. Since her sister doesn’t launch for 3.5 more weeks, it feels like D2 is just away at camp. We did Skype with her yesterday and all seems good.</p>
<p>I just ordered her the autumn cookie sampler from Cheryl’s – $9.99 plus tax for 6 cookies, delivered. I figured Cheryl’s has had more practice shipping cookies than I have.</p>
<p><a href=“http://www.cheryls.com/autumn-cookie-sampler.product.3200005837.400022482[/url]”>http://www.cheryls.com/autumn-cookie-sampler.product.3200005837.400022482</a></p>
<p>@eyemamom - our sons sound very similar. Mine left a week ago and I’ve worried on and off since then whether he is making friends, is he lonely, would he tell us if he was? He’s always been somewhat quiet and reserved. It took him 6 mths to warm up in kindergarten. He hasn’t initiated any communication with us which I guess should be a good sign (we’ve emailed and texted him to which he’s responded), and finally called home today after getting a few hints from my husband and I. Says he’s doing well but I continue to worry which I know isn’t doing me any good. Suppose I need to be giving myself pep talks too.</p>
<p>Daughter’s launch went well, though it took a lot longer than her twin brother’s launch yesterday. She and her roommate wanted everything to look just so! It’s strange having them both away at school. I’m going to get takeout and go to bed early so I can start fresh tomorrow and be a good mom to my 14-year-old.</p>
<p>I am loving reading all the launch stories.
My oldest is a slow to adjust personality. She is older now but that trait still comes out each time she makes a move. She is 3 months into a 6 month out of the country job and I am just starting to hear in her voice that she is getting over the hump. The big difference now is that she has learned enough about herself and when she gets uncomfortable she can chant I know this will pass.
My class of 2016 D and I went dorm shopping again today. I had to laugh and think of this thread at the Mom and Son combinations we observed. The boys looking totally uncomfortable at BB and Beyond and the Mom’s holding up different comforters asking for some sign of interest in the process.</p>
<p>mom60, that is why I shopped alone and just asked my son what color he wanted. What is neat is I bought him a fiber filled topper and after his first nite sleep in the dorm he said, “This thing is great! I want one on my bed at home!”</p>
<p>So while so many of you are launching, we made the first trip down after the move. I had to see my mom in the nursing home, and we popped in to bring some t-shirts that can be destroyed. My fashionista appears to have forgotten casual clothes. We haw his cold dorm and study rooms and I will admit to putting on a brave face. The bunkbeds are three-deep, fitting six men to a room and they have crammed 4 desks in a small room. He has made some amazing friends and has made it through his first weekend. </p>
<p>He was so busy with his friends that he even turned down free lunch with us.</p>
<p>5boys, I’ll send you a PM when I get back, but rest assured your S will like SLU when he gets here. I had one moment of tears, but my S looked so happy every time I looked over at him. The ceremony was great and I feel really satisfied about handing him off. The pre-orientation trip was also a great time of outdoors and bonding, especially the last night when all the groups were at same campground</p>
<p>My D is officially launched and we are back home. Last night, the kids had their first mandatory official orientation meeting at 8 PM, not-so-coincidentally at the same time as a dessert reception for the parents (yum, fondue!).</p>
<p>Move-in was wonderful. We parked and they had a couple of paperwork stations to go through, including registering for the emergency system and getting their IDs made. The school put the students’ room keys in their mailboxes, so they had to learn to open their mailboxes.</p>
<p>Then, it was time to drive around to the dorm. They opened some normally pedestrian ways to traffic and we drove right up to the door where a group of people met us and unloaded the car onto a large cart and took it to her room for us. Easy-peasy.</p>
<p>Her roommate seems great. The girls picked beds/wardrobes with no problem and the unpacking was accomplished pretty quickly. Mine forgot her laundry bag and pencils, both easily remedied by a quick trip to the store.</p>
<p>School doesn’t start until Thursday, but the school plans on keeping them busy full-time through at least Tuesday. She’s computer-less until Tuesday, so I don’t anticipate hearing much from her until then (she’s much more of an e-mail person than a phone or text person).</p>
<p>AND, I also got to meet rayrick and his family (including his adorable dog).</p>
<p>Totally chaotic scene at the NYU move-in…thank goodness the sun was shining. We waited on the line to the elevator for an hour…most of us dragged along our mini-mountains, but some lucky people got big orange carts. OMG, everyone was so unbelievably friendly…right behind me, a pillar of dorm stuff crashed and people rushed to help the beleagured family…staff was handing out water bottles and fruit bars on an SOS basis…it was all so unforgettably absurd, especially compared to my D’s quiet LAC. Of course my S’s room had to be on the 16th (out of 18) floor and All THE WAY down the hall…but the view was great and oh so exciting…until we ended up walking down the stairs because the elevators took too long…and all these kids zoomed by me and I felt about 100 years old. No need to pass the excedrin because I have already downed a bunch…</p>
<p>My D seems to be having fun at college (maybe a little too much fun…it doesn’t sound like she is getting much sleep)…I am trying to let the fact that she seems to be happy and feeling settled there keep me from aching inside so much…(isn’t really working, but I keep trying)
The most unsettling part started with a text from her mid day on friday…and I quote…“Did I have a booster shot for the mumps?”…Uh, yeah, but WHY are you asking? Seems her roommate has been sick for several days and was diagnosed with the Mumps on Friday! Yikes! My D is bringing her meals to the room for her (she isn’t suppose to go out) and checking on her (she sounds like she has a mild case so far…sort of flu-like symptoms but with very swollen lymph glands)
Now I know my D has had all vaccinations, but they don’t always produce immunity (case in point after her varicella vaccines my D managed to get the chicken pox, although a very mild case) so now I am worrying about her getting sick! Not much I can do as she has clearly already been exposed…so I just stew about it and worry and check airfare rates in case she does get sick and I need to head down to care for her! It was so much easier when she was just down the hall in her own bedroom!</p>
<p>eyemamom - I’m glad to hear your S is feeling good about things. I guess a missing roommate is better than an annoying roommate?</p>
<p>Lakemom - fiber filled topper? Link please!</p>
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<p>JenPam - that’s close to what I’ve been thinking tonight too! H is also out of town, so it’s just me and S15. Weird.</p>
<p>Psychmom - we have an acquaintance going to NYU this year to study theater. Pictures on facebook are amazing - what a location!</p>
<p>mumps? Oh no. Crossing fingers for vaccines to do their stuff…</p>
<p>Psychmom, I am glad your son’s move went well. My daughter is on the 13th floor of her NYU dorm and she said that her roommate carried most of her stuff up the stairs. We launched our daughter twice–once at the beginning of the summer for an internship and again last week into her “real” dorm. Kind of bummed to have missed all of the activity today, but not sorry to have missed taking the stairs. It sounds like a lot of fun is being had. </p>
<p>I don’t post often–but I love reading all of your stories. Thanks for sharing!</p>