DS is working the latest shift this week. He will likely have dinner with us each night before work and then sleep quite late the next day. Better him than me! Late hours have never really been my thing.
DDā16 heads to Italy on Thursday for a brief study abroad experience that will earn her 3 credits. Then home for 3ish weeks and then back to MU for sophomore year! Wow, summer went fast. She just got back from a volunteer gig that she has done for the past two summers, next year it will be in August and she was saying, āI donāt think it will be on my agenda next summerā and proceeded to talk about staying at school/internships and a job.
Iām glad everyoneās summer is going well. In our case, Iām about ready to ship the kid back to school. Donāt get me wrong, I love her to death, but its really hard when sometimes she expects adult privileges and other times she expects me to take care of her like sheās still a little kid. Its been a trying summer. I think this will be her last summer home. Next year she plans to do a study abroad over the summer and the following year she is hoping to get a job either near college or possibly in DC.
On the plus side, her internship is going well, the job is going well, and it appears they love her at both places.
@me29034 I hear this from a LOT of people. Itās an adjustment when they are home again, isnāt it?
Are these creatures adults or children? Yes!
Iād be lost without a sense of humor.
yes @me29034 Iām not supposed to bug DS about whether he might be coming home later that evening, but somehow if dinner isnāt ready as soon as he gets home from work he mopes around and complains that heās starving. Plus he seems to have forgotten how to do his own laundry now that heās back.
I say all 3 too, @Midwest67, creatures, adults, and children! But I am still glad heās home for summer 
My S1 moved home today after working out of state for three years. He will be here until he starts grad school in October. We now have competing Dorm and Apartment mountains in our living room.
Itās fun having both boys home together. Now Iām off to the overseas thread to see how little S1 can take with him overseas.
Wise parents of 2016, please help. DS has a new roommate this year so has lost access to his freshman year fridge and prefers not to rent from university since does not need the microwave part of the unit. DH has decided to also go to move DS in so need to pick up fridge close to campus. Have Costco, Target, BBB, and Best Buy close enough that they are all options. Anyone used local pickup option from Target for an online only item? How does one pick that option? If all else fails, he should be early enough to campus that things will still be in stock but he much prefers the online only option. Have not found that Costco offers option to deliver to university local store. Do they?
You might look to see if there is a Home Depot near by, they have order on line and in store pick up and likely wonāt be as mobbed with college kids on move in day.
Thanks for the tip @3scoutsmom! We are not worried about a move-in day crowd since he needs to be back to campus early, but it had not occurred to me to check that kind of store.
There is a Home Depot close to campus. Just in case anyone else needs the details: They have an order on-line option that allows shipment to the store of your choice. Store will email and/or text once order is received. Store will hold order 7 days regardless. If you call storeās customer service after order is received and provide a pick up date, store will hold order up to 30 days. The fridge was of higher quality than what the local big box stores were offering online and it was still less than a 1 year rental from the school, so fridge has been ordered. We will have to get it home at the end of the year but at least we do not have to make room for it in our vehicle on the way there. He can bring some things home at spring break to make room.
Has anyone had a talk about moving back home after graduation? I had always imagined my kids would move out after college graduation and weād help get them settled (pay deposits and maybe furniture) and theyād be on their own. Now DD16 has announced that she wants to be a high school teacher we are rethinking this plan. Starting teacher salary is very low here and rent is insanely expensive. Iāve crunched the numbers and just donāt see how she can afford to live on her own in this area even with a roommate.
We are going to ask her to consider living at home for 4 years after graduation and saving at least $25K each year toward a deposit on a condo, town house, small house out in the suburbs. Some place that she could afford on her own but big enough (2 bedroom, 2 bath) to get a roommate to help out if she wanted. We figure she could get a mortgage with 1/4 down and a 4 year work history. We would ask that she take over 100% of car expenses (registration, insurance, gas, maintenance) medical and dental expenses, entertainment and travel expenses, music instrument expenses (insurance, maintenance, strings). We would provide room, most food, utilities, cell phone, internet until she could afford a place of her own. Does this sound reasonable? We would also expect her to help out around the house but no more than she did while in high school. This means weāll also make the same offer to her younger brothers so we might have adult kids livings at home through 2028!
@3scoutsmom, what a thoughtful and smart plan. I hope our kids ābounce backā tooāfor a few years at least. Our DS13 finished college this spring and has an internship across the country for the next academic year. He is considering moving home when he attends graduate school in Fall 2018 to save money. We have been doing everything we can to make his living arrangements comfortable. I like the way you have set up the responsibilities. Another benefit is that he will have a few years with his younger siblings.
@Cheeringsection Our kids have always done the fridge rental in the dorm or had an apartment with a full fridge, & weāve never done order online for in-store pick-up, so I canāt help you with your question. Iām sure it will all work out!
@3scoutsmom We told our oldest D (graduated from college last spring) that she was welcome to bounce back home to work and save and pay off her school loan. We talked ballpark figures of what we thought she could save in a year, but kept it light. We wanted the offer to be just that, an offer. We didnāt want her to think we ādisapprovedā or were disappointed if she chose a different path.
She was anxious to start her life after graduation in another part of the country. Itās a very expensive city. She shares a rowhouse with 3 other women ā all strangers to each other ā and all is well so far.
She is happy, so we are happy.
@Midwest67 and @EastGrad I like the term ābounce backā and I will make sure to keep it light and phrase it as an offer. D already knows we arenāt thrilled with her change of career plans. Not just because of the money but because she has no real idea what teaching is in a public school is all about. No one that knows her thinks this is a good career for her. She doesnāt deal well with people that donāt follow āthe rulesā I canāt imagine how she would handle an uncooperative student.
Well, I havenāt thought that far ahead, but I would help the kids out by letting them live at home, if they needed it.
I expect my D would need to get a job in a city, she wants to be a clinical pharmacist.
My S wants to be a music teacher, so he will also have to go where the first job is, our area might not offer either of them job opportunities.
But I donāt think they should buy a house until they have their student loans paid off. In the early years, they also might move around more, depend on job opportunities.
At my Dās school they could rent a minifridge only, or the combo with the microwave.
Also some friends or relatives might have a fridge that is not being used anymore so I would have asked around maybe.
My D was lucky that the freshman roommate brought a fridge she had from her older brother, and sophomore year and this year she is living in an on campus apartment with a regular size fridge.
I love the idea of ābouncing backā. Neither of my big kids have any plans for that but anything can happen between now and then.
Regarding Home Depot, we order online regularly for in store pick up. Its fast, easy and saves us time. Its a great way to make sure they have what you need.
Our D told us that at UIUC there are lists (somewhere. online.) of dorm and apartment stuff for sale, in an effort to curb the amount of (perfectly good) things that go into dumpsters when college students move and decide to leave things behind.
@Cheeringsection I donāt know if your sonās school has something like that or whether thatās even a good option for him.
Yes, thatās a great idea. My D had a friend who bought a new fridge and only used it for a year I think.
@mommdc she wonāt have any student loans (hopefully!) around here rent is crazy high there isnāt much rental property out in the suburbs an the closer you get to the city the more expensive it gets. Iām thinking 4 years post graduation she should have a good idea about where she wants to be and what she wants to do.
DD just called and I causally broached the idea of her bouncing back home after she graduates and she was very receptive to the idea. I mentioned that it would be a good way to save up for condo or town house and she came up with the ābig enough for a roommateā idea on her own;-) Itās still years off but I feel better knowing weāre on the same page on this one.