Well I’m sitting here waking up and it’s pouring rain on move in day in mid-August. My son is delighted to leave behind our eternal 72 degrees-and-Sunny weather. I’m less delighted realizing that he has entirely too many warm weather clothes and not nearly enough rain gear and cold weather clothes and boots. 
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Good luck today! Rain is supposed to be good luck on a wedding day. Maybe it’s the same for move in?? 
Last day home today for us. Kid got a little cranky yesterday so I think the soiling the nest is coming…. We are all a little anxious over here and the sentimental stuff is finally starting to hit me. Sniff. My one and only!! Lol. Hugs to all those moving on this week and all those waiting for move in!
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All he needs is an umbrella and shoes that he doesn’t mind getting a little wet. Don’t fret! D will move to campus with an umbrella - she would never wear a raincoat or rainboots. Lol.
It’s different for pre-O outdoor trips though. They would prob need at least a raincoat with a hood!
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Yeah it’s all quick dry stuff for WA trip. No cotton.
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Even though we flew I packed IKEA bags and we are using them in the rain today for all of these loose purchases. So glad I did that.
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Same here, I don’t see S at all. I have no idea if he packed his stuff and what’s going on since he is never home. We fly out Thursday!
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Every time I see D fly through here, I give her one more task to do. Lol. I need all of your shoes except for what you’re wearing the weekend of move in! I need all of the coats you want to bring! Get all fall clothes you’re bringing and throw them in your brother’s room (which has turned into our staging spot for packing)!
But, pretty soon, it’s last call for laundry and get everything else in a bag…
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Got a text from the wilds…D is still a little skittish about the roughing-it part…had a hard time getting to sleep in a tiny tent with others, but she said everyone in the group is extremely nice and she’s glad to get to know them…twelve first-years and four leaders.
WRT the weather, I urged her to take a long camping poncho (foldable, packable) but she insisted on just a hip-length rain hoodie that may or may not be effective in heavy downpours. Doesn’t really matter because all her clothes are quick-dry, but, rain can feel cold! While driving to Williamsburg in a VERY heavy downpour and dark, ominous sky (flash flood warnings beeping on my phone) she started to turn a little green and said, “um, mom, maybe I was wrong about that poncho.” Thankfully, I had another just like it stuffed in the back of the car for emergencies. It had a dirty smudge on it, but in that kind of weather, who cares? It wouldn’t fit into her tiny backpack but stuffed nicely into her bedroll. Made me feel so much better, somehow 
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We are home from a successful move in. D started off a little moody - a mix of sadness to leave home, nervousness to go somewhere she knows nobody and exhaustion from so little sleep. Little by little I could see she was getting more relaxed and excited, it was nice to see and made it so much easier to say goodbye.
The actual move in went very well - because we had the drop off day we just had one bin to bring up Sunday. We only had 2 1/2 hours to unpack and decorate before D had to be at a meeting and we somehow did it with a little time to spare. D didn’t decorate too much though because her roommate wasn’t there yet and she didn’t want her to think she was trying to take over.
Her room seemed pretty small to me, maybe it was more because there were no options for organizing the furniture due to a sink and built in bookshelf. She doesn’t know any different though so she was happy with it, especially the sink. She did not luck out with a view of the mountains but the view from the 15th floor common room was amazing!!
The actual goodbye was very quick because she had to be at her pre trip meeting, a few selfies, a few tears (more us than her) and she was off. I think it is better that way - I was so busy with the room I couldn’t think about being sad, then when it was time to be sad I only had a few minutes, like ripping off band aid!
She is now on day three of her pre trip. We have heard from by text her a few times and it sounds like she is having a blast and likes all of the people in her group. The one thing that was optional was rock climbing, they said if you had never done it they would teach you but you did not have to do it. She said that was the only thing she thought she would skip. First text was a picture of the side of a mountain with a red circle saying, “That is how high up I made it!” I was so proud of her for trying something new so soon.
They had one night of camping out. We all assumed it was in tents but this morning I got a picture of their set up - just a bunch of tarps over them! She said it was OK because she was so tired from rock climbing and hiking that she was exhausted. She also sent two pictures of her with other girls on a hike, made me so happy to see her big smile. Today they went up to Ft. Collins to go white water rafting, I am so jealous!
Edited to add picture - pretty rustic for someone who has never been camping 
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I’m letting my kid take charge of her own packing, other than major stuff like computer, cell phone, meds, wallet, ID. If she forgets something, she can learn to live without until it comes in the mail. If it’s not laundered, it can be packed dirty. There are washing machines right down the hall in the dorm.
It’s that or quietly go insane. I prefer Adulting 101. 
@inthegarden and @momtogkc - those pre-orientation trips look fun. And that is very rustic regardless of how much camping experience you might have!
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D21 is on her own for college as of this afternoon! We moved her into her Hamilton dorm during an absolute downpour this morning. Her quad dorm, with 2 rooms and a bathroom, is really large and the hardwood floors are gorgeous. Her roommates seem to be a good fit with one another. She leaves tomorrow morning for her 5-day small group orientation trip.
In the President’s welcome address, he noted that 702 Covid tests were given this morning, with 702 negative results. (There aren’t that many freshmen, so others must have been included. )
I didn’t do any ugly crying; just silent tears as she walked off, without parents, but with her new roommates, to their student orientation.
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If I remember right, she had never visited Hamilton? So fun for both of you to go together and hopefully the rain didn’t prevent you from seeing a bit of campus and the area too. Impressed you held off on the ugly cry - not an easy task.
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milgymfam, our S17 felt the same way when his friends were going off to college. He elected to forego some recruited athlete offers (decided not to play said sport in college), and decided to forego the schools he got into and go to our local CA community college to take a (difficult) shot at transferring to his dream school Berkeley. Still, he expressed a bit of jealousy at seeing his homies going off to various schools across the country.
He’s now finishing up his final year at Cal, with our D19 soon joining him there (she, too, declined some UC admits as a freshman to take a shot at UCLA (dream, but no admit) and Cal). Both kids are super happy that they took the CC route, even with all the hard work it entailed. They both said the hurdle of trying to transfer to a top school really made them focus and take each class very seriously.
Tell your daughter to just put her head down, grind it out, and do the absolute best she can. If she does, she’ll be pleasantly surprised where she ends up.
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We visited back in April as soon as NY lifted travel restrictions. She applied ED1 without having seen Hamilton.
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I was the exact same way during the weeks leading up to move in. The amount of “last get togethers” was endless…between those and his gym time he was NEVER home. His last week before we left was very contentious lol.
Inspired by the discussion about vaccine cards: does anyone have a solution or particular product they’d recommend for storing important documents/mail/etc in a dorm room, something not so elaborate or space-consuming as a safe or filing cabinet, but better than just throwing them in the desk drawer?
We use document envelopes - they happen to be fire proof or so they say - and fit all their paperwork, zip closed and they have their TSA security card (can use vs birth certificate or passport for official id/job) drivers license, a bit of cash, power of attorney paperwork, etc - plus can even throw in a few pieces of favorite jewelry and know it is all in one place.
Doesn’t lock/not secure and more about having everything together.
We bought on Amazon - approx 8 1/2 x 11.
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@creaky Glad you got her all moved in! I went to school up in the north country and love it up there.
@coffeeat3 That’s a good idea, I may send her one of those - I just thew everything in a manilla envelope at the last minute.
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We are sending an inexpensive combination lockbox for passport, POA, etc. We’ve had it for a few years but it is similar to this one.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B077K3FJHC/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
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We just keep the kids’ passports and social security cards at home. Not sure why they’d ever need them. With them moving around so many times in the next four years, I would rather them be here. If they needed them we could Fed Ex them to them but I really don’t see that ever happening.
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