A night you won’t forget!!
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I actually make a point of watching extra-late shows whenever my daughter is home from university, so that I might just “happen” to still be up when she comes back from meeting friends way after midnight.
There’s a good chance that, right after announcing she’ll be turning in, she’ll plop on the couch across from me and for the next hour all kind of big thoughts and silly anecdotes will spill out.
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This is one thing we really liked at S was the split doubles. I wish more schools had that sort of room. I have heard the walkways only are for going to the dining hall from the dorms but to get back you have to go outside. Not sure if that is true or not, just something I thought I had heard.
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D23 successfully dropped off to school and I’ve had a bit of time to recover. It was an 8 hr marathon of moving her stuff in and room set up; thankfully her roommate moved in on a different day so we didn’t have to worry about overlap as everything took longer than anticipated.
DH the MVP of move-in as he re-arranged room furniture, hung so.much.fairy lighting (those command hook instructions aren’t lying when they say press firmly for 30 seconds and don’t try to hang anything for at least an hour), made sure Keurig ready for action, hooked the computer up to the Wi-Fi and ran out to hardware store and Target when we realized we were missing “vital items”. On the last part, I think he was happy to escape the ‘nesting’ phase of D23’s room set up. He was able to miss the entire ‘discussion’ (solely on D23’s part) of how she wanted to arrange her planned photo collage and gallery wall. My role at that point was just to smile and nod.
Dorm video so misleading! Even though this wasn’t our first dorm move-in rodeo, we were shocked at how tiny the room was and how poorly laid out the furniture was when we arrived. DH re-arranged to give the girls more useable space and a better division (much closer to 50/50 after his spatial gymnastics). During the entire process, D23 was sending updated pics to her roommate and getting buy in with ideas. Best part of the dorm room is definitely the huge window which lets in a ton of natural light.
We met plenty of other parents during move-in (all lovely). Move-in became a community project between all the rooms on the hall as one parent would realize they didn’t have something like paper towels or cleaning supplies and another parent would hear the lament and rush over with the needed item. One Dad actually jumped into car with DH when they heard one of his stops was going to be Target and they bonded during that trip (guess we are doing dinner with that couple over parents’ weekend).
We finally were able to leave, hugs and kisses given (D23 a little teary and nervous). An hour later we got a text from her from the dining hall with a selfie of her and her 5 new best friends from her dorm hall. Fingers crossed it continues to go well - they were planning a trip to the beach for this afternoon.
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That’s nice. We didn’t really meet anyone during move in to the modular dorm. Upperclassmen helped and they were nice but her roommate didn’t come, and we didn’t really see anyone. Hubby heard someone next door talking about raising a bed and went over to offer our mallet and returned saying they looked at him like he had 3 heads and didn’t answer 
. Did meet one parent at lunch and a mom I had connected with on FB, so that was nice. Can’t wait to talk to DD on Sunday to hear about the orientation trip. School doesn’t start until next Wednesday or Thursday.
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Well, if you weren’t doing move-in for 8 hrs - count your blessings. 
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8 hours?! We were in and out in just under an hour.
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Thank you so much for this real-life story. We’ll be doing this soon, and your post has already reminded me of things to get!
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Move in for my daughter was a two day even of hanging art, fairy lights, curtains, hanging the headboard we built, colorizing clothes in the closet, building shoe racks, desk organizers, etc… interspersed with vital target runs. My sons were 45 minutes of putting their meager belongings away. 
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We continue to lead parallel lives of getting our girls’ rooms set up.
For S23, I was allowed to drop off stuff in his room, and then was promptly shooed out of there before unpacking began. I expect it will be the same for D26 when that time comes … she is even less into decorating and more resistant to parental nesting involvement than S23 (if that is even possible).
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Still 8 days from move in for us but I’ve never experienced so much preparation for it from the college with either of our older kids. Today they have a 1 hour live video meeting (also watchable after the fact) just on move in.
It’s been interesting how all 3 of the colleges have handled it so differently. With the first we were totally on our own – so up anytime that morning, find a place to park, schlep all the stuff to from there to the room on your own, take or time with setup. #2 was drive to a designated spot where you line up like a border crossing and get queued in to a drive on normally walking paths to the front of each dorm where a small army of upperclassmen volunteers help you unload and take stuff to your room, after which you take your time in the room.
College #3 is regimented. Each student has a precise window to arrive by car, once at the front of the queue staff from a professional moving company load everything up from your vehicle in large moving bins and take it to your room for you (plus if you shipped anything in advance its already in the room). The movers get the elevators, you take the stairs (up to 15 floors!) We have 90 minutes from driving up to have 90 minutes to being kicked you out of the room until the next day where you find time for any further setup between various campus events leaving up to Convocation and saying goodbye to family members.
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My D17 wanted full valet and decorating service. All hands were expected to be on deck and were put to use! 
S23 had us help organize and put everything away. He let his little brother, who was very nervous about him leaving home, hang all his clothes and organize his closet. 
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It’s been a while since I’ve been on here (I needed a break)… drop off is tomorrow at CMC for D23. In the middle of the only hurricane SoCal has had in ~80 years. This’ll be… interesting. At least tears will be indistinguishable from the downpour.
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Be safe and hope all goes well. My husband flew out to LAX this morning for the next 5 days and we have been watching the weather closely. My poor niece gets dropped off at Chapman on Monday- what a bummer this weather. Hope everyone stays safe.
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Are they still having move in tomorrow? LA County is telling people to stay off the roads.
Well…we did it! Thing 1 and Thing 2 are moved in to their dorms!! Thing 1 moved in Thursday then came to Austin with us on Friday to move Thing 2 in. Classes start Monday. We had smooth move in for both…very organized and quick. It helps to have minimalist boys who don’t require or ask for much. Thing 1’s 2018 built dorm with its private en-suite bath at UT Arlington looks and feels like the Ritz Carlton compared to Thing 2’s 1936 built walk up no elevator dorm at UT Austin …they’re both happy…this Mama is happy. Sadness and empty nest realizations haven’t hit yet…ask me on Monday lol.
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And in the blink of an eye yesterday we are empty nesters. Long 16+ hour day for us parents yesterday. Drove up and back. All is well for D23, but her roommates don’t come until Friday. She is in some early arrival programs.
Probably the most interesting thing is D19 who doesn’t live at home is extremely worried about D23 being away from home at college. Which is weird because they have never been that close.
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D23 did an early arrival program as well. She loved it, much less hectic move in and smaller group to get to know before everyone arrived on campus.
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DD returned to campus from the Adirondack Adventure orientation trip. She was telling me about how awful the weather was, they were 5 to a tent and it stormed the first night, the rain flap hadn’t been zipped, they didn’t get to go white water rafting because the bus got stuck in the mud. Her canoeing partner (the steerer in the back) just sat and didn’t paddle. She hiked 45 minutes with a duffle bag because the list said backpack or duffle…. I said oh no, I’m sorry it wasn’t what you expected! She was like “No, I had a GREAT time!”
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