<p>Our S's Parent Weekend is coming up. We've been warned by friends to watch out for all the 'spending opportunities'. It was suggested that we skip most of the school banquets / meals and just take our S to a restaurant. Older, wiser parents have suggested that many activities end up costing not insignificant $$ and to watch for that. Also, when I asked my S what he wants to do that weekend, the answer was 'go shopping'. I guess that's pretty typical.</p>
<p>Anyways, any other hints or things we should know?</p>
<p>Let's see - I think we spent about a million dollars during parent weekend. Two expensive dinners (including friends - very appreciated all around), one lunch, one breakfast, 3 shirts, new socks, a TV (birthday present), a vacuum cleaner, grocery shopping. Worth every penny! </p>
<p>So, hints: Encourage your son to bring his friends if they don't have parents coming. Eat wherever you can afford - often large quantities of Mexican food or Olive Garden will make them happy - they will be so appreciative. Figure that the "shopping" is probably stuff they'd soak you for at home anyway.</p>
<p>We never do any of the activities the school has scheduled, but of course, lots of people do. (We don't even go to the football game - we're really bad.)</p>
<p>I'll second weenie here....we are too far away to go to our son's but his roommates parents have already let me know that they have included our son in their dinner plans...it is much appreciated by us and it will probably give them a chance to get to know what the two have been up to....so if there is a roommate or friend who is parentless and you can afford it, take them along.</p>
<p>Most of my sons friends came back home for parents weekend causing all their parents to cancel hotel reservations. Much easier than cleaning up the room and hiding all the evidence of how hard they are "studying." LOL</p>
<p>Guess it depends on the college and friends. I went out to dinner with son, his friends and their parents. One night we attended a performance by a comedian at the college - cost all of $18 for both. My son's a cheapskate - all he wanted to do was go to a dollar general store and I bought him another pillow for his bed. I would have been happy to take him shopping but he wasn't interested. I did bring him two bags of snacks and a couple of pairs of warmer clothes.</p>
<p>Gotta agree with the "eat with friends" though - his girl friends were nice and chatty! One of the fun activities we did was a short hike on the Appalchain Trail. We could have done it by ourselves but it was nice being driven to the trailhead in a big van and talking to the other parents and students. Have a great time!</p>
<p>Wow, all of the official activities at both kids' parents' weekends are free. I think we donated $5 for the play tickets at D's school. We also did the take-kid-and-friends-to-dinner thing and were delighted with the opportunity to meet the friends. It was fun.</p>
<p>^^Same here. All the offical stuff was free. The only money I spent there was for food and lodging and a winter coat that I insisted on buying for her.</p>
<p>The big $$s we spent were at the grocery and department store. D realized once she got to college that the "cosmetics fairy" who kept expensive drugstore items in stock did not go with her. Although he/she did make an appearance for parents weekend...</p>
<p>We recently visited DD for family weekend. I really didn't care to attend a class or meet her professors. I've been assured by DD they are all wonderful, but I was there to see her, not them. We opted to skip the registration and planned activities, choosing instead to just hang out with DD and her friends. DD had begged us to bring the dog, so we couldn't have really done too many indoor things anyway. We arrived at her campus around 1:00 p.m. on a Friday, visited the bookstore and hung out in the pecan grove in the center of campus most of the afternoon. We met lots of DD's friends and other parents. The next day, we chose to take in the sights in Hot Springs. We visited the shops in town and went hiking in Hot Springs National Park. On Sunday, we drove around the campus' surrounding neighborhoods and walked the entire campus. It was a lovely visit and I didn't expect to get emotional when we said goodbye, but I did. She'll be home later this week for fall break, so DH and I are all smiles. Enjoy your family weekend!</p>
<p>I leave on Thursday evening and can't wait to see The Boy! He has called many times (he was supposed to or he would catch you-know-what from his older sibs!) so I have a list of things to bring. Flying up and then taking the train into the school. I am so excited!! Met all his hallmates moving him in and they are often around when he calls. They all eat together and cram themselves into his single for homework help at all hours of the night so I feel like I know them all pretty well by now. I am looking forward to meeting some of their parents.</p>
<p>Signed up for most of the activities and dinners and there wasn't a charge for them, just football $7 and The Boy took care of that ahead of time. He said I will need a heavy jacket but he has extra in case I don't have one! </p>
<p>I am just so excited to go see him and squeeze him SO HARD!! He is well aware of my blubbering so he expects me to be a big gob of goo. I think his hallmates expect it as well now! His oldest sister misses him more than she thought she would so she might make a trip up there to see him closer to Christmas. He will be down for fall break so the others (neighbors, family, teachers, coaches can all get a squeeze in then!) Quite a few have mentioned travelling up to see him so he is going to be busy entertaining.</p>
<p>Oh, I am sooooooooo excited!!!!</p>
<p>Kat
Only 3 days left til I see THAT KITTEN!!</p>
<p>We have similar experiences. D comes home Friday for a few days. We took the dogs when we visited, and spent time off campus. D said it was so nice to be "outside the college bubble."</p>
<p>We left feeling happy because D was so happy to see us and the dogs, and seemed well adjusted to her new life.</p>
<p>Just got back from Parents week-end at Suny Cortland. Other than seeing half of a football game, the major activity was shopping at the Carousel Mall in Syracuse- (about 30 miles away). I think I saw almost as many Cortland sweatshirts at the mall as I saw on campus. Of course we had to be back from our outing by around 9:00PM, so d could go out with her friends for the evening. It seemed that alot of other parents were returing to the hotel about that time so I guess our kids have trained us well.</p>
<p>I had a great time. I didn't see either volleyball game and not one minute of the football game, didn't even get to eat BBQ :eek: BUT I can tell you that Dillard's and Macy's have very nice stores in Memphis.</p>
<p>They had sales on the kind of garb D prefers and it appears that all the money I saved in high school when D wore nothing but gym shorts and T-shirts to class will be spent during UG. But she did look very cute in her new outfits.</p>
<p>Hey there, curmudgeon! I hope your DD is doing fabulously well and I have no doubt that she is! Just an FYI on the bbq thing ... if you skipped Rendezvous, you didn't miss much. IMO, that place is way over-rated. When visiting DD at Governor's School in Memphis, and stopping there this summer for a visit with DD's friends, we visited a couple of places along Beale Street. I am a bit spoiled because DH makes the best ribs I've ever tasted, but Rendezvous was really a disappointment. Try Blues City Cafe on Beale when you're there next. I think you'll enjoy it. I know we did. Hello to your DD! :)</p>
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I think we spent about a million dollars during parent weekend.
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<p>Just back from Parents Weekend at USC. Yes, a million dollars is about right. Loved it though. Our third, and last, Parents Weekend. I've got enough USC logo stuff to last me the rest of my life.</p>