Sorry, Homer, I may not have been clear (see above). I get it that only one parent can go in at my daughter’s school. I was just saying I WISH my husband could be the schlepper and I could just be the decorator/admirer, but alas it looks like I’ll have to take on both jobs. Thus the “waaaaah” ;-).
I agree (especially for people who have to fly in and/or ship items) that minimalism OUGHT be the rule this year for practically-minded people. But with an easy drive for us and a big ugly station wagon to fill, there’s no way we are missing the fun of full-on dorm decorating!!! In fact, if she’s put into a double room to use as a single, we will probably pack EXTRA, hee hee hee.
Good point above @homerdog about it not mattering too much if the school is in a hot spot or not. Although, admittedly, I am still glad my kids’ school is not in a current hot spot. But also noting that hot spots can change relatively quickly. Sad to hear @123mom123 's report on the current state of things in Florida right now, and no doubt the suffering lingers and hospitalizations continue long after “daily new cases” start to decline. But it is instructive to look at the graphs for Italy, Spain, NY, NJ, Seattle, etc and realize that even when you are in the thick of it, so far most every hot spot has been able to get new cases under control in two months or less (with behavior modifications). However, if 123mom’s social media acquaintances represent Floridians as a whole, they may never get it under control if masks and SD-ing are avoided. Oh boy.
@Happytimes2001 , you might be able to tell that I am speaking slightly tongue-in-cheek. But honestly, we live an hour away from campus, so with our greater knowledge of the virus now vs. what happened back in March, I would never wait until massive deaths were piling up near campus before taking her home. Also, husband would DEFINITELY be assigned the clean-out tasks Classes are online anyway; there’d be no reason to wait. We will be thrilled to decorate even if it’s only for a month. Although her school has a super-conservative plan, with only freshmen on campus, very de-densified and testing every 3 days (their own lab-situation), results back in 24 hours. Her location was a hot spot a few months ago, but is currently doing great. So I believe it is definitely possible things will get nasty there, but also not unreasonable to foresee her staying until Thanksgiving. We’ll see! But it will be an adventure either way. And I think your sister has a great story to tell!! One for the grandkids!!!
@EmptyNestSoon2 I’m just not sure hot spots work like that. You don’t get them under control and then they just stay there. NY is “under control” (I think) because they opened very slowly and most people are following the rules. Here in Chicago, we are past the hump but cases are trending up again. The virus is out there everywhere and it just a matter of finding places to spread. That’s why everyone thinks college campuses, with kids coming from all different home towns and students who may not follow the rules, could turn into hot spots pretty quickly.
They cannot. This is what many of us have been saying, keep students out of the colleges “at home” means they won’t be following ANY rules vs at least some rules and testing on campus. This is about risk mitigation, and I believe my kid will be less exposed on campus (this is a New England campus with alot of restrictions and testing) than hanging out at home while going out every day with local friends who’s parents work in hospitals, etc.
I just got my third Purdue email today. I won’t bore anyone further with the blow by blow but there is a ton of detail coming out today about all aspects of campus life. The latest was about the rec center reopening but with huge restrictions on numbers and what is allowed once inside. Details can be found at protect.purdue.edu.
The one thing we can’t complain about as the parents of a Boilermaker is communication from campus. It may not always be as detailed as we’d like when we first get it, but they definitely keep us in the loop.
@momofsenior1 I like the Purdue updates! As for campus life, I think gyms are going to be affected big time. That is going to put a big damper on kids’ lives. Working out keeps depression and anxiety at bay too but most schools aren’t going to have gyms open in any meaningful way.
Purdue’s Rec center is huge. They are limiting it to 250 people/hour. That’s probably 25% capacity if I had to guess. Masks required everywhere except for inside the swimming pool. Enhancing cleaning protocols and social distancing requirements in each section. Seems similar to what’s happening
in my neck of IL too except our covid dashboard looks much better than Indiana’s.
It does not make any sense to me that there is so much question and talk about the K-12 schools opening yet most colleges even if the classes are online will be bringing students back to live on campus in double rooms, communal bathrooms, poor ventilation, etc., etc.
I’m sorry but I have to disagree. That students at home are going out every day and hanging out with local friends is not universally true. My son and his friends have yet to meet up socially since our SAH orders were implemented back in March. The same is true for the kids of my friends and other family members. I think that students at home will be less likely to break the rules as a whole when the consequence of breaking them is living in the same home as the risk won’t be just to themselves but to their family members as well. I personally think they would be more inclined to break the rules when living on campus away from home where the risk is mostly only to other young people and the opportunities to socialize are more immediate.
We have had this discussion with D20 that she should only take the bare minimum with her when moving into her dorm but the more we thought about it, we want her to try and have as normal experience as possible and if having a few extra things (ex. rug or nightstand) will make her happy that I say let her bring more than the minimum.
High school seniors had the second half of senior year taken away from them (in-person classes gone, no prom, no spring sports, no grad night, no in-person graduation, no senior trip, etc.) and now they are going away to an atypical college environment which is not ideal (lots of isolation, limited interactions, frequent testing, mainly online classes, no participation in club sports and other activities, and the an overriding fear of catching a deadly virus and all of the quarantine involved in recovery) not to mention the normal home sickness that all freshman experience even without a pandemic raging.
If some non-essential items like an extra throw pillow or a string lights in her dorm give her additional comfort in these trying times than so be it, it’s really not a big deal in the grand scheme of things…
@EmptyNestSoon2 You don’t get to chose when to move out. Once the school/college closes they have to wait then assign times for each student to get their stuff. My kid who attends BS had friends who waited quite a bit ( often without something they needed). If you are going to take that approach please make sure your kid takes their computer, books and passport when they leave for Thanksgiving.
My sister wasn’t happy about it. They were actually pretty lucky no one in their family got sick. Some of the kids in the dorm who had gone home actually did. So close call.
Happy Decorating. Does sound like fun. I’d take it as a challenge what can I buy that’s cute, weighs next to nothing and can be torn down quickly. Bed Bath and Beyond should make a list like that.
The pushback about bringing a lot of things to campus is from us parents who lived through the last minute “pack it up and get it home this week” last spring. S19 was home on spring break when Bowdoin made the call and gave kids seven days to get back to Maine and get their things. The college did better than most and offered to pack kids up themselves if they could not get back to campus. They packed those kids’ things and kept them in the field house and some things are still there. They also paid for a giant box to be packed and sent home to students not returning. S19 had them pack up everything he thought he’d need through summer and it could not have been cheap to send that box. It was probably three feet by three feet by three feet and it was heavy. Professors and staff chipped in to pack boxes and get them shipped. S19 was lucky because his roommate’s family offered to pack all of the rest of his things and take them home with them. We will pick them up in Boston and take them to Maine where he will live this fall but then we need to figure out what to do with all of that stuff when that lease is up. Don’t underestimate how much of a pain this all is.
I heard of very few schools helping like Bowdoin did. And colleges are now asking up front to please bring fewer things. Our neighbor across the street at SMU had just her spring break stuff here at home until two weeks ago when she was allowed to return to her dorm to pack up. @milgymfam’s D still has things at her school and, if she can’t get back to get them soon, the school may throw them out. (Correct me if I’m wrong @milgymfam but I’m pretty sure that’s what you said.)
If kids have to move out of dorms again it will likely be just as chaotic as it was in the spring. Unless your D is ok with just leaving some stuff behind, I wouldn’t over-pack. She might have just a few days to get boxes, pack things up, ship them home or find storage, pack her bags for the plane and get to the airport.
The thing about kids bringing the bare minimum is trickier for schools with ‘seasons’. Usually a student may start out with lighter clothes and then bring back the sweaters and parkas, hats and gloves after fall break or parents weekend. Now with those not happening, everything has to be brought at the start
@sushiritto - Scientists do have evidence of how it can/may spread in schools. Most European countries have reopened schools. But, if you are looking for an absolute answer, there will never be one. The science of disease is inexact by the varying nature of the host, a human being. My point is that, based on the evidence I have seen, schools can safely be reopened.
Agree. My kids have socialized with each other and with us parents since March. We enjoy each other’s company for the most part, but yeah it gets old… but not old enough to abandon all the rules. They don’t even ask. Heck, they don’t even want to. They want everyone as strict as they can personally manage so we can see the other side of this someday. For fall my daughter asked to take a fifth course (they’re capped at four) but was told no. She may study something independently to keep herself occupied. My younger daughter is perfectly content with her one class. Ha ha ha!
I read that the Texas public university system, like Univ of Florida will not have a robust testing plan. The article I read said it was ‘too expensive’ to do so. Said there are about 150,000 students in the system and they were planning on just 15,000 tests
@wisteria100 but the thing about winter weather is that kids can live with a few sweaters and one really great coat…and a good pair of boots. Plus, for this semester, kids only need to make it to Thanksgiving. Honestly, it’s not THAT cold anywhere by the end of November anymore so they shouldn’t need a ton of winter stuff. S19 didn’t bring his heavy coat or boots to school until he went back in Jan.
Florida has done a lot of stuff wrong, but I will give them credit for the number of tests they are performing on daily basis. Over the past few weeks they sometimes have gotten to 100k per day, so that obviously impacts the number who are testing positive. The % positive is still troubling though.
NYS rules for K-12 are due out the first week of August. Still hoping our schools in upstate will open.
In the meantime, two of my grandkids are going to day camp here (Syracuse area). Day camps are allowed; sleep-away camps are not. Camp is currently in 3rd week and all is well so far.
–it’s a nature camp, so all outside
–number of campers was drastically reduced. Instead of 8-10 per group, just 4-5. And the youngest groups were not offered this year.
–temperature checks and covid-19 question at drop-off every morning
–campers have to provide their own lunch, snacks, and water and sharing among campers is not allowed
–masks are required at all times except when eating or drinking. Camp is 9:00-3:00 but kids are complying, based on what my grandkids have seen
–parents are not allowed at camp; they must stay in their cars. There are no buses.
So congregating groups of school-age children CAN work if there are enough precautions and good compliance.
On the other hand, a nearby sail school had to shut down when two of the counsellors tested positive for covid.
Classes are online anyway; there’d be no reason to wait. We will be thrilled to decorate even if it’s only for a month. Although her school has a super-conservative plan, with only freshmen on campus, very de-densified and testing every 3 days (their own lab-situation), results back in 24 hours. Her location was a hot spot a few months ago, but is currently doing great. So I believe it is definitely possible things will get nasty there, but also not unreasonable to foresee her staying until Thanksgiving. We’ll see! But it will be an adventure either way. And I think your sister has a great story to tell!! One for the grandkids!!!