<p>OK - I really struggled over the title of this thread. Wasn't sure exactly how to say it.....but anyway.</p>
<p>I read earlier about someone whose daughter gave them a little gift as they were dropping her off at college - they weren't to open it until they were "on the road" on the way home. It was a little photo album. That got me thinking - I'd like to leave a little something behind with my son for him to open after we leave (having dropped him at school in August.) Not something that will make him feel homesick - more something that will make him smile.</p>
<p>I know there's been alot of talk on here about great graduation gifts. Anyone ever leave a little something behind for their kid to open? I'm thinking maybe something practical (something from that big old list of college "must haves"), maybe something more impractical (video game, cd, dvd), maybe something in between (a book I know he wants to read), something a little sentimental (a batch of his favorite homemade cookies). Obviously, I've got some ideas, I'm just curious about other people's thoughts or ideas. Anyone?</p>
<p>I like your “cookies” idea. That way he’ll have something to share with all the kids he’s meeting. A video game isn’t a good idea, as he may be inclined to spend more time playing instead of meeting his fellow students.</p>
<p>Eh, at my college, a video game would probably make said son the centre of attention. XD</p>
<p>Hmmm for a guy, I wouldn’t go with something toooo sentimental/soppy because he mightn’t know what to do with it. A framed photo? Just one though.</p>
<p>Thirty years ago, I said a friendly and non-emotional good-bye to my parents when they left me at college. That first night, I climbed into my dorm bed with my brand-new sheets from home, and found that my mom had written on the corner of the pillow case, in permanent marker, “G’night Mary.” I felt a little emotional then, let me tell you. It was a lovely parting gift. I still have that pillow case.</p>
<p>geek_mom, you are so right! I gave my son a small, framed photo of the family for his bookshelf. That had the sort of neutral-sentimentality that he could handle.</p>
<p>China, re a book as a gift: My kids tell me there is never enough time to read for pleasure, as much as they’d like to. I’m sure a book from you would be treasured, but probably not read until break. :)</p>
<p>I hid my DD’s first stuff animal in my carryon-When we left, I said I forgot something-went back into her room while she was downstairs w/DH, and placed it on her bed. She called us at the hotel, telling us how much she wanted the bear but was too embarrassed to admit it. My Mom did the same thing for me-only she did not travel with me to school-and instead mailed it to me…traditions…help with the transitions</p>
<p>At D’s school there was a table to pick up stationery to write a note to your child. It would be delivered that evening after the parents were gone. The table was so mobbed by parents that I skipped it and went to the bookstore. I had noticed that they sold mylar helium filled balloons. I bought a smiley face one and managed to get into her dorm and tie it to her bed. We had already said our goodbyes and she was at an orientation meeting. It stayed up for several weeks and stayed tied to the bed the entire year.</p>
<p>Any way you say that one last surprise “I love you” will please your child.</p>
<p>Frame photo of the whole famn damily is a good idea. </p>
<p>What I did was give my son a small compass with a thermometer on a key chain. These are extremely lightweight and can be found at any outdoor shop. I told him I got it so that he will never lose his way. Wait a tick, I’m getting misty here …</p>
<p>If you want to give him something useful but not sentimental (though it won’t really work for the whole ‘opening after you leave’ thing) get him a Netflix subscription. It wouldn’t be much more than buying a movie for a few months probably, and he’d be able to get whatever he and his new friends wanted to watch.</p>
<p>Do the cookies after he’s been away from home for a few months. Trust me.</p>
<p>My mom left a “goodbye gift”…kinda. It was $40, a picture of me and my dog, and a note that said “good to know you ARE washing your sheets” in an envelope under my sheets. I found it the first time I went to wash them and it made me happy to see my dog :)</p>
<p>Quasiprofiund-
We actually did the note w/cash AND baked goods. I noticed in the school newspaper that a local place was offering a discount on deliveries to campus. So I arranged to have cookies and brownies delivered the first week or 2 (I forget) that he was there. I’ve sent goodie-bag food packages throughout the year, and then sent the same “choclate chip and brownies” package from the same local place during finals week. I am not sure if he picked up on the “beginning and end of the year” sentiment or not.</p>
<p>** by the way, there was a great thread about care packages sent to kids during the year somewhere here on cc a year or so ago.</p>
<p>When I dropped DD off at college, I left a small very soft teddy bear on her bed with a note from both of us parents. She has a bear collection at home that couldn’t go to college so it seemed like the right gift. The note was written by both of us to her.</p>
<p>When I got home, I had a few items to put in her room (at her request) that she decided she didn’t want. On her bed was a nice note SHE had written to US. We put it in a frame in our family room.</p>
<p>I don’t think the ITEM matters as much as the note.</p>
<p>My mom made sure to pack some microwave popcorn, with the idea that I could pop it and the smell would carry down the hall…a good way to encourage people to stop by on the first day!</p>