Small, surprise gift as you leave your child at college.......

<p>Leesamurmur, if you were my daughter all you’d need to do is write sentiments like you just did in your posting here in a card and leave it for me. You’d have me reduced to a puddle of tears but with a great sense of pride at having raised such a caring kid. You could leave some cookies in the freezer for a nice extra touch, but the card would do it for me.</p>

<p>leesamurmur: cookies will “keep,” especially if you put them in something air-tight. If you are concerned because your specialty is particularly perishable, you can leave them in the refrigerator. (or freezer, as Tulare suggests) </p>

<p>And, trust me, a note saying something like “I love you Mom. I know I haven’t always shown it , but I do love you appreciate all you have done for me” will be something she will never forget.</p>

<p>Such wonderful, heartfelt ideas!</p>

<p>D went to a 7 week intensive language program last summer half way across the country from where we live. It was the farthest (at that time) she had ever been from home alone. H and I flew with her to get all the suitcases, tennis racquets, computers, etc. there. Her roommate was a darling girl from half way across the WORLD. When we were standing on the front porch of the “language house” preparing to leave, DD, DH and I were all a puddle of tears. The sweet roommate (who had just flown halfway around the world ALONE) just looked at us as if we’d lost our minds! As H and I headed to the hotel, I remarked, “Do you think we will ever be able to leave her without crying.” I’ll never forget his reply. He simply said, “I hope not.” Just then, we passed a teddy bear store! We swerved in with the intent of just purchasing a bear for D and taking it back to the room. The premade bears were kind of pricey and not very “huggable”, so luckily, they had a “build your own bear” option. This sweet college age guy who worked that section helped us “stuff it with care”and select a heart – one full of love for our D and one full of friendship for the roommate’s bear. We selected bowties for the bears that were the school color of each girl’s university. The young man sewed up the bears and thoughtfully looked at the clock when he cut the thread, pronouncing what time the bear was “born”. H turned the car around and we headed back to the school. As we drove, I wrote cards telling about the steps it took to make the bear especially for them. We told our D how proud we were of her to take on yet another challenge in the name of learning and one to the roommate telling her how happy we were that our D had been assigned such a wonderful roomie! To my glee (and a little bit to my horror) I was able to walk into the language house and place a bear and note on each of their beds without them being there. What made it fun was just the spontaneity of it all. D took that bear back to school with her last fall and when I asked if it was tagging along for her academic adventures this summer she replied, “Of course!”.</p>

<p>Decades ago, my stepmom left me in my dorm room with great advice: she said I was so kind and good at making friends, I should walk around the dorm later and look for lonely girls who needed a friend. I did this and made friends with several girls, including one who later was one of my bridesmaids. The ironic thing was that I was actually fairly shy myself, and really not very good at making friends , which my stepmom later acknowledged – saying that’s why she sent me on this friends-making mission. It worked!</p>

<p>^^Oh, that’s so sweet!^^</p>

<p>I borrowed both my daughters’ college laptops and left a document on each of their their hard drives titled “Free Pizza.” The document offered a free order of pizza from the nearby campus hangout for them and their suitemates as soon as they found my message, care of “Dad’s Pizza Foundation for Starving College Students.” Not nearly as touching as many of the examples above, but they both enjoyed discovering the hidden pizza.</p>

<p>For graduation of HS my cousins gave me a picture frame with a picture of the older cousins. When you open the back there is a picture of just us girls were they all wrote a message in back of photo… They gave it to me early ,but I loved it and I have it safely tucked away in my suitcase to take with me to college this fall…</p>