<p>paying3tutions,</p>
<p>that post had me crying from laughter!!!</p>
<p>Honestly. That would have been a hilarious and great moment to have with my family when I leave. Very memorable!</p>
<p>Loved the Barney cloth idea, bugmom. I found the last scrap of “blankie” in a box in the basement and thought for a nanosecond about hiding it in her box of clothes, but decided she would NEVER forgive me!</p>
<p>paying3tuitions, you have a story that will live forever!</p>
<p>paying3tuitions, that is hilarious! what a great story.</p>
<p>I love the barney cloth too. I probably still have barney in the basement. and the seven dwarfs, and wishbone, and woody and buzz… but my son would not appreciate them tagging along…</p>
<p>my son isn’t particularly sentimental, and he knows I am a giant crybaby mess already, so no surprises from me on move in day. </p>
<p>Instead, I went through a ton of pictures from his high school years and filled one of those small photo albums that holds 100 photos. First section was family, then school and graduation, friends, work, etc. Then I pulled his editorials and features out of each h.s. newspaper (he was Editor-in-Chief and wrote op ed pieces for each issue) and put them in clear sleeves in a binder. I gave those to him today and he really liked them. He said that it was perfect for him since he doesn’t want a bunch of pictures out at his new school, but that it gives him something to share with new friends if he wants to. </p>
<p>He also said something that I found really interesting - he said he wants to look forward and not back so he doesn’t want anything but maybe a family picture in a frame. It never occurred to me that pictures of old friends would make him feel that way. As a girl, I was the opposite and wanted lots of pix w/friends around me when I went to school.</p>
<p>We gave S a 5x7 of the family, taken at his graduation. He kept it on a bookshelf.</p>
<p>“We gave S a 5x7 of the family, taken at his graduation. He kept it on a bookshelf” - That is so sweet! I can’t imagine my S doing that. But last night I did mention to husband that I’d like to get a family photo taken before S leaves for college.</p>
<p>psychomom, I also put together a “this is your life” photo album that I presented to DD at her graduation party. Family members from OOS LOVED looking at the pictures and seeing some of the parts of her life they missed due to distance.</p>
<p>DD was touched when she opened it and spent a LONG time poring over the photos (it has been two months since I gave it to her, yet I recently saw her looking at it while listening to her iTouch before bed.). She thanked me and said it was perfect for taking to school with her - she has something to show her new friends, and something to help if she gets homesick.</p>
<p>The fun and games bin has just the goofy pixs in it focusing on her with her best friends.</p>
<p>For a good friend of our D’s I did some artwork (I am totally a closet artist…lol) with the following words from a Jewel song incorporated in it. I love these words for any young woman as a reminder that they don’t need to change to find acceptance, love, success, etc.</p>
<p>A star is a star
It doesn’t have to try to shine
Water will fall…
A bird just knows how to fly</p>
<p>You don’t have to tell a flower how to bloom
Or light how to fill up a room
You already are what you are
And what you are is beautiful</p>
<p>Gravity is gravity
It doesn’t try to pull you down
Stone is stone
It can’t help but hold its ground</p>
<p>And dark is dark
So the stars have a place to shine
The tide goes out
So it can come back another time</p>
<p>Goodbye makes a love so sweet
And love is love so it can teach us
We already are what we are
And what we are is beautiful</p>
<p>And strong enough
And good enough
And bright enough</p>
<p>I am looking forward to making one for my sweet girl too.</p>
<p>Okay, stop already!!! I just finished my letter to my son and just lost it. Tears literally spilling down on the table. That poem is beautiful…</p>
<p>Great posts! I’m thinking about having a quilt made out of the tee shirts we’ve accumulated over the years. Some are school activities, others vacations and concerts. Wish I could sew. I’m hoping to find someone to do it for me.</p>
<p>P.S. I have permission to take the shirts!</p>
<p>As I leave my youngest in his dorm room here is the gift I am leaving him, the same I left his older brother:</p>
<p>He knows how to do his own laundry, sew on a button, or fix a zipper
He can make breakfast, lunch and dinner AND clean up after
He can edit his own papers, or anyone else’s who asks
He knows how to say no
He knows who he is, what he values, and why he is who he is
He has dreams, both big and little
He knows the value of a dollar and of hard work
He is ready to fly
He knows he is loved</p>
<p>chocchip, that is a great book. =) Who knew Dr. Seuss would still be something we’d get something out of reading when we got to college?!</p>
<p>Well thanks, XU! My parents actually gave me that book as a college graduation book and I still have it so many years later. I’ll probably give it to my two boys as high school graduation presents. Yeah, it’s true what you say about Dr. Seuss…but he really wrote this one for adults/teens, not young kids. It’s a “feel good” book that practically any teen would love to receive when starting this new chapter in their lives…
The poems you guys wrote are wonderful and I’m sure will be much appreciated. I think even though these kids are ready to leave and start college, I think they all secretly want their parents to continue to be supportive and connected with them. All these ideas show that the parents want to give them a positive send-off and the kids will know that they are loved and will be missed.</p>
<p>Love the quilt/tee shirt idea! I think it’s also very common to see blankets made out of yarn in the school colors.</p>
<p>XU: will you be a sophomore this year? Good luck!</p>
<p>My aunt baked me cookies to go back to school with, and when I opened the lid I found a $20 bill. It was a really cute idea; I loved it.</p>
<p>I’m very impressed by everybody’s creativity.</p>
<p>I guess it’s because I went to college during that short magical period in the 20th Century when the drinking age just about everywhere was 18, but when I read the title of this thread, my immediate unfiltered thought was, “That’s not going to be very interesting…who would say anything OTHER than ‘a case of beer’?” (almost universally appreciated, celebratory, great ice breaker with dormmates, 24 is evenly divisible by 2,3,4,6,8,12, etc.).</p>
<p>Oh, chocchip, if only. I wish I was going to be a sophomore. Sadly, I will be a senior, and will have to find a “real” job soon. =(</p>
<p>I must be the odd mom out! zmom’s Pooh-bear quote just cracks me up, thinking about geek_son’s reaction. If I left him a note with this in it:
he would say, “Creepy, Mom, you stalker!” :eek: :D</p>
<p>ETA: Come to think of it, I could put that in his car someday. He told me this summer that when he’s driving, he hears my voice in his head asking him to tell me his decisions and giving him suggestions (I’m putting it more nicely than he did ;)). So I’m always in the car with him. :D</p>
<p>This has been mentioned before, but as H was busy helping D hang up things in her room last year, I ran around town and picked up a bunch of gift cards from local restaurants, chains, etc. Then we put them in a little Vera Bradley wallet in her favorite pattern and left that on her bed, along with a team t-shirt we picked up in the bookstore.</p>
<p>Later on the the semester I ordered an Entertainment book for the area around her campus and mailed it to her in a care package - another idea for kids to get exploring around their college town. I have started to give these books as part of grad gift baskets too…</p>
<p>That’s a great idea! ^^^</p>
<p>I forgot the other surprise that I left. At the bookstore, I found these adorable stuffed squirrels (the unofficial school mascot) wearing little t-shirts with the school’s name. I bought 2 and left one on D’s bed, and one on her roomie’s bed.</p>
<p>These are great ideas. Thanks for posting them. We are going to a lot of send off parties so I’ll share them with the other moms.</p>