<p>LasMa, does your D happen to go to Kent State? (I ask because my sister goes to Kent and I know they have TONS of black squirrels all over the place)</p>
<p>I love the gift card idea & sending them in the mail every so often. Alas, the Entertainment book idea does not work for some of the smaller college towns.</p>
<p>Zoosermom, </p>
<p>Way to early in the week for that! </p>
<p>But it was great.</p>
<p>OH wait, that was last Friday! ( it’s too early)</p>
<p>What great ideas! I do so love the money pinned to the mattress pad. I’m sure I’d be the one to find it when I broke down and changed sheets on a visit day!
And, the Winnie the Pooh quote made me teary, too.</p>
<p>
I know my kids rate pretty high on the cynicism quotient, but my kids hate that Dr. Seuss book - it’s been dragged out by someone at every graduation they’ve been to.</p>
<p>Geekmom, my kids sound like yours!</p>
<p>Sorry, have to second the Dr. Suess book comment above. It seems touching to adults, but my kids just roll their eyes. They are not particularly cynical, but they have also heard it at graduations/etc. And really, what is a kid going to do with a book like that in a dorm room? I would skip that part… give him a $10 gift card to his school bookstore or a new school t-shirt instead, he will appreciate it A LOT more and be a lot less embarrassed.</p>
<p>Aw, see maybe I’m just weird, but I think that book is cute. It’s like “Everything I needed to know I learned in kindergarten” (which, by the way, we received from our counselors around graduation time in high school). I don’t know a single graduation that the Dr. Seuss book was read at; all our speakers came up with their own material, and our valadictorian even modified “If You Give a Mouse a Cookie” to make it more personal to our class, using various anecdotes and quirks about our class and our school; though maybe this was more possible coming from a small all-girl’s Catholic high school.</p>
<p>OUCH!
Oh well.
My children have never seen the book before, so I still think even though it’s corny, my son will appreciate it anyway. Yeah, it’s probably not necessary for him to take to school. He certainly would not look at it there, maybe as a h.s. grad present. He may roll his eyes too but he will know he is loved by an over emotional mom. :)</p>
<p>Chocchip, if I were your daughter, I’d appreciate it. =) Then again, for my many mature moments, I am still one of the few people I know over the age of 14 who will admit that the Disney Channel shows are my guilty pleasure.</p>
<p>Thanks, XU. Wow, senior, huh? Good luck! My oldest will now be a h.s. senior. We are in the process of applications and essays. Remember those days?!</p>
<p>Anyway, the ideas on this thread are great and I intend on incorporating some of them next year when we bring S to college. Lots of creative suggestions.</p>
<p>I vaguely remember those days…and wish that applying for college was the greatest of my worries still. Sadly, now my worries are bigger, such as getting a job after graduation, and figuring out how to pay off my loans and where to live and paying bills and…well, enough to make my head feel like it’s going to explode thinking about it.</p>
<p>XU, take a deep breath! These are exciting times for you! Stressful, yes, but exciting! Try to step back and enjoy the process. Gee, I remember the time I thought my college loans would never end, and then I got married and acquired my husband’s MBA loans! Somehow it all worked out. Unfortunately I don’t mean to sound so negative, but life definitely does get more stressful the older you get. But also rewarding too.</p>
<p>I don’t want to digress from what this thread was started for…however, good luck and enjoy your senior year! :)</p>
<p>XU, my D goes to Earlham College, which has a large population of overweight red squirrels.</p>
<p>Aw, and all we get here in Cincinnati is just tiny little brown squirrels; que aburrido.</p>
<p>I do like that idea though, getting something for the roommate and your D. =) I know when my roommates would get something from home I kind of felt left out, especially living half an hour from home, since my mom never sent me any packages.</p>
<p>Just got back from delivering D to her freshman dorm. She is so unsentimental that she didn’t even take any pictures from home (other than what is on Facebook and iphone), but the next morning texted and asked if I could send some anyway. So I am sending a stack from her bedroom bulletin board and even putting one of her and best HS friend in a cute frame. AND, grandparents kept slipping her money during her last week at home (they didn’t want me to see how much!) We also charged up her Starbucks card before she left home, although her school only serves eco-friendly organic coffee. I’m sure she can find a Starbucks off campus!</p>
<p>I will be driving my daughter to college next week. I plan to gift wrap about seven or eight small items. Nothing fancy; a framed photo of the family,a package of gummy bears, extra light bulbs, a cute coin purse, hand sanitizer, dark chocolate kisses… just small items. The idea is that she can unwrap one item every day for the first week, so that she can have something to look forward to each day.
My mother in law did the same thing for me right before I got married 25 years ago. On a visit she left behind about 10 wrapped items to be opened on the days right before the wedding, one a day. I still have and use some of those items.
I think it’s a cute idea. Hopefully, my daughter will too.</p>
<p>One thing I always try to tuck into care packages, but would also work for the drop-off: At Starbucks, pick up one of those freebie-song cards for iPods, and put it under the pillow or in the pencil drawer or someplace else they’ll stumble across it soon.</p>
<p>Condoms. Seriously.</p>
<p>I will be taking my daughter to school next year. Today I am looking forward to her going away to college, however, I know that when the time comes I will cry and miss her. I loved the Winnie the Pooh quote and the idea of the letter mailed to her new mailbox. I hope I remember some of this in 2011</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>I finally broke down and got a small box (3 pack) for my son and while doing so I got a good laugh in the condom aisle because they have certainly added to their product line. They are now available in regular, large and extra large. 
Talk about a good marketing plan!</p>