<p>After spending a lot of time on here the past year getting some good info for my son's new experience, the day has finally arrived for him to move into Couzens hall. I can't believe we made it through the high school Senior year, with all of the application jitters, grade worries, grad parties and too short of a Summer.</p>
<p>This will be a hard day - many good emotions - but also many sad emotions as he is our only child. Thankfully we only live around 30 minutes from Ann Arbor so we can stay in touch as needed (we promise not to hover!). His roommate is coming from California - can't imagine how hard that must be.</p>
<p>My D just moved in MoJo this morning. There was some traffic but it was much smoother than I thought. I found a parking spot easily in front of MoJo over the curb. The moving crews really help a lot. Everything was load into one cart (like a clean dumpster) including a fridge. The whole unloading was done within 15 minutes while most of the time was waiting for checking in to get the key card. Interestingly, the room has already been organized in a way my D and her roommate want (one loft and one doesn’t). So we just need to wipe clean the surface and unpack.
After unloading, I was directed to the Palmer Parking across Washtenaw/Huron and the parking was free. I had been working near the Hill area for several years and I remember how chaotic it was during move-in time. This is actually a very pleasant experience today. It is a good start for my D’s freshmen year and she is going to have dinner with her best friends in the Hill dinning hall tonight.</p>
<p>I think this new change is much harder on the parents than on the kids. I’m still learning to let mine go and spread his wings. But we certainly will welcome him home if he wants to fly back to his old nest for occasional visits since it’s only 15-min away from his new nest at South Quad… </p>
<p>Let’s just hope that all our kids will learn & grow in the next 4 years at Michigan…</p>
<p>My son moved into East Quad today and I was super impressed with how organized everything was. I found a spot to park on my second time around the dorm (had the SUV packed to the gills which made parallel parking interesting- but I did it!). A move in maker appeared immediately. It did take us two trips with the cart and the longest part for us was waiting for an elevator. While they took the second load up, I parked (it wasn’t free though- S Forest and Willard structure). S changed his mind about how he wanted his furniture configured about 4 times but it ended up quite nice. We had most of his stuff unpacked and went to grab a bite at The Brown Jug before we left. We went back to his dorm, met his roommate and his family, including a brother who is a senior at Michigan this year and said our goodbyes. I held up better than I expected but his dad completely lost it when we said goodbye. We are divorced but went together and on the way home, he asked me “What are you going to do with the rest of your life?” I said I’m going to learn how to quilt. I think I better find more to do than just that “for the rest of my life”. </p>
<p>My S moved into South Quad Wednesday. Like others have said, everything went very smoothly. The dining hall at South Quad is great and he has a big room. He seems to have a nice roommate so everything is going well. We live in Phoenix, have one other son who is a senior at Wash U, so now have an empty nest. My husband and I decided to spend a few days on Mackinac Island before going back to Phoenix. So we don’t have to go home to an empty house yet. Before I had kids I was my own person, so I just have to remember how to be me again. I hope all your kids have a great four years at Michigan and that you have a great “rest of your life.”</p>
<p>D2 moved into Baits yesterday and everything went well. We needed two trips with the cart (and those awesome move-in makers) and the check-in students recognized D2’s name because I think she had a record number of packages waiting! We shipped microwave, rug, etc direct using Amazon prime. In case anyone’s considering, that worked great. We ordered everything Monday and it was all waiting for us at the community center in the dorm on Thursday. D1 (senior at tiny engineering school - so different from UMich!) went with us and was a huge help as the girls decided to reconfigure furniture that included moving pieces from one room in the dorm suite to the other, which required taking a bed apart to get through the doorway and then reassembling… Anyway, D2’s all moved in. We have a 4+ hour drive so D1 and I spent the night in a hotel, took D2 and roomie to breakfast, then said quick goodbyes and headed home. D1 goes back to her school on Sunday, and then we will be empty nesters too!</p>