<p>Baltimore on Wednesday? Are we late already, I thought move in day was Thursday?</p>
<p>When D1 arrived, there was a small army of upperclassmen who hoisted all her stuff up to the third floor. Somehow I don’t think that will happen at MICA. I’ll keep my expectations loooow and hope to be pleasantly surprised. It will be the third floor again.</p>
<p>Also, D1 left during a terrific rainstorm. It’s a good argument for packing the car the night before if the weather is fine. You never know what the morning will bring. Right now, D2 is frantically spending time with friends while she can. Serious procrastination on packing. It won’t be pretty! And she’ll have to unpack all by herself, mwwaaaahhh.</p>
<p>Glutenmom, I have a drafting table I bought at Target back in the 80’s. It wasn’t marketed as that, but has tubular steel legs that you can adjust for a flat or slanted top. Of course, it’s not so easy to adjust as you have to get under it, but for something that folds completely flat, has legs that come off easily and is 4’ wide, it was quite a bargain back then for $30 instead of $150. Who knows what Target or Ikea may have in store if Utrecht doesn’t pan out. If you’re coming from the north, there’s an Ikea (one of the first in the US) just north of Baltimore off 95.</p>
<p>I replied to you, Greenwitch, yesterday… Bears too, but for some reason my post didn’t quite make it to the thread. I promise there weren’t any obscenities in it!</p>
<p>Thanks for the offer of the desk, Greenwitch – I saw this after our little trip to the city. The MICA kid had received a $500 scholarship from an outside source and she used that money to purchase a folding drafting table for a desk. She says she has a bit of trouble using her desk here at home because it isn’t deep enough, so she decided she’d rather have the drafting table than a desk per se. I sure hope it fits in the dorm room though. We were trying to get the 24x36 one but they only had the 30x48. Oh well, it is what it is. In an ongoing effort to do as much for this struggling ADHD kid as possible we’re also going to get her a printer for her dorm room. I just can’t see her going over to the tech center at the last minute to get a paper printed or something like that. She is a notorious procrastinator so we’re trying to make things as easy as possible. One of my biggest worries is that she will wait until the last minute to reorder her medications – and one of them is a controlled medication so you can’t just call the doctor for a refill – so we’re trying to iron out a system to make that as seamless as possible. She was supposed to be responsible all summer long for keeping track of her meds on her own and refilling them – but she has pretty consistently failed at this. If need be I will refill her meds here and then mail them to her on a schedule there at MICA. No matter how much I wish that she were more grown up, independent, and responsible, she just isn’t there yet. </p>
<p>Move in is on Thursday. We even have the later move in time (9 am)… but that would be a lot of driving for us to do in one day – and I’d rather not contend with the morning traffic getting into Baltimore, so we are going to drive down on Wednesday and stay at the Holiday Inn at the Inner Harbor. I made surreptitious contact through FB with the mom of the kid’s room mate and, since my kid is SO shy and nerdy, she is going to suggest to her kid that her kid suggest they/we all get together for dinner on Wed night. It will be a less chaotic/stressful situation to meet for the first time in than the move in day craziness. I did see that they are planning to have the Orientation volunteers help unload cars on move in day. Since there’s so much STUFF I sure hope that that’s the case. </p>
<p>Manga kid and her friend were thrilled to replenish their marker supplies.</p>
<p>I decided I have much more fun browsing at Pearl Paint on Canal Street. MICA kid bought some odds and ends art stuff… idk, a couple MORE paint brushes, some charcoal powder, some sort of a box to put junk in, some MORE oil paint… oh and the infamous MOORE clear push pins. Now to get her to organize and consolidate (and label) everything… but she has a hard time organizing and seems pretty overwhelmed at the moment. I’m trying not to step in (after all, she’s going to have to pack herself up in May, assuming she gets that far) but I’m a bit dismayed at the lack of progress in this area. I have offered suggestions like “see the under the bed storage tubs we got, why don’t you put your towels and bed linens and personal care items in one of those and all your art supplies in the other?” but the tubs sit there empty. She has a foot locker too, so I told her an alternative was to keep her art stuff in the foot locker along with her camera, computer, and meds (I’m trying to stress that she needs to keep stuff locked up) but the footlocker is empty too. </p>
<p>How long do I wait to step in, guys? I have to work all day tomorrow and Tuesday (plus Tuesday is MICA kid’s 18th birthday)… when she gets overwhelmed she shuts down and that’s the way she’s been for just about the whole summer. I’d give her a good kick in the butt if I thought it would help… but it won’t.</p>
<p>Well this last post appeared, but before it did I got a message saying that I wasn’t logged in (not true) and that maybe an administrator took away my privileges… ah, shucks. But now I see my too-long-and-involved post IS there…
pardon my musings!</p>
<p>There is a Rite Aid just 3 or 4 blocks from the freshmen dorms, so that should make it easier for your D to fetch her meds. I think it’s the closest shop to the dorms so the kids will be going there often.</p>
<p>My D has really stalled on packing too. She seems to want to squeeze in every minute she has left with her best friend here. The best friend is leaving on the same day so I keep telling them they should at least help each other pack when they’re together. </p>
<p>Hello everyone- Ive been out of the loop for a while. My kid hasnt started packing, and will have 10 tons of laundry to do before that happens. But he is going well stocked because my mom needed something to do this summer and took him shopping (once) for sheets and towels and such, and then went again for kitchen stuff. He finally had contact with one of his suitemates by facebook. The kid said sensible things like: Who is bringing the shower curtain? and “I like to cook”. So I feel some sense of relief…</p>
<p>I cant believe how fast the last 18 years went…</p>
<p>“I cant believe how fast the last 18 years went…”
No kidding!
By the way a relative has assured me that as soon as we all leave the dorm the sheets are stripped off the mattresses and they spend the next 9 months sleeping on the mattress with a blanket pulled over them, that is when they sleep.</p>
<p>We just got back from dinner with the kid’s rooom mate and Mom. I think my kid was relieved to get the first meeting out of the way. The other suite mate was too busy looking for a job to meet us for dinner. I’ll keep my fingers crossed that the move in goes smoothly tomorrow… but husband forgot the dolly… and there are eight or nine boxes… ugh. The kid is nuts. I don’t know what she’s going to do with all this stuff. Bringing it home will be a challenge too.</p>
<p>I’m jealous of all the move in stories. RISD move in is not until September 11. My son has his pile of stuff ready and no place to go. One by one his friends are leaving. My younger son just departed for a four month student exchange in Berlin and we are moving the week after my son goes off to RISD. Strange times. We are going to the beach next week to lie down and digest it all.</p>
<p>My son called me in to his room the other day to read a NYT article about parents who are having a hard time leaving their kids on drop off day. There was a CC quote in the article. He got a kick out of that.</p>
<p>Hey, welcome back switters…I kind of envy the ones who still have kid at home. Little contact with deliriously happy S but his facebook page shows some successful welding and apparently he did not burn himself in the process. </p>
<p>He casually said that GF is going to PITTSBURGH (at least 6 hour drive each way) to visit this weekend…what is with that when I had counseled that he should settle in and not plan on seeing her until Thanksgiving? I am so *<strong><em>ed, so *</em></strong>ed. WOnder what roomate will think…also, gf is scared of heights and S is on top bunk…? Now it turns out that her new BIL has family in Pittsburgh…not happy, really not happy.</p>
<p>Actually, I quite like GF. Nice, smart, hardworking, very supportive of S but I just think he needs to concentrate on being at school and loosen the ties to home, including GF and friends. She is, to me, quite pretty, doesn’t wear tons of makeup, and dresses simply and there is no grunge/dark/weird stuff going on. BUT, although I have no problems with her, per se, I worry about her letting him really have a new life at CMU. I worry he will offend and alienate roomate by having gf there for 48 hours and not really integrate into new community, get homework done etc. OK…I have avoided rating but you asked --7 on conventional measure of pretty, 7 on girlfriend behavior to parents–she wrote a lovely letter thanking us for having her over at the house so much, etc.) , is trying to learn spanish (despite already speaking german) which earns her a 9 but tempered by her being intimidated and practically mute around H. He does scare some kids but other teens have discovered he is a hoot and very sweet, not scary…she has known us 2 years but doesn’t really get H. 9 on behavior to S and 9 on very patient behavior toward D (who is openly anti-GF probably out of jealousy for big brother’s time). </p>
<p>About girls at CMU…there aren’t a lot in certain majors and they are a minority on campus. I saw a bunch of the art freshman, however, during orientation and most were girls and looked an attractive bunch but I am not the best judge. Overall, the school has a reputation for very nerdy girls who don’t spend a lot of time worrying about appearances. Boys say very rude things about CMU girls in terms of attractiveness but note that the girls in the college of fine arts are prettier. </p>
<p>Perhaps outstandingly pretty girls are rare at CMU. During orientation my D, who is 15, was constantly approached by helpful students assuming (or hoping) she was a freshman. She thought this was hilarious since the helpers often ignored S…she thought this meant she looked older than her 19 year old brother. Ha! we decided not to clue her in that it had nothing to do with how old she looked…she was an oddity on the CMU campus…stunningly attractive (think penelope cruz with braces but better legs) and attired in short shorts. When we entered a room to collect some orientation materials there was almost a riot of boys rushing toward her to “help”. She, of course, noted that people dressed badly (in her opinion), particularly the girls, but, she thought that it may have been because they were having to dress down for move in day. Not a hint of a Louis Vuitton handbag amongst students or mothers…CMU is an unlikely choice for her…</p>
<p>gawk I casted you with penelope cruz on page 4 post #56 ignoring age range and forgetting that you are in fact brit and your H is the one adding essence… isn’t it something?
well, congrats for great gene pool, it is the best gift you can give to the girl (brain, purchasing resources comes in close second tie)
when can we ( I and my kid) meet her?</p>
<p>The NYT article was interesting. On MCAD s schedule, it was clear that Friday was move-in, Saturday was orientation for both parents and students and Sunday was students only. Friday night they had a BBQ for parents and kids, but by the time we got to that, D was already friends with her roommates, and not sitting with us! After we ate, we did make one trip to Target for a bookcase and wire shelving rack for the kitchen, and when we came back and asked her if she wanted help in putting it together, she announced that they were all over 18, they could figure it out, at which time we left. Saturday they had separate sessions for parents and students, with everyone having lunch together. Again, she sat with her friends. At the schedule they had 4:30 as Parents say goodbyes, and at 5 they had a van going to the grocery store (they all live in apartments, no real meal plan), and then Cosmic bowling, both activities clearly labeled as students only. We went to leave Sat night and told her to have fun and wed see her at Christmas. D says No, Ill see you tomorrow. We said, nope, Sunday was just students. She seemed a little surprised, but OK. So she walked us to the van, we gave her a hug, and we were on our way.</p>
<p>Redbug…congrats on the successful launch! Oh that act about total independence and not needing us (except to pay tuition…)! It doesn’t last. Hmm…two weeks in and there have been a couple of cracks in the veneer of adulthood/total independence…got a call from an office at uni saying that his jacket was there with home phone number (old jacket from HS)–S says he doesn’t think he has worn a jacket yet…HA! like the jacket just walked out of dorm, across campus and lay down on the floor of the university center…When packing, he thought having name and phone number in jackets, back of calculator, phone, inside art box was stupid and childish…absolutely, but it’s only childish if you leave them places for responsible adults to call your mother later…Also, a bit of a panic first day of class when too scared of oversleeping to sleep so call me to be the ultimate alarm clock. Hasn’t repeated that so that is good!</p>