<p>S finally packed this afternoon. It's all in the truck and ready to go except the computer and printer. He'll put those in in the morning.
We leave in 10 hours. S is still out with high school friends having one final "hangout night" before scattering across the state tomorrow. Can't believe I thought he might "hangout" with us,lol. Kind of bittersweet but he's ready to go.</p>
<p>northstarmom,</p>
<p>I did not feel defensive. It was my own guilty conscience speaking because both my sons are slobs. I apologize to future daughters-in-law...but they're really nice guys!</p>
<p>PackMom, I just figured out that the real advantage of our cross country drive is "quality" time with S.</p>
<p>Ha... I remember feeling the same way with my oldest son. He stayed out until four hours before we left for college. Then he slept the whole way there. Guess he was really worried about missing us!</p>
<p>Hoping the packing starts today since we leave tomorrow at 6 am.....told him I would not be available to help this evening. Yesterday (when he finally got home from two weeks of being away), the girlfriend came over and she cried the whole time and he held her hand. Exactly what I told him did NOT need to happen. </p>
<p>I have a funny feeling that he is going to forget alot of things and that he is relying on me to get things to him. We need to have a little talk about that!</p>
<p>S finally went into high gear this afternoon. Looks like he will get to college on time after all. Phew. I guess they just need to do it when they are ready. In his case, he's particular about his way of packing. That's fine, but I was beginning to wonder about his "timetable." My contribution has been to add things to his piles. Now--I'm going to go organize my own stuff.</p>
<p>Just took a look at this thread. What wonderful stories. I don't have a son, but D has a BF who is going to (another) school, left this morning in fact. (Emotional time, but they are both doing really well. Proud of them.)</p>
<p>Anyway, a couple of weeks ago, BF's mom started bugging him about making a list of stuff he needs. When BF came over, D asked to see said list. </p>
<p>It said:
Sheets
Towels
Box
Toothbrush</p>
<p>D: "Box? What does that mean?"</p>
<p>BF: "You know . . . if I have to store stuff or anything."</p>
<p>D takes BF by hand, leads him to the basement to show him her accumulating stuff to maybe give him some ideas. BF takes a long look, pulls out the list, and carefully adds, "Hangers."</p>
<p>dbwes, thanks for sharing that story. I read it to my son, and we both got a big laugh from it.</p>
<p>Three cheers for all the kids who are kicking it into overdrive! </p>
<p>We're making really good progress on the To Do lists. It's looking good.</p>
<p>My D is all packed and just went to bed. We're leaving for the airport at 8 tomorrow morning......I'm feeling sad but happy to see her so excited about going back.</p>
<p>11:41PM
S still packing the car, his clothes,etc
we leave at 8AM I'm not helping he can stay up all night if need be.But he did have to give up going out tonight b/c he wasnt done.</p>
<p>D just called and she's there......I thought I would be fine this AM at the airport but couldn't help a few tears when she said she was really going to miss us.</p>
<p>I was worried about her bag being overweight, but it was fine. I guess I should get a scale, but then I would feel like I should step on to it now and then.</p>
<p>^^^ Glad all went well ReneeV.
DS and I actually did a little more shopping today (he didnt like the fan I got, so I told him he had to come with me to pick out what he wanted). Also got a nalgene bottle and some of his favorite beef jerky (stunk up the car)</p>
<p>Can't find one of our duffel bags... And older s said he didnt have it. Hmmmmm....</p>
<p>He's got one month left on this internship. After 6 years he's within driving distance of home. Experienced packers pack what is important. A watermelon, 5 pounds of plums from our tree, 20 pounds of prepared food, 4 loaves of homemade bread, and the clothes he wore on friday. He's driving. Seattle/Redmond has a food problem?</p>
<p>One more update about the minimalist packing freshman S I have. You may recall he gave up the big rolling suitcase last week for one carry-on suitcase plus his backpack... No checked luggage for him!</p>
<p>Yesterday I saw that the carry-on suitcase has been returned empty to the garage, meaning S is now planning on taking only his backpack (a standard school type backpack). I'm thinking he can't possible function on the other side of the country until winter break with only what will fit into one backpack. So today I asked. He grinned and showed me a receipt from UPS. He packed and shipped a box last week after calling and making arrangements with his school to hold the package until his arrival. Amazing ain't it what a kid who, what seems like only yesterday, couldn't tie his shoes can now do all by himself.
Go son, go!</p>
<p>cute story, 4trees. Makes me think about those Huggies commercials - "I'm a big kid now!" :)</p>
<p>I read this thread at least once a day. :) I love all of your stories. Keep 'em coming!</p>
<p>4trees,
Your S must have been waiting and waiting for the right moment to spring that surprise on you! :) Bet the look on your face was priceless! Congrats on an independent son!</p>
<p>OK, so here's our story. D has an apartment this year, and since she decided she was going to cook every day (!!), we spent several weekends leading up to the big move listing, buying and packing kitchen-related items. I mean we had EVERYTHING, from crockpots to teapots to pie-making stuff. You name it, we had it. She is completely serious about this cooking thing! Never mind that she didn't cook ONE THING this summer. We were planning on leaving early wednesday morning (last week, this is all over now, thank God!). On Sunday night, I said, you know, maybe you ought to sort through the piles of stuff that returned last April and is still sitting in the garage, the family room, and your bedroom. Oh Yeah, she says. And she asks me to help her, which of course I do. Tuesday I say, what about clothes? Oh yeah, I'll take care of that. So tuesday night hubby and I pack up what is already packed, no clothes included. She is out visiting people she didnt get around to seeing until the night before she leaves. Still no clothes, or books, or toiletries, etc at 10 p.m. We go to bed. Early in the am we get up to discover 8 (YES, 8!!) large garbage bags of stuff in the kitchen. So we borrow a rooftop carrier, pack the stuff and pray that the whole load doesn't blow off on the the New York State thruway. We arrive safely, all items intact. Mind you, I am in the passenger front with my feet on a backpack and duffelbag, hubby is driving, D in back with barely room to sit. We go to the apartment. It's really cute, nice building, new carpet and freshly painted.....and the kitchen is approximately 6 x 4 with a small stove, sink and refrigerator. One under sink cabinet, one countertop big enough for the dish drainer, two over head cabinets. Off to Target we go for a SUVfull of pantly units, kitchen carts, storage shelves, etc. Needless to say it was a looooong day. But she's happy as a clam and loving life right now. PS......she made a cake last night!</p>
<p>Good for your son, 4trees! LongPrime, those four loaves of homebread bread sound pretty good to me. kschmidt, I'm glad she made a cake already. I can just picture her happily trying out her new kitchen. I hope the cooking binge will last.</p>
<p>It takes me at least a week to pack my D. I like to help with whatever I can, so that she can spend priceless few more hours with her HS friends at home.</p>