<p>The pillow seems to be the "forgotten item of the year". DS spent 1/2 hr going though all th pillow choices in the house to pick the "best one" and then promply forgot to pack it! We made the obligatory mecca to Walmart to get a pillow and a few other things he wanted, but its all done!!</p>
<p>What is it about pillows this year? We had an explicit conversation about pillows before he left, and he had planned to take 2 from home to supplement the one in his storage unit at school. He was traveling by car, so there was plenty of room. He and his sister left on time Friday for the 16 hour drive to school, and after waving good-bye I went upstairs. What did I find on his bed...ALL THE PILLOWS!! Well, first stop was BB & B...I had sent him with a fistful of coupons that came in handy very quickly!</p>
<p>Oh well, the kids will have pillows waiting for them when they visit your homes. <girn></girn></p>
<p>I bought my son a new pillow and packed it in his suitcase myself. :D
We leave on Wednesday morning. He is nearly packed. I see <em>neatly folded</em> clothes in the suitcases! We're cookin' now!</p>
<p>Regarding pillows- moving out is also a problem, I rescued son's from the hall outside his dorm room (where they had been put in his packing process) last spring...</p>
<p>S left this morning on the early flight; boxes sent, suitcases on plane. a month ago, I wouldn't have guessed it would happen. Still hasn't come up with a preliminary budget thus far, so no money going into his account. He understands and I would assume a budget will show up in short order.</p>
<p>Thanks for all the moral support on the packing.</p>
<p>We visited S this past weekend as freshman move in was on Saturday. He had to go a week early because he is working at the Dem Convention, and took only what he needed for that job. Linens were provided where he was staying for that so we had to bring stuff he needed for school. Since we took a plane, it involved suitcases, and with extra charges now added for extra bags, we bought a lot of things locally. </p>
<p>I brought bedding as we had plenty of XL twin stuff from the older guys. That took up the bulk of one big suitcase. The rest was casual clothes since he had to take business wear for the convention job. I was so glad I did not take pillow or towels. Found towels at the local Target for $1.50--nice big bath towels. Even bought some to take home at that price. Also bought pillow there since one would take up a lot of space in a suitcase, though little weight, and it was only $4.99. It would have been crazy to mail it to him. I did spend A LOT at target. $500. Mostly sale things, but wow. Bought lamp, extension cord, laundry baskets (to slide under bed), laundry detergent, fan, snack, coffee, tea, hot chocolate and accouterments, sticky tab, message board, cork board, school/office supplies, toiletries in large containers, socks, underwear, trash bags, hangers, tylenol, motrin, tums, vitamins, mouse for his laptop, all sorts of "little" things. I have not spent so much at a Target/Walmart type store since last kid went to college. This is where the costs add up as H and I also dropped $800 combined on airfare, stayed at a hotel, rented a car, ate and bought some souvenirs for ourselves. A very expensive weekend!</p>
<p>^^^ Cool! Working at the Dem. convention! Fun! A friend of mine PM'ed me to tell me he was serving as Walter Mondaale's driver this week at the convention. Fun stuff.</p>
<p>Cpt- what is "sticky tab?" I was reading your list to see if I'd forgotten anyting for DS, and that was the only thing I can't identify. Are you talking post-it notes?? </p>
<p>Funny how all the stuff that DS initially insisted he didnt need he now suddenly wants. He initially refused to get a message board, but cked in with me today to see if it was OK to buy a whiteboard at the college store and put it on his account. Hey-- I got a phonecall out of it!! First one. No complaints here.</p>
<p>Sticky tab looks like putty or play dough. You can stick things onto the dorm walls without causing damage using it. Same category as stick it notes but for posters, photos, important papers when you don't have a bull board. My little guy also likes to play with it. : ) Have yet to figure out how to put up bull board or dry erase board without damaging wall.</p>
<p>We did not buy extension coard, and found that he needs it the way they want to do the room. Loved the way his college provided things for the kids. There was a plastic shower tote for bathroom stuff and a built in safe in his closet so that he can lock up important stuff. Also the closet was floor to ceiling with a cabinet up top where he could store his suitcases and other stuff that he would not need day to day. Also a microfride and the mattress was completely enclosed with a cover and then toped with pad. Lofting equipment and advice available, but the bed still had plenty of room for storage under it. We just bought some rectangular laundry baskets to put under the bed that he can use as storage drawers. Cheap, light and all purpose. Scissors that I bought were really needed a borrowed by many as a lot of junk we buy comes encased in plastic coating that is not easily removed without scissors.</p>
<p>Ahhh, that blue putty stuff. Forgot about that stuff, and didn't know its name.</p>
<p>As for ways to hang bulletin or dry erase boards, we bought these hooks from the "command" product line Family</a> of Products . They come off easily at the end of the year. With posters, DS first started wit this command stuff, then used velcro tape (one side goes on the wall, the other on the back of the poster and you slap 'em together). His roommate just used good ol' duct tape rolled up onto a loop on the back. We'll see if it messes up the wall at the end of the year.</p>
<p>CPT-
I forget where your s is at school, but their dorm rooms sound grand. DS's is in need of a facelift.</p>
<p>Just a warning, D is supposed to only use the white putty, not the blue on her dorm walls. It is okay to use thumbtacks on the drywall though.</p>
<p>Drywall?? You have drywall?? Whoa. Upscale. DS has old painted brick. Impenetrable.</p>
<p>Concrete at S's dorm. Painted mortar block. The room is well designed for college students away from home. Lots of storage and space, but very bare bones in terms of amenties like decor. Lots of light, however because lots of windows. These are the rooms they are tripling for some kids. S was originally tripled, but by the time he got there, he had moved up the list to a double. Roommate seems laid back, organized, neat, mature. Hope he can put up with S.</p>
<p>S boarded the first leg of his cross country red-eye flight about an hour ago, as per his plan with only his backpack as a carry on and one paperback to read, no checked baggage at all. He did ship one box ahead last week. I'm thinking he'll be know on campus as the kid with nothing, yet he assures me he has all he needs until winter break. Time will tell....</p>
<p>Thank you all so much!! We will drive S3 3.5 hours to college tomorrow (for his first year), but could not get him to take any interest in getting ready. He's hunkered down on computer. Wife and I are totally exasperated. Since he is youngest of 3 we're not new at this, but we've never seen anything like it before.</p>
<p>10:30 PM, I decide to do a Google search, looking for moral support. Type in "night before leaving kid won't pack for college". It's amazing - I find this thread. Begin to read, then read aloud to Wife. We are not alone. He is not pathological. We are <em>hysterical</em> over stories :-) !! Wife has not laughed this hard in a long time. We really needed it!</p>
<p>At 11:30 the time control I put on our router kicks in and Internet access is cut off. Son comes upstairs and I hear him say to Wife, "Need any help packing?".</p>
<p>There's hope!!</p>
<p>All this sharing is just too much fun--I was so glad to find this particular thread 3 days ago, when the final countdown for DS (my Only) to go off to college, was coming to a close. Well, we got 'er done! Was the best part crying in the car on the way up, when one of his favorite songs came on and I realized yet again how much I will miss him, and what a fabulous opportunity and adventure he has ahead of him? Or was it when he actually seemed to shed a few tears, when he said goodbye to us? Or when we saw that his dorm room is REALLY nice (drywall I think), when we watched him conversing with 2 out of his other 3 roommates, or when he saw that their common room is probably the size of our (standard) living room, or even larger?! Or was it when all his stuff, that had actually been packed a few days earlier, actually fit in our Honda Civic?!! (It will probably add to his ongoing perceived deprived child status, having so little stuff at school). </p>
<p>Yes, it's WONDERFUL not to be alone in this part of the parent journey! I am appreciating you all (and probably very emotionally available at the moment--hey, there are things really worth shedding tears about!).</p>
<p>Well, the bags are packed and ready to go. We fly out bright and early tomorrow morning!</p>
<p>oregonianmom, I think you are channeling Peter, Paul and Mary.</p>
<p>You know you're on the right thread when we revert to Peter Paul and Mary....</p>
<p>When son threw his stuff on a spare bed (his version of packing), his college stuff seemed to be so sparse. He really did not need much, it seemed. In our day, the stereo was what took up the space, and now days with the computer and i pod, there really was not much to take. No dictionary, thesaurus, reference books, as the computer takes care of that. No albums, etc. </p>
<p>It wasn't till we got there and walked into the Target that I saw all the stuff he needed. Happens every time with the college kid. Only time I rack up those kind of charges on that kind of store. All items to be put to good use, but oh, does it add up fast. And I already have a list of stuff I want to send to him in the next week or so.</p>