<p>momofthreeboys--</p>
<p>Another mom of son who is in no hurry to pack. Heck he hasn't unpacked half the stuff he brought home after freshman year. Before he can pack he has to also wash the huge pile of dirty laundry on his floor unless he plans on packing dirty clothes.
Also my husband just took a look in the trunk of son's car. Piles of beach towels, gym clothes, sweatshirts and papers and textbooks from the summer school classes that finished up two weeks ago!</p>
<p>Sorry -- computer glitch</p>
<p>Anyway! momofthreesons, I feel your pain. I was crazed last year about the packing. I harped and harped, but it fell on deaf ears. H was no help because he remembered the "good old days" when he threw some t-shirts and jeans in a duffle bag the night before and off he went to school!</p>
<p>Well - it soon became readily apparent ( the night before we were leaving )that all their things were not going to fit in the cars. So the clothes came out of the duffle bags and into large plastic bags. We barely made it.</p>
<p>I am so much calmer this year. They boys rented a storage unit so there is much less that they will be taking back with them. They tell me that they have done a mental checklist and think that it should only take a couple hours to pack.</p>
<p>To be continued!!!!</p>
<p>I'm pretty sure I'm kicked out of the actual packing. My function seems to be that of reminding her to do/get things. We're doing a CVS run soon. She for her stuff and me to make a "first aid kit." I made her one when she went away for 6 weeks last summer and not only did she use it, so did all of her friends! Otherwise I'm surprised at how self-motivated and independant she wants to be with all this. Of coure, 2.5 weeks to go and much could happen in that time.</p>
<p>Also, we've rented a mini-van!</p>
<p>Is is just me or does it seem like some posters make up a new screenname when they want to post something contrary to what most others are saying? No one, IMO, is making their kid "neurotic" about their wardrobe, CCK. There are 24 hrs in a day, and one can manage to see friends and be responsible too. Learning organization and time management skills is important if they are to succeed in school and in life.</p>
<p>As for throwing dirty clothes into a suitcase to wash at school??? Whew! That'll have a nice smell when he opens it!! And do many kids really want to do laundry shortly after they arrive at school? LOL</p>
<p>My bro. had no clue how to do laundry when he got to college and poured too much bleach in his first load and ruined all his underwear!</p>
<p>jym-no worries, I deduced you were talking to me :)</p>
<p>I don't know how anyone can honestly get "neurotic" about packing. Throw all your stuff in boxes. Done.</p>
<p>Jym626- I don't think my son did much laundry at school. The laundry soap we bought at Target when we moved him in came home with him. At least half full!
The eggcrate and mattress pad came home but quickly made it out to the garbage can.
My son does not want or need much. His computer, printer and some clothes. I made him a med box but it didn't look like it got used much.
His roommate last year brought the frig and TV. He hasn't asked his new roommate if he is planning on bringing a frig or TV. I figure it is not my problem.
What makes things easier is that we bring him to school by car. I am actually looking forward to move in weekend. Son, Dad and little sister are making the trip. Me, I am planning on staying home and having the whole house to my self! Can't wait. If you can't tell I am not going to miss him. He has been home since early May and we rarely see him.</p>
<p>The morning my son needed to check into his apartment (2 1/2 hour drive away), I was up and ready to leave at about 8:30. As my son STARTED to pack, I just sat on the couch and had my coffee. My feeling was, I have a home, and a college degree. Eventually we got on the road, he got checked into the apartment, and life continued rolling along.</p>
<p>S1 moved out and into dorm last Jan. Went shopping with him for kitchen items, good clothes, school supplies, etc. Brought most of it back unused. Never opened the sheets and mattress pad I sent. Send he slept on the mattress with his comforter (yuk!). So S2 will get the sheets (which he will accept only because the packages were clearly unopened--and he wants 2 sheets!), and S1 promises to use the mattress pad if nothing else. </p>
<p>Have been much more involved with S2 (S1 moved out for the first time for grad school) who will be a freshman. He & I both started lists last May. Sat down together about a month ago and made a master list from our two lists. Unfortunately, his computer crashed and he lost it. So we've been working from mine which was pretty complete (needed to delete more than add). He and I have gone shopping several times to see what we could find--most recently for good clothes needed for performance. We're driving, and I'm packing all his clothes (on hangers already) in two large suitcases, one of which we'll bring back.</p>
<p>Most items are sorted in paper boxes which he can keep/stack for storage, if necessary, or throw away with no qualms. We're worried about the no elevator trek to the 4th floor room, although there are student helpers. (A reminder of a good piece advice I got found elsewhere on cc--label all items with D/S's name, room number & cell phone so that everything ends up where it's supposed to be or mis-delivered items can be returned easily to their owner.) </p>
<p>My big worry now is that S & his roommate will both have several large musical items in a very small dorm room. College supplies locker facilities but they won't have access on the first day!</p>
<p>FYI to the moms: I came home from my second year this year and basically threw everything in my sister's closet, not organized, and some in the garage. Mom wasn't going to have it, so she sat down and tried to organize it all. This somewhat forced me to join. So, moral of the story: organize your stuff for next year when packing it away for the summer. My move back entitles yanking it all out, throwing in some other stuff (which I'm, of course, going to do the night before), and going.</p>
<p>I'm really trying the hands-off approach and leaving D to make as many of the arrangements as possible this year. She is flying back alone, and her dorm stuff was packed/stored and will be delivered to her room when she gets there, so it's really just clothes and some books that she will be taking with her. Well, yesterday I asked if she had checked to see if her airline is charging for checking bags and if she would have one or two, and that at least got her sorting clothes. She's one of those last-minute packers.</p>
<p>'rentof2 said:
[quote]
a heaping display of squalor
[/quote]
</p>
<p>I've ROFLMAO with tears running down my face since I read that...my S must live with you (or your S has a spare room here). Think I will use your quote to impress upon said S the need to start cleaning out what he doesn't want. I'll be fine with waiting to pack. It's just the other cr*p that's got to go.</p>
<p>D2 has most of her clothes on hangers and folded ready to go. Tubs packed and we picked up toiletries yesterday. She is super organized and eager to return to school for her third year. She is definitely tired of being at home! ;)</p>
<p>If my neat freak D ever meets any of your squalor-heaped S's, there will be a reckoning. I envision her standing at the threshold asking, "Do you have any Clorox wipes in there anywhere?"</p>
<p>LOL! I was thinking the same thing! Guess the young men don't worry about entertaining young ladies in their rooms! D1 runs with guys who play the same sport that she does and they run from room to room and play Wii or watch movies. She said the guys with the ishy (Minnesota for Ewww!) rooms don't get the "privilege" of the girls' company. Still laughing at the "squalor" description!</p>
<p>Off topic alert -- I've always thought there were a couple of things that guys could pretty easily do to really get the upper hand with the girls. The number one thing is to learn to dance - good dancing covers up a world of other faults. The other is to keep a clean house, or room or apartment. There is nothing like expecting the worst when the door is opened only to look around and say "Wow it is really nice in here."</p>
<p>Long ago I told my kids there were two skills that would make them attractive to women: 1) cooking and 2) dancing. They each picked one. Obviously I have failed as a parent. Should have told them: 3) CLEAN ROOMS! </p>
<p>Now I know why one of my roommates brought the BF to our dorm -- his sheets were probably skanky! :o</p>
<p>My DS took a look around his engineering classes first semester freshman year. He
1) Joined the campus chapter of SWE (Society of Women Engineers) and
2) Took Ballroom Dancing spring semester.....</p>
<p>Funny thing was, he asked me what I thought of his taking Ballroom Dancing.... I told him I thought it was a GREAT idea. .... :-)</p>
<p>Proudinnj - I, too, am much calmer this August...and son also has a storage locker. I did (gulp) nag last night and told him he should start to gather the electronics devices, cell phone cords, miscellaneous shoes, etc. that are lying around and I got the death look...my husband is a "night before trip" packer and uses the floor for clothes storage too which has made me crazy for over 20 years....fortunately all the son's clothes he brought home in May are piled on his desk and never made it into the closet or dressers so he merely has to swipe those into the suitcase. My worse nightmare is that if he ever marries his wife will think "I" made him the way he is when I really know it's his dad's genes that did this.</p>