<p>Unfortunate circumstances put me in the position of having to get both the electronics and laptop (which I know about) and the linens which I don’t, for my D. But okay, we finally got the xl sheets and sundry items from a combination of Target, BBB, L&T and LL Bean.</p>
<p>Now…do you also label them? And if yes, since I wouldn’t know where to get and couldn’t if I did, sew in printed labels like I vaguely remember from ancient sleep away camp days, can I use sharpies or some sort of indelible pen? (saw a laundry pen in Staples while shopping for a printer).</p>
<p>And/or last, would suggesting, much less doing this be akin to sending her to senior prom in a dress from JC Penny’s?</p>
<p>The suggestion is sure to elicit huge groans… college kids don’t like labels, and if they do happen to want to mark their clothes, they are old enough to write their names by themselves. So - no, don’t worry about that. (However, my son was willing to go for the idea of engraving on his laptop - his college offered that service for free)</p>
<p>Personally, I have no intention of labeling my son’s stuff before he heads off to college. And I am sure he would give me that “Mom is crazy” look if I suggested it. It could be useful, if roommates are messy, and clothing and such get strewn about the floor (quite likely, at least in the case of male students); however, I would suggest instead that the student take a laundry bag and keep her dirty clothes and linens separate from those of her roommate. And, if she wants her name on her clothing, she could certainly do it herself. :-)</p>
<p>We didn’t label anything either. Both S’s kept their stuff in their own closets, so there was not anyplace to get them mixed up anyway.</p>
<p>I’m also interested in the laptop engraving. What exactly is it? We ordered a lock on-line for S’s laptop. It stays locked to his table in his room, essentially making it a desktop. We’ve heard too many stories of kids’ laptops getting stolen from libraries and such when the kid walked away for a moment, so we greatly discouraged S from ever taking it with him anywhere.</p>
<p>I don’t know about the laptop engraving - when my son arrived at his college, it was just something offered on the first day as part of the registration process. That was 4 years ago, so I don’t even know if it is something that is still considered important or necessary - that is, I don’t know whether laptops are less likely to be stolen as they become more common & less expensive.</p>
<p>And as to monogrammed towels – way back in ancient times, I was sent off to college with monogrammed towels – very old, ratty towels that had been a wedding gift to my parents. My mom unloaded all the old linens on me, then happily went out and bought new linens and towels for home. I considered myself a very enlightened and generous parent when I bought NEW sheets & towels for my son when he went off – the box from Bed & Bath arrived at the college before we did, so it was there waiting for him.</p>
calmom, I like your parents style. Sign me up as stingy and unenlighted as I am sending S off with old (although not ratty) towels; and getting the new wonderful Turkish towels for moi! This epiphany came to me as I pictured the brand new towels moldering in a heap on his floor in humid New Orleans, achieving new heights of polka-dotted mold. Plus, I have a couple of sets here at home which don’t quite match my new bathroom color scheme - problem solved!</p>
<p>He is getting new sheets, though; I have no use for twin XL’s ;).</p>
<p>to the OP, if your D may be sending any of her laundry out to be done or if there’s any possibility that it might get jumbled together with other people’s stuff, writing her name or initials in laundry marker is a good idea–no need for printed labels. Laundry markers do look very similar to regular marker pens but are sold, as you noticed at Staples, specifically lackaged as laundry markers.</p>
<p>Thanks all, for assuaging my fears. I’d overheard two moms talking about doing this in the aisles of BB&B and was struck with a sudden TV sitcom feeling of male irresponsibility/naivety. I guess those two were on their way to having the towels monogramed… for their kids. Perhaps to match the family crests on the doors of the SUVs they were also providing.</p>
<p>Ummmmm, why on earth are parents doing this. This is college!!! Your kids are adults!!! They should choose, lable or not and pack. This is scary.</p>
<p>They haven’t read the book by the same name. They are living the experience for themselves…they perceive that other kids in the dorms will think more highly of their babies who have the matching, high quality…right.</p>
<p>We only label stuff to go to camp. They are on their own for college. Surprisingly, S came back with most stuff -just lost two winter jackets. Interesting observation re labeling however - we just passed down (to my sister-in-law with small children) camp blankets with three generations of name tags on them. My youngest sleeps at camp with one of the third generation blankets, intends to bring in to college with him, where I am sure it will self-destruct.</p>
<p>I love this thread almost as much as the one last fall called Staple or Paperclip Applications?
I recently looked with longing at iron-in labels with my 18 yr olds name printed on them, still kicking around in a drawer from yesteryear, and would love to spend an hour ironing them into things even though I know this is crazy and he wouldn’t take them to college if I do it. I also found a set of old Summer Camp Stationary (with lines so his printing is legible) preaddressed to Mom and Dad with stamps never cancelled. Perhaps he would use them if I packed them into the sock drawer? I always wanted a letter from him from Camp.
And I got out a sharpie to mark things we are piling up in a corner for his dorm room. One look from him and I put the sharpie away. If he gets concerned, he will use the sharpie himself.</p>
<p>I label a lot of stuff–mostly mine. But I use a Sharpie™.</p>
<p>Most of my kids’ sheets and towels have a discrete set of initials in one corner. Why? Well, they went to boarding school, and we found that sheets and towels had a tendency to travel, esp. the towels.</p>
<p>I have four kids. S3, the last one, is 18. Before he was born, I had some summer camp labels that said “I belong to S1, S2, or D Last Name.”
I am ashamed to admit that I still have some towels with those pre-1987 labels in my closet. Hey, they’re not in tatters, right, so why throw them out? I have bought towels since then, I swear!</p>
<p>I don’t intend to label his college towels and linens, though.</p>
<p>One poster mentioned that her D had labeled her winter jacket with her home phone # in it. When she lost it on campus, the honest finder called the home # and was able to return the jacket to its rightful owner. Labelling does help!</p>
<p>For towels, etc., D didn’t label. But her towels were a hideous color so easily identified.</p>
<p>Laptop–college had an engraving/registry system set up. Laptop theft is a real problem, so I’m guessing that most colleges will have a similar program. Check the website or call.</p>
<p>Neighborhood boy went off to college and had oodles of stuff taken from his dorm room. His dorm had long halls with doors on each side of the hall. Great for getting to know people. Also great for thieves who walk by.By Christmas, he moved out of the dorm. </p>
<p>D didn’t have anything stolen from her dorm room. But she was on the top floor of a stairwell. No long halls. Double doors.</p>
<p>“We found that sheets & towels had a tendency to travel, esp. the towels.”</p>
<p>My point exactly. I am obviously the minority opinion here, but I make no apologies for the fact that we are not made of money, & cannot afford to replace items willy-nilly. It has been our experience at camps, etc., that when grabbing items that look similar, from a common room such as a shower or a laundry, rarely do people look carefully at the labels. Therefore, since towels are one of the few things that can be monogrammed, she is going with labeled towels. Until now, we’ve never owned a single monogrammed item in our lives. (You need to “identify” each other’s towels within your homes?)</p>
<p>As to the all the other items (including the laptop, which is kind of identifiable by its age), she will have to choose or not to label them, & I doubt that she will label anything, because most things she wouldn’t need to. She may label with a marking pen her sheets; I suspect it will stop there.</p>
<p>But we are on a limited budget (no SUV – whoever made the crack about that), as she will also be. Replacing the towels this year is not in the budget.</p>
<p>At son’s school everything is sorted by color, put into laundry bags, and sent out to the laundry, hence everything is labeled. Let’s see, things have to be labelled, but they don’t have to do laundry. Seems like a good trade-off to me!</p>
<p>I agree about the pilfering issue. When S went to swim meets we were losing many towels, shorts, etc., so we did take to the discrete initials method of marking items. Then son could say, “Hey, thanks for finding my ____ (insert item name here)!” and there was no argument. Like my husband says, temptation makes a thief.</p>