<p>But FrenchBaroque, that comment was about camp, not college. My S is about as absent minded as can be, but there was really no situation where his towels could/would be picked up by someone else. No students I’ve ever heard of leave them around common rooms. (generally they’re wearing them back from the shower ) The only exception I can think of is students who send their laundry out, and as another who’s not made of money, that’s certainly not an option in my house!</p>
<p>Just be aware that labels/monograms etc may make your student stand out unpleasantly–labels look a little juvenile; monograms look a little ritzy.</p>
<p>Momof1-where do they get that kind of service!?</p>
<p>Labels: I think it depends on the kid. I never kept my stuff in the common bathroom (just brought it back and forth), so no need for labels. I also kept my clothes separate from my roommate’s stuff. However, anything that could be shared should have a label! I borrowed my aunt’s cake pan to bake a cake, and my roomie lent it to someone down the hall, who lent it to someone else. Stuff wanders.</p>
<p>It was SoozieVT’s D who lost her ski coat - and the number on the inside was her home phone. I would recommend this, because the kids’ numbers will change every year as they move around on campus. Sure, you might have to field a call or two, but it beats making new labels every year. </p>
<p>(Then again, I had my name & phone on my glasses case, which has been missing for ages. Not a guarantee of getting lost items returned.)</p>
<p>Laptop engraving: your local police station might offer this service if the school does not. Mine was engraved with my driver’s license number and state. DO NOT put your SSN on it (think of ID theft problems) - but the police can track via state & driver’s license number. Likewise, phone number is not a good method of having the laptop returned to you.</p>
<p>Service academies. They take 18-20 credits per semester, plus their professional obligations and military training, so they have no time to do laundry beyond sorting it going out and putting it away after it comes back. They do have their id number on each item, though, which is a little like being incarcerated!</p>
<p>Students are constantly doing laundry, then going off leaving clothes in the washers/dryers. I know if left to her own devices, my daughter has left clothes in the washing machine at home only to have me oen the machine and say ewwww.</p>
<p>Hey, D was sharing space with 4 other people and I did nto give a second though to having sheets monogrammed when I ordered them from JCP. no child of priviledge here and it did not consider it to be ritzy in the least. I just felt it was a small price to pay as I don’t want to constantly have to replace stuff and that she could easily identify her things. Considering how much everyone has been recently complaing about the cost of sheets XL sheets and the fact that my duaghter attends a school where she is really not near and shopping, to me it just makes sense.</p>
<p>P.S. if you use the school’s laundry service they do suggest that you "tag’ your clothes.</p>
<p>I told my S I was getting him new towels with his initials monogrammed on them. He said (what a surprise) “Why? Just buy cheap ones and you can just replace them if they get stolen…”</p>
<p>I explained I would rather pay a couple extra bucks now to be sure his towels didn’t walk so easily rather than for HIM to spend more money later. It shut him up. And according to D, already away at college, monogramming works.</p>
<p>I concur–didn’t do it to look snooty. Did it because I’m cheap.</p>
<p>Thank you, sybbie. Glad I’m not the only one who sees this from a practical viewpoint.</p>
<p>Garland, it may be “college-not camp,” however, my D is the trusting/casual AND absent-minded type who – given other patterns – may very well leave a towel or two in a shower area or laundry room. She’s also been in an unusual situtation in h.s. which is not like a lot of high schools. Extreme trust. People leave expensive items <em>out</em> in the locker room area or other unsecured sites; it’s still there when they come back for it, including days later. That may or may not work in other environments.</p>
<p>My D does not wear a towel back from the shower. She wears a robe. She could easily leave a towel behind, and I suspect will.</p>
<p>At the end of the day, you gotta know your kid. I love mine but she can be as absent minded as a day is long. She is also a friend of the friendless who doesn’t think twice about loaning someone something and often has to be nudged (by me) to get her stuff back. </p>
<p>Coursier, </p>
<p>with everything else we have to spend to send these kids off to college, I am proud to say that I am cheap with you.</p>
<p>But I can report that both of my organizationally-challenged children have come home, for a total of five years running, with all sheets and towels, unlabeled. They’d be appalled at labels, but it’s definitely a whatever suits your family style issue, i can see.</p>
<p>I am still not sure what to do about the missing winter jackets - one was a fleece high school band jacket that can’t be replaced. Am wondering if he will notice when it gets cold in Pittsburgh and purchase some outerware. Tried to wash two paychecks this weekend in a pair of work shorts - luckily he didn’t turn the washer on. I think he needs to be labeled himself</p>
<p>You as a parent will have to learn to bear the pain of watching your cub deal with logical consequences…unless you are enabling your cub by consistent nagging and bailing out.</p>
<p>We drew discreet shamrocks and stars on the labels when my ds went to camp, easy to find</p>
<p>My D would die from monograms, but she could handle a sharpie star in the corner of sheets and towels…its her symbol</p>
<p>RIght now I am looking for cheap towels, to start fall HS off with, one set for each girl, so that I will know who has left them on the floor etc. WIthour lovely white towels strewn in a pile and with each pointing at the other, I have decided to get them new towels in their favorite color so I will KNOW who to nag…</p>
<p>I did it with their dishes as well…its not mine was getting old</p>
<p>down the hall and into the shower room…or out of the teensy bath and into the dorm room…can apply underwear while wearing one and folks don’t tend to steal them…they can serve as a pillow, blanket and hold up well to the hallway toss.</p>
<p>No labels. The kids do their own laundry. They lock their rooms. We used a permanent magic marker to put DS’s name on his stereo and computer equipment (on the back or bottom), and on his small electronic things (he’s a music major). I’ll tell you that even with his name ALL over, his very expensive metronome got stolen. Someone is walking around campus with a metronome with my kid’s name on it!!</p>
<p>My kids often leave their laundry unattended in the washers and dryers in their dorms (start it before the 9AM class, put in dryer after class, pick up after the next class). As I said, sheets and towels have a tendency to travel. They now have initials in Sharpie, in the corner. Bed Bath and Beyond does discount sheets and towels, and they don’t monogram. I started doing this when they started coming home from boarding school with the same number of towels, but different ones, not as nice.</p>
<p>As for the laptop, both kids have an address label on the back. As do their cameras, and mine. So do my sewing scissors.</p>
<p>My son’s calculator has his last name inside, underneath the batteries. Intriguingly, it’s disappeared twice and returned by parents twice when the parents went to replace the batteries (both times in high school).</p>
<p>I laughed about hiding the laptop in the room; my son is so attached to his laptop that he carries it everywhere.</p>
<p>Have to address the “Back off parents” comment. A) What we do on CC does not necessarily reflect our as-lived parenting behaviour. I myself am on a 2.5 week business trip to China. My D has spent 6 weeks in Manhattan for summer. So I monogram towels? So what? There are lots of ways to let go. B) So what if we want to foster our feelings of still being the mom? I will get a hell of a lot more bang out of sending my D to college with monogrammed towels than she would get a feeling of being smothered. It is my secret way of keeping her baby self close to my heart, although she is long since way taller than me and shows every sign of becoming infinitely more competent.</p>
<p>I have no doubt that the mothers in this forum would only label or monogram towels for strictly utilitarian, loving purposes and with full understanding of the needs and wishes of your child. And I’ll bet your daughters (even if it’s secretly) appreciate every bit of it.</p>
<p>Although I’m still pretty certain that the the two mothers I overheard at BB&B where I live, were doing it (primarily) for other reasons. Trust me.</p>
<p>Heck, if I didn’t didn’t have implicit confidence in the mothers here, I never would have posed the question. I only did because my D doesn’t seem to have a mom like you.</p>
<p>Thanks for your advice…I’m strongly considering going ahead with the secret inscription of tiny, sybilline and cryptically occult symbols in the corners of her sheets and towels with an extra fine point sharpie.</p>
) The only exception I can think of is students who send their laundry out, and as another who’s not made of money, that’s certainly not an option in my house!</p>