<p>We pick apples every fall and so when kids are away, I send a box of just picked apples. They do travel well and are so appreciated. If you have a family tradition, packages can hit that “aww” response.</p>
<p>Bethievt, I do not think there is any such thing as too much, unless it is very difficult for the student to receive the packages. I used to send mine every sort of goofy, silly, happy, fun thing - and lots and lots of food, yummies, cookies, cute little toys, etc. She did ask me to stop sending her fiction books though (we have the same tastes in escapist reading) because she would receive the books, get very interested in them and then it was difficult to put down the recreational reading and do her school reading and studying instead. But she never asked me to stop sending food and yummies and toys, and, things that will save a college student spending money or a trip to the store it seems there is no such thing as too much… </p>
<p>I used to color happy, silly pictures on the outside of the boxes even - flowers, butterflies, smiley faces, etc. I have no idea what her roommates thought of that let alone the post office people but no one said “stop” so I kept doing it - made her laugh, I would get emails saying “yay my box came” lol…</p>
<p>Weenie, Just got the flat rate boxes. Packages across country always $12-30, so I’m thinking this will be much cheaper.
I froze my cookies before sending. Also, Targets has some fun items, like computer lights, that attach to USB ports, for $2.50.</p>
<p>How do you figure out the rate before mailing? Weigh? Let them charge to your account?</p>
<p>My post office always tells me how much my flat rate box “would have cost” going another route. I usually save about $4 or so. (They seem to get a kick out of how much I save.) I don’t send homemade stuff (my kids aren’t that lucky) but my kids seem to appreciate anything that keeps them from having to make a run to the store. Since one of my kids lives in NYC where prices are really high, I figure I’m probably breaking even with the $8 shipping fee added onto the price of the groceries inside. So saving him an hour or two of shopping is well worth it.</p>
<p>[Edit: I just checked the USPS website, and it looks like Flat Rate is now $8.95 - I think that’s more than it used to be, isn’t it?]</p>
<p>I also like to send picture postcards. My kids enjoy getting mail, and I was happy to see the postcards stuck to the wall when we went to visit. Even when we don’t go anywhere, our local WalMart sells local attraction postcards. Since my kids are far from home, they appreciate the pictures.</p>
<p>I weigh the boxes on the machine at the Post Office. It tells you the weight and postage and then you put in a credit card and it spits out the stamp. Then I put the box in the special trap door in the wall. Do most post offices have a set up like that? What they trick you with is that the flat rate boxes are a different shape (flatter) than the regular Priority Mail boxes, so they don’t hold as much. Anyway, going by the weight alone, I usually save two or three dollars over the flat rate box (at least, back when I used to check it - but mine are only going from NY to Ohio). The 12" x 12" x 8" boxes are perfect for cookies, breads, etc.</p>
<p>I only sent my son food, nothing fun. Anything “fun” I could just see thrown all over his room, trampled on, busted up… I can tell most of you are sending to girls! Ha. <em>jealous</em></p>
<p>This may sound silly, but I always find it necessary to send an e-mail to my son at college to tell him if I am sending him a package or envelope of any kind. He conducts most of his life electronically, and his snail mail box is usually empty, so he doesn’t check it every day. It seems silly to have to send a kid an e-mail to tell him that you sent him something by postal mail and he should go look for it, but that’s what I’ve had to resort to.</p>
<p>At some colleges, though, if a kid receives a package that’s too big for the snail mail box, the service desk sends the kid an e-mail to say that the package is there, instead of putting a notification slip in the snail mail box the old-fashioned way. So the system seems to be catching up with the kids.</p>
<p>No, Marian, I think that’s what I’ll need to do; not silly at all.</p>
<p>I know there’s been a thread about sending a cake, but has anyone ever sent cupcakes? How did you pack them? DD’s 18th birthday is a few weeks into the semester. I can’t see me mailing a birthday cake, but I’d like to mail cupcakes and birthday candles so she and her friends can celebrate!</p>
<p>Another way to address the cake issue is to contact a local bakery and see if they’ll deliver. Sometimes friends or RA’s will pick it up. </p>
<p>I’ve mailed cookie “cakes” and candles but you’re right about packing --it’s the tricky part.</p>
<p>Many local bakeries near colleges will deliver cakes. Try to look into that, SpringfieldMom.</p>
<p>I got care packages around final exam periods and some holidays (Halloween, Valentine’s Day, etc.). They were very much appreciated. My mom sent me cookies in a couple zip-lock plastic bags. They got crunched a bit, but they still tasted good! </p>
<p>Definitely send an email saying when you sent a package and when you expect it to arrive (college students may not know how long mail takes). My school actually emails students if they’ve gotten a package, so your son may find out that he gets notified anyway.</p>
<p>Cakes:</p>
<p>I contacted one of S’s friends and arranged to send 2 unfrosted layers, individually wrapped, a container of frosting, corny birthday plate, and candles. Friend kindly assembled the cake and, voila!, a “cake from home.”</p>
<p>I copied and saved this advice on shipping baked goods from a long-ago cc thread. Sorry I didn’t save the name of the poster to give proper credit.
I’ve used the method for chocolate chip cookies, lemon squares and brownies with great success.</p>
<p>My post office also gets a kick out of telling me how much I saved with the flat rate box-We live maybe 30 miles away, so I don’t use the boxes unless it’s heavy. Finals/flu time I send canned smoothies, microwave soup, umbrellas, $20 bill. After Christmas sale I buy the m&m’s on sale. Son’s friends cannot wait to get the Reds for Valentines day and Green’s for St Patrick’s. I will have to check out Fed Ex rates. We have a UPS hub nearby with a service center, the tracking is great but Priority mail is often half the price. I also email the son so that it won’t sit in the post office for weeks.</p>
<p>Freshman year a girl’s parents had a huge cake delivered to the dorm. My guess it must have been at least a full sheet. Everyone on the floor ate, then they took it floor to floor to share. Cake was still left, so the kids put on goggles and went “cake swimming”, faces into the cake.</p>
<p>Okay, I have to have the “rolling brain that would stop and snarl”. Where can I find one?</p>
<p>Re: birthday cake – check out the food service outfit at the school. I’m pretty sure DD’s school offers a “birthday celebration” package that I could order via phone or thru their website. (Didn’t use it last year since her birthday fell during spring break.)</p>
<p>I was also going to note that some schools (incoluding hte two LACs I’m most familiar with) offer birthday and other “care packages” from food service or their own catering divisions. Check the school’s Web site–it may be under Student Life, Dining, or maybe even in a Parents section. Cookies from home are great too, but for birthday cakes and hard-to-pack items, the on-site sources can be helpful.</p>
<p>I always include current pictures of our pets in the care packages. The kids love them.</p>
<p>I sent a few care packages-( which reminds me- I have to go to the post office because D text messaged me and wants another sweatshirt- she is at camp- I hope she gets it before she comes home)</p>
<p>but I also took advantage of the bookstores gift packages-
but just try and get her to pick it up!</p>
<p>THis reminds me though of a friend whose son ( who was in older Ds graduating class in 6-12), was living in Micronesia- during Typhoon Chaatan.
Their food supplies had been damaged and they were also unable to fish so they were starving. This was really brought home when her son reported that although the can of tinned ham she had sent had split and had maggots, they just scraped them off before devouring it. :p</p>
<p>Not sure where you can find the rolling brain that snarls now. I found it at Michael’s last year. I seem to recall seeing one on ebay. Here’s a picture of it:</p>
<p><a href=“http://www.bogleech.com/halloween-2006.html[/url]”>http://www.bogleech.com/halloween-2006.html</a></p>
<p>At the end of the school year during move-out, many items were donated for a huge tag sale. Sadly, the snarling brain was one of the items.</p>
<p>I always send 2 packages/semester, and I always include a small box of cookies or homemade goodie for the roommate(s), and put his name on it especially. Sometimes, I’ll even leave a particularly annoying message for the roomie so that S does’t eat up the other kids’ stuff.</p>
<p>One thing I found out, since S goes to school in a rural location, UPS charges $5 extra because it is considered a rural address. Not a big deal, but it made me mad (since the college is about 20 miles from a fairly large city and is the county seat, for crying in the mud), so now I am USPS and UPS can do without my $5. </p>
<p>I write a little note to my S about every other day (email seems so impersonal to me) and I always put in either a $1, $5, or $10 or even $20 bill, though usually it’s just the $1. Enough to get a can of pepsi, or put in for pizza, but not enough so that I feel like he’s wasting my money! He has a job at school - so it’s not like he’s destitute.</p>
<p>My husband sends him bills with money taped to it, but usually only about $10. My H thinks that’s really funny.</p>