<p>What do/did you do for your child’s birthday while away at college? My d’s is coming up very soon and I’m trying to figure out how to send her a cake.</p>
<p>My younger daughter’s birthday is in October and so she was at school during that time. Her first birthday at college, she was turning 17. My kids have always had homemade specialty cakes (with a theme) I have made on their birthdays. I made her a cake and mailed it!! </p>
<p>I just did something similar two weeks ago for older D who had been with us on every birthday in college and grad school so far as her birthday is August 27 and she always came home briefly between her summer activity away from home and school. This year she is in Europe working and it was her first birthday away from us (she turned 24) and I baked 24 cupcakes but did not ice them and put them in a container and put that in a box with pre-made icing and decorations and candles and shipped it to Europe and it worked and she loved it. </p>
<p>For D who I mailed my cakes to…I kept the cake in the rectangular pan and iced and decorated it in the pan and put layers of wax paper and bubble wrap over it and fit it into a box that was an exact fit.</p>
<p>At my college, the University Food Service would make a cake for the birthday boy or girl. You could call them and ask if they do that as well. (It was free at my school.)</p>
<p>My oldest- I think must have been home for her birthdays. as her school began in Aug & her birthday is late May. ( which is also when her sisters birthday is)</p>
<p>My youngest was in India for her 19th birthday- I sent candles ( but she gave them to the students at the school where she was volunteering), however, H & I actually went up for her 20th birthday (she is in state), last spring & took some of her friends out to dinner.</p>
<p>However, often the bookstore has some sort of a package you can get if visiting isn’t feasible- or contacting one of her friends or local bakery ( or even the school caterer), might be worth trying.
Cookies I think are more travel worthy than cakes- but howabout a bouquet of balloons?</p>
<p>I celebrated my 18th birthday as a freshman away at college. The drinking age then was 18, so my roommate and friends borrowed a car went out for my first drink (pink squirrel). OK, I’m dating myself…</p>
<p>I think a small care package with confetti, card, etc. would be nice.</p>
<p>Or just a card with a little cash to help celebrate I’m sure would fill the bill!</p>
<p>We offered to pay for a dinner out with a friend of her choice.</p>
<p>I had a green plant and birthday balloons delivered to my D’s dorm for her 18th birthday. She kept the plant all through college and it seemed to mean something to her that I made the effort to send it to her. I thought it was a better idea than cake (but we aren’t big on birthday cake in my family).</p>
<p>You know you’re a grown-up when. . .</p>
<p>Your own mom forgets your birthday.</p>
<p>Check with the college. My son’s college has a service where they will deliever a cake to his dorm room at a low cost. I think we’ll probably send balloons and put extra money on his debit card so he can take friends out for a celebratory meal. Unless he asks for something pricey, then that will be his entire present!</p>
<p>MY s’s have late birthdays.Older s’s is in the summer, when they are not in school, and younger s’s is right at finals/move out time. Last year we arrived to move him out with a humongous sheetcake in hand (it made the 7 hr car ride intact!). His first year we told him to go out to dinner with some friends and put it on our credit card. There is also a local place that delivers baskets of freshmade cookies/brownies, etc with balloons if you wish. I think we did that too.</p>
<p>Older s turned 21 in the summer, when on internship. I arranged to have a cake delivered from a local bakery (go on line-- many do that), and to have the lawn of the house he was staying at festooned with pink flamingos and a sign! It was great! Also sent cookies in the shape of beer steins form a great place I’ve since ordered lots of goodies from. PM me and I’ll give you the contact info.</p>
<p>I sent a cake through a service the university provides, so that’s a good option. For my son’s first birthday away at college, I took a huge risk. Each day of the week leading up to his birthday, I e-mailed him one photo of himself on a memorable past birthday: climbing a mountain, with his middle school buddies at a theme park, etc. After the first one, I held my breath, because I knew he would either love them or be absolutely mortified. He loved them so much that he posted them on Facebook for the world to see. By sophomore year he was so into baking that he made his own cake–but he did use the recipe I always used at home!</p>
<p>The reason I sent my own homemade birthday cakes (and this year cupcakes to Europe) is because these were a tradition on their birthdays. When younger D went to college, she was just 16 and I didn’t want to give up on this tradition and she did love it (though she doesn’t eat cake). Older D really loved it in Europe recently too. </p>
<p>But they also get presents. We also have funded birthday celebrations and a bigger one for their 21st birthdays away from home. Not that big but just saying. One reason I also sent the homemade cupcakes to Europe recently was because D picked out her gift with us in early June before getting on the plane and I wanted her to have something to open on her birthday in late August even though I know her big gift “counted.”</p>
<p>For my 18th birthday my parents paid for me and my suitemates to go out to dinner. They also sent me a huge box with stuff I had left at home and a Wii. :)</p>
<p>For my 19th they sent me flowers and put cash in my bank account so I could do what I wanted with it (at my request).</p>
<p>For my 20th (which is actually today!), my parents are funding a new pair of Rainbow sandals (mine are 5-6 years old and slowly but surely falling apart…lifetime guarantee does not apply since they’re water damaged) and putting some cash in the bank for me.They actually offered to buy me a Kindle, but I turned it down (I hate reading from a screen and I just love the feeling of having a book in my hands).</p>
<p>I ordered a large decorated cookie. I figured that it would be easier to share in the dorm as they could just break off pieces. </p>
<p>An aside, D has 3 very best friends (since elementary school!) and I made a point to send each of them a birthday card with a small gift card (Starbucks,Chipotle…) inside on their birthdays. They were really pleased that I remembered.</p>
<p>Happy Birthday!!! :):)</p>
<p>Happy b’day HGFM!!</p>
<p>The first two years son lived in the dorms and I could have ordered a cake through food service but it was always a time to return home for fall cross country sectionals so he got home baked cake and presents here. When he has had an apartment I discovered no good ways to order a local cake. One year I successfully UPS’d a store bought frozen sheet cake he and roommates enjoyed- dropped it off at the UPS facility in the early evening and they got it the next morning. They did complain about the stale box of cereal I used to fill in the gaps in the box (no one was home to eat it)- wrapped cake in plastic wrap first before filling the space under the plastic dome with some of those air pocket fillers left from past purchases. Then I sent a cake that didn’t fare as well- it hadn’t had time to freeze… the grocery store glued the cake to the cardboard with icing each time so it wouldn’t slide enroute. He has had security locked buildings and someone was around to collect the package soon after it came. Did have to warn him to expect the package so had to lose the element of surprise. If I had a D I possibly could have counted on her friends to come through with a cake- guys don’t think about the details in my experience- others provide… Next birthday he’ll be 21 (also started college at 16) on a Friday- no way do I expect him to come home for the weekend to celebrate with mom and dad, nor do I think we’ll visit him.</p>
<p>Happy 20th!! Birthday, HGFM!!</p>
<p>Thank you all! (Sorry to somewhat hi-jack the thread ;))</p>
<p>My parents did something really special my first year at college, which is kind of personality specific because I am very silly. They sent me a thirty pound box with a pinata (filled with candy), party hats, napkins, a pitcher, kool-aid, bags of chips and pretzels, a pin the tail on the donkey game, containers of homemade cookies, and wrapped presents for me to open on my birthday. When I got it to my room and opened it up, it made me cry because it was so thoughtful. 
Then the next day (my birthday) my friends and I held a party in the lounge and everybody had a great time. A particular highlight was trying to find a way to hang a pinata indoors. (It involved a command hook and a LOT of gaffer tape.) This might not be “cool” enough for some types of kids but for me, it was perfect.</p>