<p>just dropped my daughter off at the bus to Cambridge to work at Dorm Crew…alas she forgot her raincoat, am I able to use her Harvard Yard Mail as of today, AUg. 18th?</p>
<p>Dropped our son at the airport today for FUP! We asked about mailing anything for FUP, and they said no… students can’t pick up anything from the mail center til Thursday 8/25… someone correct me if you know otherwise. As for a raincoat, have her pick up a cheap umbrella at CVS!</p>
<p>Dropped my daughter at FUP today (we are local) - I am very excited for her, however, I’m feeling so sad. Any other parents feeling a loss as their kids go off to school?</p>
<p>re: red phones in the rooms. Didn’t they remove them all a while back? Have they put them back? </p>
<p>@new parents: I have two really good friends, including a former roommate, who are proctoring in the Yard dorms this year. They’re really excited about meeting everyone; be assured everyone will be in good hands for the year!</p>
<p>Hi Meelos… yes, sad here, too, but not as bad as earlier this week. 
You’re lucky that you’re so close – we live in Los Angeles! Still, once they’re not living at home, it’s just different. And you know it will never be the same again… sigh. So bittersweet! PM me if you want to - I will empathize in more detail.</p>
<p>Hello fellow H parents! It so nice to see the FUP’s are already heading back!</p>
<p>I know what you mean about this mixture of happiness and sadness. Daughter is off to FOP. Considering how high maintenance she was, I never thought I would be so sad. The room is empty and the house is so quiet.</p>
<p>I contacted the mail room, they said to send it along and they will send her an email letting her know when it arrives.</p>
<p>Welcome new Harvard Parents! this forum has been such a wonderful source of information and support for me. Thank you all so much. I’m looking forward to my son’s last year at Harvard.</p>
<p>5am riser, I send my sympathies and support! Radannie, good to know re the mailroom. Any other first-year fup parents out there, pm me if you want to join a little email support group to compare notes! We have three moms so far…</p>
<p>Hello guitars101! Here we go on ‘our’ last year!! Looks like this thread will go on for many more years! I can’t believe its gone by so quickly!!</p>
<p>…and the fun continues - My family has been very blessed and happy with the previous 3 yrs that my son has been at H. We look forward to this final year</p>
<p>Mail is being delivered. D ordered a backpack Monday and it was waiting for her on Wednesday - she received an email letting her know it was at the mail center and had no problem picking it up. She commented that the people working there were extremely friendly.</p>
<p>Boy, I sure wish I knew we could have sent some items ahead for FUP. The FUP leaders told DS “no.” He wanted to take only carry-on since he arrived a bit late yesterday (didn’t want to wait for checked luggage), and we had a hard time squeezing bedding, pillow and towel into the rolling bag along with his clothes for the week! He didn’t take anything other than sheets for bedding, but I guess that’ll suffice in this weather.</p>
<p>we had all of my son’s items shipped from Calif directly to the school and it was all waiting for him when we arrived on move-in day. Harvard did a very nice job having everyones items all together for them.</p>
<p>I agree guitars 101, we also ship my daughters belongings via USPO directly to Harvard. Never been a problem. She moves back and forth, for 4 years now by mailing her ‘stuff’ back to campus. Works great. Much cheaper and easier than trying to carry it all.
The first year she left for college, we had the everything-all-over-the-house/living-room wildly chaotic girl hysterical scene here at home. Flash forward four years…she is still packing all that ‘stuff’, as Harvard does not seem to teach them minimalist packing tricks, yet. Now I get frantic emails about ‘I’m throwing away all my stuff’ from somewhere way far away and I know the scene, as it plays in my head. Makes me smile, as I know she can handle it. They always do…
I have asked her about the big return in June, after graduation. I think she said all that ‘stuff’ will be thrown away or given to the undergrad friends. And the cycle continues.
If anyone has to pack bedding (or clothes) to mail, we used the vacuum cleaner to ‘suck’ the air out of a regular trash bag that had the bedding or clothes in. Works great! One guy sucks, the other guy quickly ties the bag. We packed the boxes tight, and taped them closed. Right to the post office, and they turned up at Harvard by the end of the week. I have never helped my student move. She has learned and the kids help each other on campus!</p>
<p>PS, be sure to take pictures of the packing scene!!</p>
<p>Let me join in on the parent sadness sub-thread. At the moment, both my kids are in the kitchen trying to make dinner (I am staying out of the way on purpose). However, in 10 days my younger one is off to Evanston for her sophomore year (she is a FUP counselor this year, so she leaves WAY early - classes don’t start until the end of September); then my older one (gulp) leaves the bosom of Cambridge for grad school in California. He’s been 3 miles away for his 4 years at Harvard. I’ve been able to to go to all his performances, and I’ve baked a birthday cake every year, which one of his roommates has spirited in for him and another roommate, whose birthday is the day after his. Now both my kids will be expensive plane rides away, and only one is coming home for Thanksgiving. So I’m freaking out a bit. I only found CC last year when my daughter was applying to schools, but I have enjoyed reading and making suggestions on the sites for both their schools. Grad school is different. It’s sort of ‘gone for good.’ The lump in my throat is growing daily. </p>
<p>To all of you whose kids are going off to Harvard for the first time, let me say that it is an amazing, amazing place. I hope that your children’s 4 years are as wonderful as my son’s were.</p>
<p>EnoughAlready - As my son just left and is far from home in the Midwest, I really know how you feel. It’s hard not to grieve a bit for the State school that might have been - just 4 hours away. We could have attended his concerts and brought him things. But Harvard did seem like the perfect place and we look forward to hearing him tell us about the many adventures he will surely have. I am so glad to hear your son thoroughly enjoyed his time at Harvard!</p>
<p>I agree with BrookingsMom and EnoughAlready…my Daughter left last Wednesday to fly out to Boston for FOP. The house has been really quiet. My older D is in New Zealand studying abroad for a semester. I wish my D could be closer. The state U is only 3 hours away. She never was excited about the prospect of state U and needless to say she is thrilled about attending Harvard. It is hard having her clear across the country.</p>