<p>That’s it! I’m calling my broker and buying Target and BB&B stock. </p>
<p>It’s something of a relief to know that our D will be 6.5 hrs from home instead of 2 days’ drive as she has been for the last 4 years. Our orders are to get her moved in starting at 1 pm for In-State students, and a big ol’ ‘hint’ from the college to get gone by 3 pm. I will cry…I always cry. We will stay overnight in a hotel the day before and leave for home the same day as Move-In.</p>
<p>We were quick and organized when taking our S 1,000 miles to school near a city where we have family:
Day 1–Fly to the city with H and S, shop and pick up BB&B order in the afternoon, and stay overnight.
Day 2–Repack and spend the day with family.
Day 3 (move-in day)–Get up bright and early, drive two hours to his college town, move him in, do some last-minute shopping, have an early dinner, and leave for the drive back to the city.
Day 4–Attempt to stop weeping in time for our morning plane trip home. In my distress I mistakenly washed my hair with creamy body wash. Not recommended.
Day 5 and beyond–Enjoy less frequent weeping, make a happy adjustment to our empty nest, and start the next phase of our lives.</p>
<p>A week from today he’ll be home, officially a senior in college. Move-in seems like yesterday. Plan well, but don’t over-think and try to anticipate everything. At our son’s big state U, move-in has to go like clockwork, and it does. As we drove away that day, the midwestern sunset was absolutely stunning. I took that as a good sign.</p>
<p>For the parents who will be doing this for the first time–
[How</a> to Send Your Son Off to College - NYTimes.com](<a href=“http://parenting.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/08/24/how-to-send-your-son-off-to-college/]How”>How to Send Your Son Off to College - The New York Times)</p>
<p>We are doing an across the country college move-in. We will order up a pile of stuff at BB&BY, and ship a couple of awkward items too. I got a couple of large duffles without wheels that can be stuffed and carried as our luggage, then left at school (no wheels so that they fold very flat.
We’ll fly out early by a day or two, pick up the load at BB&BY the day before move-in, and then move him in, and let him take over. I think there is a lunch or dinner for parents on move-in day. We’ll fly out the next day.</p>
<p>BOSTON WARNING _ Boston is a madhouse on Labor Day weekend. About 100 thousand kids are moving into 52 institutions within 128 (our inner beltway, 495 is the outer one).
Parking in some areas is hellish, and if you haven’t reserved a rental car/truck, you are out of luck. Be patient, be calm, and do what the police/school folks tell you.</p>
<p>Has anyone used those bags that you use that you use a vacuum to deplete all the air out of for shipping blankets or comforters etc.?</p>
<p>We didn’t because we picked up bedding three at the BB&B. And he’s storing it at his school this summer.</p>
<p>Remember whatever you move in has to be hauled back out in may! I’ve seen kids bring way too much stuff.</p>
<p>Another Boston reminder. If your son or daughter is moving into an apartment and you plan or buying a mattress/boxspring or perhaps just mattress - you will need to take care of this in advance if you plan on having that mattress delivered to your apartment. I think when I called Boston stores the week before Labor Day, all delivery slots were reserved until the middle of the next week.</p>
<p>We managed to avoid Target (Watertown) for four years of undergrad but somehow ended up there when DS moved a few miles for grad school. OMG, never again.</p>
<p>nitnat, I’ve found the plastic vacuum bags to be useful both for college move-in and going to the beach when we stay in a place where we have to take bedding and towels. They definitely save a lot of space. Haven’t shipped with them, and not sure they’d keep the vacuum seal during shipping. I use them in my linen closet to store blankets & quilts in the summer, and by winter the bags have often lost their seal. I find that when I use them the second time around they’re more likely to pop open, too. They still keep the stuff contained and it’s somewhat squished just by virtue of having smushed it into the bag in the first place. I’ve used the name brand and store brands, and they’re all about the same. Overall, I do like them. You can get a ton of stuff in a bag, especially the L & XL ones, although you almost have to wrestle the bulky comforters/towels, etc. into the bag. Once you vacuum it closed, the bag is hard as a brick and surprisingly heavy, but definitely flat and easy to pack into car or closet.</p>
<p>Bayberry, I jut about a 6 of those vacuum bags. Hopefully they will be useful when I send some stuff on ahead. We live across country:) Thank you all for your posts:)</p>