<p>I have a list of stuff that ZG needs to take away with her, but I can’t wrap my brain around how many of these things she will need. She will probably be home about once a month-ish and is not known for her laundry prowess. So how many sets of sheets, towels, tubes of toothpaste? Anyone?</p>
<p>
no more than two of each</p>
<p>Agree. 2 sets of towels, sheets. One for the bed, one for the laundry. </p>
<p>As for daily essentials, we did the Target shopping trip on arrival across country and bought one of everything. D was responsible for those items after the first trip. But then, she lives 3000+ miles away. </p>
<p>For items I know D would not buy, I bought an initial set also: first aid and cold remedies (made a nice little kit) including band aids, tylenol, cough medicine, tea bags. That way, when she needed it the first time, she had it on hand. Now it is up to her to replenish. Also, one spare light bulb for the desk lamp, one extra ink cartridge for late night emergencies.</p>
<p>I found with both my kids (one D, one S) that NEITHER needed 2 sets of sheets. I sent them with 2 sets, of course. S’s 2nd set never made it out of the underbed box it was packed in. D’s were used one time, after which she concluded, too much trouble. They both just washed the one set when needed. D DOES have and has used an extra pillowcase. By the end of the year, the sheets were looking pretty sorry after being washed in those commercial machines. </p>
<p>D ended up in an apt with a full size bed, so I’m glad I didn’t purchase any more than that. S used Sheet Set #2 his sophomore year. The first set was trash-worthy.</p>
<p>And she has, and uses, 3 sets of towels. 2 sets were fine for S. </p>
<p>I too packed a first aid kit for both kids that was pretty thorough, with a themometer, and over the counter stuff for everything from diarrhea to sore throat, cough, etc. I used a plastic container from Container Store that actually worked great…designed for this purpose with a little green cross on it. They both called it their nancy nurse kit. Each kid reported how glad they were to have it. I will say it ended up being pretty expensive once filled, but it would have ended up costing me more if they had to buy everything at the bookstore or near campus.</p>
<p>I’ll go even further on the sheet advice…ldgirl didn’t even use the top sheet…just used the fitted, with a comforter and a favoritefromhome afghan. Tucking things into to those dorm beds is nearly impossible (and painful if you accidentally run your hand or nail into the springs underneath the mattress).</p>
<p>I’d invest in 2 fitted sheets and at least 2 pillowcases. And you may find that 1 fitted sheet will suffice as curiouser points out.</p>
<p>I also bought those towel turbans for my d…cuts down on the number of big towels your student will need to store in their room.</p>
<p>I agree with the 1 sheet crowd…and I’m not sure SpringfieldGirl will ever use her top sheet (she usually doesn’t sleep under the covers at all…just wraps a blanket around herself). I expect that after a year the comforter and sheets will all be ready for the trash.</p>
<p>We bought 2 large towels (one for hair, one for body…she also doesn’t use a bathrobe) and one hand towel (for drying her face after washing). I’m hoping the towels last at least 2 years. No extras there as well. She knows how to do laundry; besides, there’s really no extra room in her dorm room.</p>
<p>I’m sending one tube of toothpaste, to be refilled via care package on an as needed basis. Same thing with body wash, shampoo, face soap, etc. I think I’ll let her buy her own laundry detergent refill–too heavy to mail. I’m also doing the first aid kit thing.</p>
<p>All kids use one sheet. I stocked my freshman son last year with one laundry detergent, one dish soap, etc. from his grandparents which is close to his school and I am on the opposite coast.<br>
I went back in April to help with move out. Most of what I sent was still there.
They can buy their own toothpaste, laundry detergent, etc. It’s good for them. Really.</p>
<p>Just a warning about having students buy their own stuff…I’m not talking about toothpaste or other relatively inexpensive items, but speaking from experience-</p>
<p>Son went up to school, moved into a suite-type dorm (4 bedrooms ajoining a central living space with kitchen). He drove up there with all his clothes and sheets,etc.
Once he’s there, he wants some cooking equipment, goes to Target and ends up with around $200 worth of stuff. He didn’t end up wtih much, just a pot, a pan, baking sheet, tools, etc…the basics. But he certainly wasn’t bargain hunting, and wasn’t going to spend a weekend garage sale-ing. I do believe I could have bought all the stuff he bought for 1/3 the price.</p>
<p>just checked in with DD, a rising college sophomore. She used both sets of her sheets. She would actually take them off the bed to wash, but didn’t get all of her laundry done as planned. So, she used the clean ones! Some D’s change linens more than S’s.</p>
<p>My D enjoyed a little wrap-towel bathrobe with shoulder straps and velcro closing. That was a two-fer, covering the towel and bathrobe. Then all she needed was a small towel for her hair, one washcloth, a set of sheets, comforter. She has expressed a strong desire to live light and not own much. The dorm rooms were very small.</p>
<p>Well it seems my d is different than most.</p>
<p>I bought detergent for her at drop off and it was gone when I came for parents weekend in Oct. </p>
<p>She went with two sets of sheets and did change them. She also went with 6 towels. I have to say that she is a runner, runs daily 8+ miles. So she has a lot of running clothes to wash–some days takes two showers–so she has a lot of laundry to wash.</p>
<p>My son is a work-outer too- runs the stadium steps and works out with weights fairly regularly. I only gave him 3 towels for showering in his room. But I cut up a bunch of really old ratty beach towels I had into 4 pieces each, wrote his last name on each with a magic marker, and gave them to him to use in the gym. He had a big pile of these (probably 12 or so), and came back at the end of the year with, maybe 2? It didn’t matter to me that they got left behind, I’ll do the same for next year (“disposable workout towels”).</p>
<p>In our family we all sleep with top and bottom sheet, blanket, and comforter. When my daughter came home freshman year she informed me that our family was weird as “nobody” uses a top sheet! I like the idea of a top sheet for students if for no other reason than to keep the blanket clean. They may was their sheets, but chances are the blanket or comforter will not be wash until it gets home to mom in the summer. If my kids are at a school they can drive to, I have them bring home all their bedding and I give it a complete cleaning!</p>
<p>My kids don’t use a top sheet. When we were growing up (in Florida) we ALWAYS used a top sheet, because a blanket or comforter was inappropriate. It was too hot! We didn’t have central air (only wall units and bedroom fans). Nowadays, we have central air and keep the house cool enough, even in the summer, for comforters.</p>
<p>I’d forgotten this until I read some of the responses here…
D put both fitted sheets on her bed, one on top of the other. When she needed to wash it, the other was already there. She didn’t really need two sets of sheets, as I mentioned above. However, if I were doing it again,
I’d buy 2 fitted, one top sheet and 3 pillowcases (she used 2 pillows on her bed). It’s true that most of the kids didn’t seem to use a top sheet at all.
Too much trouble, I guess.</p>
<p>D also had a throw that was used alot. It was soft and very lightweight.
She’d wrap it around herself late at night when studying or just for the cozy factor.</p>
<p>In terms of a first-aid kit – if your family uses any of the Sudafed type medications in cold/allergy season, buy them a pack before they go to school. Many states are putting that type of medication behind glass or behind the pharmacy counter so that you must ask for it from a store worker. I think they’d probably hassle a young person more than some maternal/paternal type and that’s the last thing a youngling should have to handle when they’re already sick/miserable.</p>
<p>My d likes the top sheet at home, but the problem at school was getting the darn thing tucked in properly. The beds are just mattresses on springs (no box springs) and everything that has to be tucked in gets snagged up. I know, when she was unpacking, I helped by making her bed up. What a pain. My hands were scraped up from trying to run that loose sheet and a blanket between the mattress and springs. We finally figured it out…lose the top sheet and anything else that requires tucking. At night she folds the comforter back and used her afghan or her chenille throw to keep warm. During the day, she pulls the comforter over the bed and has the folded afghan and throw on the end of her bed or in her papasan chair. It stayed pretty clean, but she’ll probably drop it off at the drycleaners after she gets it out of storage. (Probably should have done this before storing.)</p>
<p>I like the two fitted sheets on top of each other idea. lol…I remember doing this with cribsheets. (Waterproof mattress pad, then cribsheet, then another wp mattress pad, then another cribsheet. Good way to store the extra linens and makes for easy middle off the night sheet changes…)</p>