<p>If anybody orders a Chocolate Pizza, please post feedback here. It’s looking like a good idea for DS’s birthday next winter.</p>
<p>I ordered a couple of dozen of cupcakes from a local bakery for my kids’s birthday and had them delivered to their dorm. They were a big hit. </p>
<p>I also put together a care package that we gave them after we dropped them off for the first day. There were wrapped “treats” like healthy snacks, fuzzy socks, cute notes from their little brother, and a framed family picture with instructions to open one a day for the first two weeks.</p>
<p>They both hung up the family picture which was nice to see when we came for visits. Hopefully they didn’t just pull it out for our visit but I don’t think so by the amount of dust on it.</p>
<p>Other than that I think I sent one or two care packages over the course of the year. One was a planned package and the other was “filler” when we sent something my daughter forgot - just to fill up the rest of the box with something nice.</p>
<p>Got together with moms of DD’s friends for a care package party mid-October of the girls’ first semester. Each mom brought a small surprise for each of the girls; we put each girl’s treats, along with a card we all signed, in a USPS priority mail flat-rate box (each mom took care of shipping to her DD). Treats ranged from lip balm to Halloween decor to peanut butter; nothing expensive. We moms enjoyed catching up while we packed the boxes, & the girls (many of whom we’d known since first grade) seemed to enjoy receiving a package from their “village”. We had another care package “party” in early February with a Valentine’s theme.</p>
<p>My D’s birthday is the week after classes start. Thank you, Lakemom!</p>
<p>Freshman year I sent my dd a package about 1x a month. If there was a holiday that month I’d go to the dollar store and get some decorations that she could use and toss when the holiday was over. Halloween I made little candy buckets for all the roommates. A loaf of banana bread was always popular. Sometimes it was just a trashy magazine in an envelope. Year 2 she was further away from the mail room, adjusted to college and didn’t “need” the packages from home as much. I maybe sent 2 a semester. Who knows what year 3 will bring.
PSOne of the most popular gifts was sent in the spring. I bought kites for all the roommates and sent them in a poster mailing tube I got at the post office. Thegirls said they had a blast going out side together and flying their kites. It was a nice break from studying.</p>
<p>I LIKE that go-fly-a-kite-idea. Well done.</p>
<p>As others said, I sent more freshman year, and the number steadily declined over the remaining years, especially when the lived off campus and had their own transportation. But I continued to episodically send gifts from companies (brownies, cookies, flavored popcorn, etc) and had some freshly made items delivered from a local place. Younger s’s favorite gift was when I had an entire dinner for he and his housemates delivered to their door. They loved that. We came into town for his 21st birthday, bought a cake and took he and his friends out for meals. </p>
<p>Older s’s birthday was in the summer, when he was on internship. For his 21st birthday I had beer mug shaped cookies delivered, a fresh homemade cake delivered, and had his lawn festooned with pink flamingos!</p>
<p>Definitely let us know how the chocolate pizzas are if you order. My S’s birthday is in Oct.</p>
<p>Amazon Prime is a nice thing, as are dollar stores. Homemade cookies are popular as well. D turned 18 away from home freshman year…that bothered me more than her ;-), but I sent her balloons (a birthday tradition) and a “birthday in a box” kit I made up. Generally, she would request things she needed (her favorite shampoo that was hard to find…) and I would throw that in a box, along with a pair of cool socks or similar useful surprise. I did write or send a card about every week, as she does love to get mail.</p>
<p>This year, she’ll have her car on campus, so can get herself to the store more easily for her things. Will probably continue to send the cards and letters (on move out, I found out that she had saved all of them), and the occasional care package. </p>
<p>I think her favorite thing last year was when we mailed her a “kitchen” – there are kitchenettes in her dorm, but to get cooking utensils, it was a matter of leaving ID at the front desk, hoping you “checked out” the right tools, and using these really cruddy items. Went to Kmart, bought a simple set of cooking utensils, baking sheet, etc and put it in a plastic storage bin. Also sent some brownie mixes, etc. Babyfrog loves to cook…and knowing that she had the proper measuring devices, and that the bowl would be clean and available was good for her soul on cold winter nights. Plus…a study break for culinary therapy the smell of fresh-baked treats led to some impromptu get togethers.</p>
<p>mommafrog, what all do you order from Amazon prime? If they had drugstore items that would be good but I looked a bit through their site and I didn’t feel I would order enough to make the $80 back.</p>
<p>Lakemom, I use the Amazon Prime for more than just the shipping to babyfrog! As a Kindle Owner, I use the lending library to read a book for free every month (we have 3 Kindles on the account, so can share that book). We also use the video streaming through our Roku device, and I am freed from having to come up with $25 in purchases to get free shipping for the things I order for any of us. It’s definitely a personal thing, though – not an advantage for everyone…I just looked at both the shipping charges I had paid, and the “extras” I had purchased over the year to get to the free shipping threshold, and discovered it was a cost advantage for this household.</p>
<p>I see. We have Netflix for movies and can rent more recent releases from our cable service. I do order at times from Amazon but I don’t think often enough for us to do Prime. I looked at drugstore.com and they have a $80 type prime service but that would be an awful lot of toothpaste and shampoo. :)</p>
<p>S lived overseas his senior year in HS and shipping costs were outrageous. He went to college in Canada and prices were too much. I never sent anything. He lives in China now and I have sent him some clothing - he’s very tall and stuff is hard to come by. Costs are still crazy.
D gets a care package in December before exams. It is really an excuse to get together with my friends and have holiday dinner after making up the packages.</p>
<p>A former coworker’s parents send a cake to him at work every year on his birthday. It’s from a local place that makes really great cakes. He’s in his mid-thirties, and this thread is making me wonder how many care packages he got when he was an undergrad. 
When he left for another group, we were disappointed because he’s a great guy, talented, smart as a whip…but also because we knew we weren’t going to be able to take advantage of those birthday cakes any more. ;)</p>
<p>the most important time to send a care package is during midterms and finals of a student’s first semester at college.</p>
<p>OP here, S did mention that he gets extra friends stopping by on Fridays (usually the day his packages are delivered, wife has the delivery schedule down pat). I think the friends appreciate the CP’s as much as S does (maybe more). </p>
<p>The latest package included;
Beef Jerky
A set of 4th of July Decorations (from the dollar section at Target)
Firecrackers (made of tp rolls) filled with candy
A Frisbee
Some socks
Pair of flip flops
Gum
Box of microwave popcorn</p>
<p>Amazes me how much she gets into those little priority mail boxes.</p>
<p>There were a few times last (freshman) year where I sent a care package, and it fortuitously arrived right when D1 had just gone through some disappointment. Made me look like a genius and psychic all in one. </p>
<p>Someone here on CC suggested underwear as a good care package during reading period/finals. I suppose that paying for laundry service (if available on your child’s campus) would be another alternative.</p>
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<p>Parents can also check with the college. The women’s soccer team at my D’s school delivers care packages during finals. There’s also an local girls’ organization which delivers at finals, Halloween, and Valentines Day. I love these – they are great fundraisers for the team/organization, and all I have to do is write a check. They’re always a big hit.</p>