<p><<<<< Then, if he was my son, he would forget he had it, and go out and buy some more - I don’t know how many cans of Tag we have! >>></p>
<p>I’m still wondering what Tag is. Is it edible?</p>
<p>I, too was wondering about the mooching, I mean if D has lots of supplies that take up dorm room, and people know it, how can she say, um, no, you can’t borrow a cup of soap, makes her look B(*^&Y</p>
<p>And so, if she spends an extra 25.00 to get all her supplies again at a local small store, in the grand scheme of things, not such a big deal</p>
<p>It seems a bit of control by mom, if you ask me</p>
<p>I have a son. I was very surprised at all the stuff I sent that came back new. I think he may have forgotten he had it and bought new replacements. If you are shipping withing the US, I have found the priority boxes from the postoffice are great. All the stuff you can stuff in for $8.10. It works great for heavy items and quarters. I have found that son has been very careful looking for bargains-but he has a car.</p>
<p>I just asked about it cuz I wondered if times have changed and if kids are more likely to say “no” to a constant moocher (these things are never a problem between roomies that equally share when one “runs out”. ) In my younger years, I was too intimidated to say, “no” to a moocher. Today, I wouldn’t stand for it. And I think kids today are more outspoken (to a constant moocher), but I may be wrong. </p>
<p>I think my friend (the reason for the original posting) is going to like the “online shopping” idea. I don’t think she is worried about a one or two time extra $25 being spent. I think she was just thinking long term – over the course of 4-6 years of college. The problem of roomies using all the stuff never came up with her; that came from a poster who gave away his 12 tubes of toothpaste (to suitemates who obviously stopped buying their own once they realized they had a stash in their midst.).</p>
<p>I would not send a full year of anything to anyone. First of all there is the storage issue. Secondly, there ARE stores in most parts of the world. DS goes to school away from home. We send him with a modest supply of toiletries (soap, shampoo, contact lense solution, etc) when he goes in the fall. We replenish the supply at Christmas when he is home…if needed. For DD who will be going to school on the opposite coast, we’ll buy her toiletries THERE when we move her in. We can send “care packages” with refills if needed. BUT personally, I would NOT send a full year’s supply.</p>
<p>You might try drugstore.com. I think they ship for free if you order $25 worth of stuff.</p>
<p>Cangel – your daughter and my son should have split the meal plan! He went over by about $300 (some negative balance on his DBA and some meals charged on his credit card over the last week or so.) This quarter we increased his food plan, so he’d better not run out!!! And I really don’t think he’s a big eater, but obviously most girls eat less.</p>
<p>Thanks for all the advice; I’ll pass them on to my friend.</p>
<p>What is tag???</p>
<p>Something that I’ve been doing with my son this year is getting him used to shopping and doing things for himself. When he started driving I made sure that he pumped the gas and paid for it with his debit card. He learned how to check the oil and change the oil. After a year, I don’t even know when he needs gas or where he gets it.</p>
<p>Some more life skills last week - Monday he had to go to the post office and buy stamps, then stop at the gas station mini-mart for a gallon of milk and ice cream. Wednesday he had to take his car to an unknown auto repair place, get his brake problem diagnosed then fixed and pay for it himself. My son is something of a worrywart and will spend more time arguing with me about why I should do something then it would take to do the actual job. If nothing else, I will have peace of mind knowing that he can take care of himself staple supply-wise. My daughter inherited my shopping gene. She would not think twice about stopping somewhere on her way home from school and picking something up that she needed and even calling me from a store and asking if we needed a gallon of milk or something. That would never cross my son’s mind. He tends to think that I am the only link to stores - but I’m trying to change that!</p>
<p>The two things we have not been successful (and they’re big ones) is the time management skill or understanding that sleep is essential for good health. The slap upside the head method has not worked so far.</p>
<p>sjmom,</p>
<p>Tell your son to be friend my D. At the end of the term toward finals she starts feeding her friends who have run out of money trying to spend down 
</p>
<p>Has he signed up to get on the “free food” blitz list?</p>
<p>The UGAs in the river dorms do a monthly Breakfast for a Buck </p>
<p>End of fall term after she purchased supplies she ended up donating a couple of hundred $$ that was left on her card.</p>
<p>What is Tag!!! What is TAG!!! KAthieP, obviously you are not a 14 year old boy out to attract women! :D.</p>
<p>Tag is a particularly odoriferous brand of personal care products (that’s deodorant to us old fogeys) - think Old Spice for the metrosexual crowd. I can’t think of the word that all of my son’s female friends use for him - it is a type of music now - means manly, but sensitive, full of angst - he wears that term as a badge of honor.</p>
<p>Anyway DH broke down and started using one of my son’s many half discarded, lost cans of Tag - I almost had to run him out of the house, it’s one thing to have the aroma in the car on the way to school, it’s a whole nother thing to have the whole bathroom smell that way - Wow! Hormones amuck!</p>
<p>Sjmom - we went down a level on the food, I think she did feed a few extra guys on her floor, your son should have come by for munchies.</p>
<p>Cangel - boy thanks for clearing that up! At first I thought you just misspelled tang (the drink for astronauts!) and it was popular again after a 30 year disappeaence, but then you talked about cans of it. My sons are just plain geeky guys, the only personal care products they ask me for is acne medication and plain old deodorant and toothpaste. <em>sigh</em> We are lucky, my daughters school rolls over food allowance from one quarter to the next and then takes the final amount off the last payment of the year.</p>
<p>the one that is big with boys in this area is AXE
phew</p>
<p>I’m still wondering what Tag is also.</p>
<p>ahhhhhhh… the life skills issue… Why is it that some kids WANT to learn “life skills” and some drag their heals about it??? I think it has a bit to do with one’s “comfort zone”. My second son has been jumping out of the car and filling up my gas tank since he was about 12 (he knows my debit PIN). This son also does all the new “self-serve” checkout registers at stores for me. BUT, I had to DRAG my older son to the pump (before he could drive) to teach him how to put gas in car (and it doesn’t help that many gas stations use different systems… Ugh!). My younger son has done his own laundry since the 6th grade. My older son grudgingly does laundry – and only once he’s out of stuff or needs a favorite shirt. I have dragged them to the grocery store and made them “check for dates” on perishables before putting them into the carts. I really think it has to do with “comfort zone” but I try not to let that stop “the progress”. I keep telling myself that it is my job as a parent to “expand my child’s comfort zone” LOLOLOLOL </p>
<p>I’ve been told by a counselor that when some boys get to a certain age (before or at the onset of puberty), they become so self-conscious and worry about “looking stupid” when they try to do something totally new, that they avoid change or new tasks as much as they can. These types just don’t like going thru the feeling of being “a fish out of water” so they avoid all such tasks or endeavors as much as they can. That’s why I think it’s my job to use non threatening “baby steps” and expand that tight comfort zone as much as I can before he leaves the nest. I know that some parents disagree with me on this point because they don’t believe in “making” their kids do anything that they don’t want to do. </p>
<p>My husband has told me numerous times that he wishes that his mom had expanded his “comfort zone” while he was younger because he had some real struggles once he was “on his own” and did not have any life skills and made many costly, unnecessary mistakes (he knew nothing about turning on a washing machine, checking dates on perishables, general shopping, banking, saving $, cooking anything, sew a button, spot-treat a stain, making a bed & changing sheets, checking the oil & water in his car, fixing minor items, etc. Yes, he “learned” from those mistakes, but he also would have “learned” those lessons at a much lesser cost if he had been given the opportunity to learn them as a child. He is grateful that I am making the effort to prepare our sons for the “big world” out there.</p>
<p>He flip-flops between Tag and Axe - we’ve got some extra cans of that one, too :). I’ll ship them!</p>
<p>Cangel and Sybbie – I’ll tell him to be on the look-out for your D’s (or any girl with food!) I’ll also definitely tell him about the free food blitz. Although if he goes over the super-duper Big Green eating plan, he’s on his own. How do the girls live on so little? I’m sure even the salads are pretty pricey at Dartmouth?</p>
<p>My kid is 4’9", and she’s never been much of a breakfast eater. She doesn’t eat out much either. I think she lives on pasta, salad and paninis</p>
<p>LOL, Cangel. S just told me he had steak one night for dinner. Seems to be living rather well, although I think he only eats 2 meals per day!</p>
<p>that reminds me D isn’t on board anymore
however less than a block away there is a fruit stand that also sells milk and eggs- and she seems to be eating ok</p>
<p>My D is not a big breakfast person either. Now that her classes don’t start until later in the morning, she goes to the gym, comes back and sometimes grabs some tea on her way to class. She is not really a meat eater (only chicken & fish) so she is another pasta and salad person.</p>
<p>last night she did ask for me to send her some shirataki noodles. I had to google them to find out what they were. Then I sent her a link for how she can order them for herself (unless her idea was to have me pay for them 
)</p>
<p>Sybbie (and others who have kids in college): What is the advice concerning starting times for classes? Are freshmen who sign up for 8am classes more likely to do more poorly in such classes because they end up sleeping in and missing a few (or more) classes? What is the ideal time to have the first class of the day … and, 1 pm is not an answer :)</p>