<p>Could someone break into Ds’s apartment and take any of the dirty clothes he doesn’t bring home? Oh, wait, he is bringing them all home…never mind.
Just talked to mine and suggested he lock up tight, empty fridge etc. I got a blasting about how he isn’t 12!<br>
His apartment has a secured front door and another for his apartment. Lots of non students who won’t be leaving so all should be good (I hope!).</p>
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<p>I’m not 12, either (54 is more like it), but I wasn’t sure what needed to be done. Leaving an apartment unoccupied for more than a month is an unusual situation in life. That’s why I started this thread.</p>
<p>No kidding Marian. I get it…he doesn’t.</p>
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<p>Thanks for sharing that, it made me laugh. My son and friends leased an apartment this year taking it over from some college girls that had leased it for three years. My wife remarked at the time, ‘good, at least it will start out clean, even if it doesn’t last long.’ She could not have been more wrong. It took them many days to get the smell out of the place. I forgot what they said they finally used to get the grime off of the kitchen floor but a regular cleaning product wouldn’t do the trick. Believe me, my son is messy but these girls were off-the-chart slobs.</p>
<p>I phoned S with some of the suggestions in this thread, suggesting that he might want to do the laundry, vacuum his apartment and change the bed sheets so that he can come home to a nice, clean apartment and nice, clean bed and clean clothing. He said “Good idea, mom.” But will he follow suit? Stay tuned.</p>
<p>My son was the first one in his apartment to leave. The other 2 still have a couple of finals at the end of the week. So my son’s logic was if I clean they will just make it dirty again.
One of the roommates is moving out at the end of the week. He is headed off for a co-op semester. I really feel for the new roommate who is moving in the 2nd week of January. I am sure the school does not come in to make sure the apartment is decent. I can bet his suitcase will be full of dirty laundry.</p>
<p>Suitcase? For those traveling by car the dirty laundry is transported less formally. Last year the suv held dirty laundry for 3 guys- one had a plastic laundry basket, one a popup laundry bag and one used plastic trash bags aside from whatever fit in duffles et al (at least we could tell which stuff belonged to which person when it came time to drop people off)- the cold weather helped keep the air quality decent. Dorm or apt it makes more sense not to spend time or money when the clothes need to come home for the long break anyhow.</p>
<p>I sent the link and am sure I will get “blasted” also if I bring up the subject next week.</p>
<p>One other suggestion, if they live in a cold winter area, is to open the cabinet doors under any sinks to help prevent freezing pipes. The warmer air can get to the pipes more easily. I’ve had friends with burst pipes that were living in the homes.</p>
<p>This thread has given me an idea for a little holiday business for my D or S next year. Would any of you parents or students pay someone a small amount to check on an off campus house or apartment–say $10 a visit? Just a thought as D and I are wishing she had a job over the winter break.</p>
<p>rrah, I would not have thought of that, but I have passed on the suggestion to my daughter, who does indeed go to college in an area with cold winters. </p>
<p>Personally, I wouldn’t suggest things like doing laundry, vacuuming, or generally cleaning the apartment to my daughter and her roommates. They are under great pressure now because of finals. When they return, they will have several free days before classes start, and then the first couple of weeks of the semester are always relatively relaxed. If they’re going to get domestic, they’ll do it then, not now. I just don’t want them coming back to an astronomical utility bill, the horrible stench of five-week-old garbage, or a refrigerator full of hideously moldy food.</p>
<p>Yeah I don’t care about laundry.DS warned me he is coming home with everything dirty…okay with me since he reports great grades this past semester!</p>
<p>Well, S has lots of clothes at home. Last Thanksgiving, he came home with only his knapsack. He does not need to stuff his suitcase full of clothes, dirty or not. Which means that if he does not do laundry before coming home, it will sit there for nearly a month (wrinkle my nose).
His brother, however, lives within driving distance and brings his dirty laundry home every single time!</p>
<p>Off-campus is one thing, but a kid is making a mistake not taking advantage of a laundry room in a dorm - great place to talk up girls (or boys). </p>
<p>Btw, back in the day, I was in a co-ed dorm (floor by floor) heading down the elevator to the basement to do my laundry. On the next floor, the elevator stops and two girls get in. One immediately notices my wash and says ‘would you wash my shirt for me?’ So (stupidly) I asked, well, what are you going to wear? She says ‘your shirt.’ So, she pulls off her t-shirt and I pull off mine and I hand it to her while the other girl is laughing.</p>
<p>So, I’m guessing a few of you might be wondering whether she was wearing a bra under that t-shirt.</p>
<p>If this was in the 70s I’m guessing no.</p>
<p>Okay, maybe I should post this in the boasting parents thread (is it going to kill my virtual friendships?) S came home with a suitcase full of clean clothes! I’d given him loads of quarters at Thanksgiving, and he’d done his laundry before coming home.
Today was about 20deg, and he came home lugging his suitcase, wearing only his windbreaker and no gloves. Ugh. I had bundled up from head to toes, but was worried that my nose might fall off in the cold walking from home to office and back.</p>
<p>Very cold in New England tonight. Nashua has -2 wind chills right now. I walked a few blocks and was a little worried about frost bite.</p>