<p>I think it’s something in the Y chromosome…some sensibility and practicality must be in that extra line to make it an X. =P</p>
<p>Son received a laptop as part of his scholarship package yesterday. Husband is anxious to make a return trip to campus to set everything up, ie, printer, docking station, hard drive. I know better. This is an excuse for him to get to play with son’s new toy! Who cares about football games when there’s computers to play with!</p>
<p>Glad I found this thread again.</p>
<p>We just drove son back to campus after spending his fall break at home.</p>
<p>Just had to share our view of the Man Cave, which seems to have now been completed.</p>
<p>The boys each have a bedroom, which is theirs alone. However, there is a common area, like a living room or den, that is shared by the suite of four boys. This is THE MAN CAVE.</p>
<p>An entire wall is covered with Nintendo Power/video game posters.</p>
<p>The two end tables each have a good sized regular TV on them, with two to three video game systems hooked up.</p>
<p>The dining room table holds various laptop computers used exclusively for gaming.</p>
<p>There is a keyboard, an amp, and an electric guitar.</p>
<p>There is still the couch, which remains eerily empty. I suspect that the visitors often spend the night after playing games until the wee hours.</p>
<p>However, the bathrooms are clean, the kitchen is relatively clean, except for dishes in the sink, and there are no “science experiments” in the refrigerator.</p>
<p>My son has an A in all his classes, except for English, never his best subject, so he’s obviously getting some work done.</p>
<p>Oh, and there are also five or six giant Nerf guns in the suite. The latest game craze, in preparation for a Humans versus Zombies game which the campus police cancelled.</p>
<p>I must add, though, there are no girls in the picture for any of the four suitemates, and based on their decor and hobbies, not likely to be any in the future.</p>
<p>Oh, well, there’s always time for that.</p>
<p>I say let them enjoy it while they can. They will never have this opportunity again (at least lets hope not).</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Could you imagine any wife(or girlfriend) would let them do that?:)</p>
<p>When an old bachelor friend (40 years old at that time) married his wife, it only took 2 months for the wife to change his big, comfortable, brown sofa into a chintz covered sofa.</p>
<p>Update on the 235-lb TV: TV was voted “most popular freshman” on the floor. S2 hosts “Chick Flick Wednesdays” on Big TV: he shows movies like “The Notebook” or “Mean Girls,” and the girls flock to the Man Cave to watch.</p>
<p>So proud of DS.
He’s got one wall entirely covered with modeling clay. Anyone is welcomed to add a figurine, sculpture, mask for the wall. </p>
<p>He got a 10 gallon water fountain.
A ~16sqft of house plants on the hardwood floor. All the pots are covered with several bags of mulch. (Floor is protected by a pond liner)
Two desks. One for his work. And one cluttered with electronics paraphernalia.</p>
<p>His mother can’t imagine what his permanent abode will look like.
I’m hopeful.</p>
<p>Now, that man cave definitely sounds like it needs a beer frig!</p>
<p>For some reason I am picturing Seeley Booth with his beer helmet.</p>
<p>EK
The got a beerkeg ref. They brew their own. Also got a carboy of apple cider (bad apple year). Its in Seattle by the UW.</p>
<p>I am laughing at the thought of Chick Flick Wednesdays in the Man Cave…that is clever.</p>
<p><tv was=“” voted=“” “most=”" popular=“” freshman=“”></tv></p>
<p>Its the TV, they want. Not him.</p>
<p>I was wondering how the 235 lb TV was adapting to college life! Chick Flick Wednesdays is brilliant.</p>
<p>I think I should add Nerf guns to the shopping list.</p>
<p>Montegut: The word regarding Nerf guns and games had not spread to all the students at your son’s campus. I was there over the weekend. I saw several students armed, and they were playing the humans versus zombies game. My son was not a participant. He was more interested in doing his laundry, going shopping, cleaning his suite and hanging out with his mom. We spent several hours preparing and cooking all kinds of food.</p>
<p>Hi montegut-</p>
<p>When older s was a freshman, the guys rooms were on one side of the hall and the girls on the other. By the middle of move-in day, when we walked down the hall and looked to the left, into the girls rooms, they were all nicely decorated with coordinated bedding and posters on the walls. When we looked to the right, the guys rooms tended to have their clothes and bedding piled on the floor and beds, but the electronics (tv, game console systems, chairs, etc) were all set up!! I kid you not!! By junior year, when they were in a suite, his roommates taught a webcam-based bartending class-- from their living room!! Sigh… So, all things considered, your s sounds pretty normal, and if he’s keeping his grades up, thats great!</p>
<p>Younger s now lives off campus and I shudder to think what that place looks like. I doubt they can see the floor. They didn’t even get a kitchen table til a few weeks ago, when my s found one for $40 on craigslist. I’ll bet its nasty by now. DS did tell me they <em>finally</em> cleaned the kitchen last week, when I had a home-cooked meal delivered for the house. I guess they needed silverware or plates, LOL. </p>
<p>So, as long as he is keeping his grades up his man cave is probably ok. Love the chick flick idea-- very clever!</p>
<p>This fall we moved our college junior son into a large, very nice, furnished apartment where he has his own room–also large by most people’s standards, with ample closet space. My husband looked at the empty room, with its vast expanse of carpet, and said, “Oh, XXXX, how nice. You have plenty of floor space for storing your clothes.” I peeked in over parents’ weekend, and that’s pretty much how it has turned out.</p>
<p>On the flip side, he loves to cook, so he keeps the kitchen organized–maybe not clean, but neat.</p>
<p>Oh, the Nerf guns. They are pretty awesome. I hear the next door neighbors brought their Legos. I really wanted to check those out, as son and I are really into Legos.</p>
<p>The great thing about the Nerf guns, though, is that most of the boys are engineering majors. They went on YouTube to find out how to “mod” their guns. </p>
<p>Looks like they’re combining fun with learning!</p>
<p>My S a senior is on his own this year in a small duplex. It does seem to be a social hub, but being off campus I think he does get his rest. He seems to be neat, I haven’t seen it in person yet but from skype it looks OK, he says he has to keep it neat because of girls. The man caveish thing they’re dong this year is Man Cake.</p>
<p>S2 lives in a large Man Cave of a house (circa 1946…and nothing has changed since then) with 3 other guys. They have a large living room with an ancient projection screen TV sitting on the fireplace hearth. The walls are lined with other people’s discarded couches and futons so everyone can have a convenient spot for video games. There is one pole lamp light at the end of the room for that Cave-like effect. </p>
<p>The wall decor in the room is dominated by one of those humongous “You are Here” signs with a map of campus buildings. It used to reside somewhere on campus but somehow made it’s way to their living room. S2 swears no laws were broken in the aquisition of said sign.<br>
They don’t have a kitchen table but do have a very nice beer pong table in the dining room that can serve a multitude of functions.<br>
They live with no heat and no A/C because the walls of the house are like cardboard with no insulation. The windows would fall out if given a good shove. After getting a utility bill over $400 when they first moved in, they decided they could live without it.<br>
It’s basically a dump.</p>
<p>Why do they live there?<br>
Location is the driving factor. This palace is a mere two blocks from his big state u. No driving around in circles looking for a commuter parking spot, no standing on the side of the road waiting for a crowded univ. bus to stop…and hope you can get a seat. Easy walk to class and back home for lunch between classes. Can walk to the football stadium on games days, His whole neighborhood is what could easily be called a Student Ghetto…very old houses close to the univ. filled with student renters. There’s always something going on.</p>