@bhs1978 what all does your DH put into the tool box?
A few things I learned years ago from experienced CC parents:
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Say your goodbyes before you arrive on campus. Emotions are running high and it’s a stressful time. Have a pre-determined place outside the dorm room (possibly the student union) where you’ll hug them for the last time and leave without fanfare. You can do your crying later.
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If you’re lucky enough to help with making the bed, put two fitted sheets on the bed and two pillowcases on the pillow. In a few weeks, you can remind them that they’ll have “clean” sheets if they just remove the top layer. Especially important for sons who may not change their sheets all year.
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If you’re driving, invest in a Magna foldable hand truck from amazon. They fold down to nothing and will be useful even if there is a move in situation that involves the big laundry carts. They’re great for hauling rubbermaid containers, the fridge, the printer , or cases of water or power drinks. You will also find them useful in subsequent move-in/move out years when no help is available.
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Bring much, much less than you think they’ll need. Seriously listen to this. My son who took a plane did it with two suitcases, a duffel bag and one stop at Target on the way to the dorm.
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Can’t stress #4 above enough. Everyone over packs. Don’t do it.
In the “don’t overpack” vein: don’t assume your kid is going to study in his/her room. Don’t buy large items (including chairs) without being certain that they will fit, especially if your kid’s room is not a single. When D moved in, there was a family who had bought their kid a nice swiveling desk chair. The RA’s were in the hallway firmly telling the parents it had to be removed. The room was a double and basically it wouldn’t fit and leave any room for the roommate’s desk chair. They really don’t need every possible comfort and upgrade. Also, my D almost never studied in her dorm room because of the constant social distractions. She found lots of favorite places in the library and various campus buildings to study. Let your kid figure things out.
D1 had a different issue with packing. She assumed college students wouldn’t get dressed up as much, so she left a lot of nicer clothes, shoes and handbags at home. After few weeks at school, I had to drive up to bring up more stuff for her. She also didn’t realize she would be interviewing the first semester at school, so she didn’t have a business attire either.
It is advisable to pack some nice clothes and shoes for college. There are semi formal parties, school events and job interviews that one may need to get dressed up for.
Downsize downsize downsize. Pack just what you absolutely need. If you are buying stuff specifically for school, consider ordering site to store OR having it shipped directly to the college to arrive the first week.
We packed only my son’s clothes and his music stuff for his music major (guitars, amps, etc). His grandmother wanted to splurge and get comforters, sheets, etc for him (as you will most likely need twin xl) but not only would travel have been crazy then, move-in would have taken forever. We bought all we could do site to store (walmart) and picked it up after we’d moved in the essentials. Also got his microwave and fridge that way. His second year, we scaled back even more (wish we’d known this ahead of time) and any “new” clothes he wanted, we ordered from online and had shipped to him once he was on campus.
We also didn’t send him with his winter coats, etc. We shipped those later. In fact, since we live in the deep south and he didn’t really have heavy clothes, we ordered winter clothes from amazon and got free shipping and some great sales. He got a package or so weekly so it wasn’t too much to unpack ever.
@GnocchiB He puts a hammer, pliers, a 6 in 1 tool, a flashlight and one or two common size wrenches.
He also makes a kit with cables (I don’t even understand all of that) A short and a long Ethernet cable and TV cabe and a USB to Ethernet cable if needed. He also includes a power strip. These were all very useful for my son. I’m not sure how much she will know how to use. Lots of phone calls to dad from daddy’s little girl!
We moved in today, and here’s our secret: Space bags. They are truly life-altering and make packing very easy in several ways. D packed her clothes in bundles-skirts and dresses together, tee shirts together, jeans together, then space bagged them all. We got one free checked bag each through Alaska Airlines, so we filled those three plus one more for only 25 dollars. This included all clothing, sheets and towels D needed, plus shoes. We bought everything else on location at Target, Ross and Walmart. As we bought them, we packed them in under bed rolling bins (3 total). As she emptied those, they became storage for her clothes (she gets only 2 dresser drawers).
Do check if your school has the carts or bins, and what the process for using them is. D had to check them out and leave her ID to use them, and you only got an hour, though you could re-sign for them if necessary. Also, the school had upperclassmen assigned to help load and unload. Buying a cart would have been a waste of money.
Also, we found it really helpful to be there early since we needed to make an extra trip to pick up some missing things and not have a rush on the carts, not have to rush to unpack, etc. I had no problem with a shoulder bag-I didn’t go out and buy a fanny pack for move-in, but then, we had a cart to use and I wasn’t carrying anything heavy.
If the kids can work out how they will set up the beds ahead of time-have them do that. D knew which was hers and was able to immediately start making it up and setting things up around her part of the room. Her roommate arrived while we were on our store run, but since she too knew which area was hers, also got set up fast.
Here’s my tip - don’t know if this has been mentioned. After all the stuff from the car has been carried up, if you have a H or other male with you, send them to get some food. My H was always awkward once we got stuff carried up and it made him feel useful to make a food run while I helped make the bed or whatever else was asked for me to help with. And the food ends up being REALLY needed after all those trips of carrying - everyone needs to keep hydrated and a content tummy!
This isn’t really particularly for move-in, but if campus is some distance from home and your child MAY need to see a physician on or near the U (especially if kiddo has any chronic health issues), consider going up early next having an appointment with one or more MDs who may be able to provide care for your child. We did this fo boy S and D, including giving hem relevant medical documents Dom their MDs 2500 miles away.
S never used the MDs again, but the MDs helped D with some health issues and referred her to an excellent expert that is in network (tho far from campus). It made H and me and the U happy, knowing the kids had a medical network to tap not, if and when they needed it. The U actually recommended it. We also met the disabilities office head and provided him documentation of our kids’ needs.
These health issues were much more important to me than the simpler job of getting our kids physically situated.
If you have a van or SUV – rig up a length of closet rod hanging across the interior of your vehicle. Hang as many clothes as possible on the rod. When you get there, have one strong person get on each end of the rod and carry the rod, with all clothes on their hangers, to the room. When you get there, you can transfer as many hangers as possible to the closet, and decide what to do with the rest. This is much easier than unpacking bags or boxes of clothing.
We used large garbage bags to put over hangers like a garment bag, and we also put soft stuff like beddings and towels in garbage bags. They didn’t take up any room and we could just throw them out afterwards.
We did the big black garbage bag thing too…it was great. Since we drove, we just tossed them back in the car, and used them here at home.
Re: abasket’s suggestion. We just unpacked quickly…did only the basic (made the bed). It was hot outside, and you really couldn’t eat in the dorm room. So…no food run. We offered to take both kids out after we unpacked. And they both accepted…and it was nice to go to a decent restaurant. And because we had a car, we didn’t have to stay really close to the campus where it was crowded.
I would suggest taking water bottles, and some kind of snack with you…whatever you can easily eat. We took Nutrigrain Bars. YMMV.
We also used the big lawn and leaf bags (over hung clothes and for transport), as well as some space bags for bulky bedding items. We put the pillow protectors and pillow cases on the pillows, the comforter in the duvet cover, etc. ahead of time and packed in the order needed to make up the bed.
We took 3 cars to move-in: D’s, mine and ex-H. All 3 were pretty full. D definitely overpacked - too many clothes and shoes - but we got everything in her half of the room. Members of the boys soccer team had our stuff unloaded and in the hallway outside the room in no time.
The key to our system was a set of interlocking plastic storage drawers that fit under the bed. We raised the bed (1st year bed was adjustable, second year we used bed risers) to accommodate the drawers. We stacked the drawers (we had 3 sizes) two deep the length of the bed and pre-packed them. The larger drawers held extra towels and bedding, and bulky or occasionally used clothes/shoes. Other drawers held cleaning supplies, first aid items, light bulbs, basic tools, etc. The only furniture item we brought was a cubby bookcase with bins and drawers used for dishes, snack food storage, cosmetics and toiletries (other than those in the bath carrier). We also pre-packed those, covered them with plastic wrap and taped them shut for transit.
D hung her clothes in the closet, unpacked the suitcase into her dresser, set up her desk and decorated, while I made the bed and set up the under bed storage and bookcase. Her roommate and roommate’s mom had a similar system. Dads were in charge of moving furniture, clearing trash, setting up the fridge and microwave, running errands (needed more command strips) and food. It went smoothly.
My best trick was to find out when the roommate was coming and plan to arrive well before or well after. Four parents, two roommates, assorted siblings, boyfriends, girlfriends, etc. made some of our move ins very crowded. I understood why all those people were there but didn’t understand why they didn’t see how much space they took up.
On the other hand, the first person there gets to pick the prime spot for everything. D2 was miserable her entire freshman year because her roommate moved in ahead of her and took what she wanted, leaving limited space for her roommate. No amount of negotiating ever got her to move anything. D’s desk was “over the line” because she was given the side of the room with the sink. Roommate griped about that desk the entire year.
So I take it back. Go early and be considerate.
I took @Consolation 's advice and reserved a 4x8 UHaul trailer. I knew DH would be opposed, since he prides himself on being a good packer. So I started out by saying, “It would help me worry less if we could reserve one,” and he said OK. We can always cancel at no cost if he can cram everything in the car the day before we leave.
3 cars?? We moved S (driving distance) in 1 car - Toyota Camry. And when we moved D (flying distance), S dropped 3 of us off at the airport with all her things that fit in the same Camry, and at the other end they all fit in a rental car along with 3 of us. (We did pick up bedding in her college locale, but we could have easily stuffed that in.) More power to you if it works but 3 cars seems a ridiculous amount of stuff to move into one room. Unless you’re moving a harp or something.
I’ve noticed a tendency these days where people don’t want to sit with stuff at their feet or on their laps for a long time. Personally that never bothered us. If everyone (other than driver) needs to have a few bags on their laps or by their feet and be squished for an hour or so, oh well!
Ya think?!?! I have to wonder how large some kids think the dorm rooms are.
I agree that 3 cars is excessive. We probably could’ve gotten away with 2, but D was keeping her car at school, and I really didn’t want to spend 7 1/2 hours in a car with ex-H on the way home. We put the bookcase together before we left so that and the storage bins took up a fair amount of space. D also brought a wool dhurrie rug, decorative lamp, full length mirror (1st year room didn’t have one) and a cute laundry basket that is tall and not collapsible, all of which took up space.
Move-in for my minimalist S was the total opposite experience.
I really don’t get why you’d bring furniture to a dorm room. Where would you think it’s going to fit? Wouldn’t it just make sense that the two dressers, two beds, two desks and chairs would take up pretty much all the wall space there is in the room? And aren’t there bookshelves above desks that are more than sufficient for the books you’ll have for that semester? The only time any of my kids were in a room that could have theoretically accommodated furniture (beyond that supplied by the school) was when one kid was an RA and was in a room that had previously been a double, so one bed, dresser, desk were gone. I don’t know if you guys are moving into 20x20 rooms or something, but nothing we have ever had could remotely have accommodated extra bookcases and futons and what-not.
I’m not sure that it’s applicable to the poster in question, but my dorm room LY had a separate common area that the college does not furnish, so add’l furniture is sometimes desired. That said, I would not haul furniture unless I knew in advance exactly how much space I was dealing with.