<p>You can also pre-order what you need at Bed Bath & Beyond from one near your home and pick the stuff up at one near Taft. They set aside the stuff for you at the store near your school.
Please do leave time to meet with your child’s advisor- you may need to call or email him/her ahead of time to make sure you can get together.
Most schools do NOT want Mommy and Daddy to stay past the first day, so whatever you need to do needs to get done before that.
I would make sure that your child has met their student dorm rep (a senior called a Prefect or RA), and their room-mates before you leave.
Most kids like some help from parents setting up their rooms, doing last minute errands.
You may want to head to the bookstore together to make sure the student gets their books and supplies, and open their student charge account, and also deal with the phone cards, laundry cards, etc. to get them set up before you leave.
A trip to the health center to make sure all the paperwork and prescriptions are in order is not a bad idea. Also a trip to the Post Office to learn how packages are received and sent is helpful for all. Your student will need a box number and combination or key.
You may also need to set up a local bank account and leave some prescriptions at a local pharmacy.
It is also a good idea to do a quick tour of the surrounding area in your car together to give your child the lay of the land: shops, restaurants, movie houses, drug store, cell phone store, sporting goods store.
You could also learn about how the students get around: to the local town, to airport, train or bus station, what ever.
I also recommend that you set up specific regular times for you and your child to talk on the phone.
It can be a lot of fun! And teary at the end…
p.s. Depending on where you live, make sure you leave them with a small piece of luggage for trips home for vacations.
p.p.s. Where to keep valuables is always hard to figure out: money, wallet, ID, keys, cards… Try to set up a system for your child in the room. Some schools expect these things to be locked up, esp if the rooms do not lock or if their are room-mates…
p.p.p.s. Family photos- turned out to be very important! Make sure they have some!!!
p.p.p.p.s. A mattress cushion of some kind: fleece, foam, down–something. The mattresses are usually very thin, so the kids really appreciate this!!</p>