<p>Haven’t been able to get to this for ages, but I saw the discussion on finals care packages. I saw a LOVELY suggestion a few months ago - clean socks and underwear! Pants can be reworn, there are always shirts they don’t like so are still clean, but socks and underwear are hard to come by.</p>
<p>And there’s a thread on the parents list for my son’s school where the parents (and by proxy their children) have unanimously said that the college-sponsored care packages aren’t worth having.</p>
<p>And my non-health-conscious kid ignores all food, and says they feed him well enough at school and he doesn’t need any more. Great for him, disappointing for me.</p>
<p>Thanks for all your wishes. S had the procedure yesterday and the anticipation was worse than the actual procedure. Wasn’t too bad and he didn’t have too much pain. Thankfully! He wheedled a lunch at Cheesecake factory after! He’s feeling so much better today - the swelling has gone down and he says the knee feels almost normal. A big grin on his face as he ran up and down the stairs this morning. Now, just keeping my fingers crossed that this is a one-time deal !</p>
<p>Care packages - haven’t actually sent one that D didn’t know was coming. But I made sure that there was always something surprising in the package! The last time she wanted a cardigan - so added that and a couple pairs of cheap headphones to the box. S and I baked cookies, wrapped them individually and tossed them in. Then S sprinkled halloween candy all over the box! Completely covered everything under! She loved, loved it! I immediately got a text message " You are the best mother ever!" and a call - now that means, she really really liked the package :)</p>
<p>Blue - toothbrushes? What an idea - I don’t want to think of the reasons why though! Am thinking the next care package will be the week after thanksgiving - filled with comfort food.</p>
<p>BTW, one tip on sending care packages via USPS. Try to get the regional rate flat boxes if possible. These boxes have to be ordered online - but they hold a lot more and cost a lot less than the regular flat rate boxes. The max weight is about 15 or 20 lbs. The 15lb box cost me 5.58$ to send from MA to Cleveland and it reached her in two days flat! You can even print the shipping label and pay online.</p>
<p>There are regional flat rate boxes?!? Oh my gosh!! My boxes ship same state, less then 100 miles. I’ll go online and see if they have something. Thank you so much arisamp!!! :)</p>
<p>Thanks for the tip on regional boxes…the shipping can be slower–7-10 days…yet if I get it out in time, it will be ther for reading week/study before exams.</p>
<p>From here to the U is a zone 5—still not bad at all for postage. </p>
<p>We did ship an overnight package for something important–I hate to pay $30 etc yet it was there first thing in the am. </p>
<p>Care packages will go “slow boat”…
I like the toothbrush idea as well. I have been known to soak my kidsd retainers in peroixide–
and I always have them change toothbrishes regularly–especially after being sick.</p>
<p>Did you kids get flu shots? Kiddo went by the health center a couple weeks ago to get one.</p>
<p>Fog - Bluejr’s flu shot was a no brainer. He hates shots but had no choice in the matter. His surgeon will not perform the surgery in December if he’s sick so we are taking all precautions (short of bubble wrapping him!). He also got his at the student health center.</p>
<p>I’m a bit confused about the regional rate box. We live in zone 1 but son goes to college in zone 3. Do we pay for zone 3? It looks like you can take the regional boxes to the PO and pay for postage there, yes? This looks like quite a savings - arisamp, You should post this on “your good buy of the day thread”!</p>
<p>arisamp, awww, what a great text message to get! I’m always hoping for that “best mother” message but I know DS is unlikely to be quite that openly expressive. After my last package to him (full of delights from Trader Joe’s and Cost Plus) I got an email that said “Care package–more like a care JDAM drop with all the food in my face.” I’m interpreting it as a “best mother” message! I’ll take what I can get!</p>
<p>Making a note to get the kid in for a flu shot on Friday after Thanksgiving if he ignored the instruction to get one at the health center…</p>
<p>My d is required by her pulmonologist to get a flu shot. She has asthma and has had surgery on both lungs, then pneumonia and mono since. She was a sick, sick kid the first two years of high school and has been told she needs a flu shot every fall for the rest of her life. The mist doesn’t cut it. </p>
<p>So, I started texting her daily the third week of Septmeber until it bugged her enough to go get it the second week of October, just to make me shut up. She got it at the student health center and charged it to her tuition bill. At least I know she got the shot and knows where the student health center is.</p>
<p>Yay arisamp! What a difference a day makes!</p>
<p>Lol shawbridge, you are living quite the jet set life, I hope you don’t do permanent damage to your circadian clock with all that coffee :D</p>
<p>I’m a big fan of the flu mist (live vaccine delivered via nose sniff ). My son hates shots as well, but will tolerate this method of administration. Sadly I have only one year left that I can have it due to age restrictions, grumble grumble…</p>
<p>We used UPS zone shipping to send DS’s stuff cross-country in Aug and unless he can store most (hope so!) will do same for return. Saved a great deal - and, of course, completely forgot to do same for care packages. Thunk on head!!</p>
<p>Sent 5 toothbrushes in the “meds” box for all reasons listed above - wonder if the kid who forgot he had a meds box when he was sick and has changed his sheets just once thus far has actually opened a new toothpaste. Not putting money on it!!</p>
<p>Arisamp - I’m so glad to hear that your S’s procedure was a success. I hope it did the trick for good! My care package experience has been similar to yours… DD asks for some practical thing(s) and we include a few small extras she doesn’t know about. I’m never going to get the “greatest mom” email this way, I"m sure. One of my best friends just had a box of Cheryl’s cookies delivered to her DD and they were a huge hit so I"m going to have to step up my game, I guess.</p>
<p>Older DD had the flu shot but our doc gave younger DD the mist because she does NOT like shots. I was glad to get those taken care of without having to nag long-distance.</p>
<p>I am almost ashamed to admit that I can ship overnight for almost nothing… I work for a very large company and one of the perks is that we get to ship @ company rates. There are few perks left these days but this one that I have appreciated since older DD left for school 4 years ago.</p>
<p>I used the regional flat rate boxes for our last care package as well. I think they are 2-3 days like regular priority mail, not 7-10. But, I think you do have to print the postage online or you will not get the flat rate – it will be weighed and charged like regular priority mail if you bring it in to the post office. </p>
<p>If you are shipping a fairly short distance, weigh the package and figure out if paying the regular price for the package will be cheaper. In one case it was for us; guess it was a fairly light package. Use the shipping calculator online (requires you to know the weight and size of the box).</p>
<p>DS has asthma (very mild) so he “has to” get a flu shot. His school had a bunch of clinics where they were giving them out free. I only had to nag him a couple of times. No one in my family likes the mist. We don’t like the feeling or “taste” of it running down the back of our throats. Last year they “made me” get the mist for H1N1 since I qualify for it (from a health/age perspective) but was still high enough priority to be getting it at a priority clinic, and they were short on the injected vaccine. But usually we all, including the kids since they’ve been 6 or so, have chosen the shot when given the choice.</p>
<p>OWM, here’s hoping that your son is woken up this morning by a knock on his door, followed by breakfast!
Blue, As a person who normally uses the 5 (or 10 second rule) you have know grossed me out at the thought of a toothbrush falling on a dorm bathroom floor, Yuck! Guess I will need to get everyone extra toothbrushes! LOL</p>
<p>I have been frantically trying to get house in order, bedrooms switched around and painted for our company. As I said, we moved into a new home in September and its configured a little oddly… We have an inlaw apartment attached with a LR and a bed/bath upstairs which my husband was hoping his dad was going to move into (AGHHHHH!) After unpacking I convinced my husband that trying to cram the two older college girls into a tiny bedroom where none of their stuff fit (especially after D2015’s homesickness etc) was not going to cut it. We had been ignoring the apartment but last week decided to make it into an area for the girls so we ripped up carpet, ordered new (comes tomorrow) so of course I had to paint it while no carpet, painted downstairs of apartment where I of course splattered paint all over the hardwood floors etc. So have spent the week, painting, scrubbing tiny speckles of paint off floors and moving furniture! After this going to not paint anything till after all the holidays!
Son is having a friend who lives too far away come for the holidays, and ( if I already told you this, tell me to shut up!!!) my D’s best friend from High School is flying in from England to “surprise my D” for her birthday! My D (the homesick one) has no clue. We are picking friend up at airport tomorrow and driving up for Harvard/Yale. Friend will walk up and “surprise” really excited as this is probably the first time in my life that I have been able to keep a secret for this long (pretty sad considering I am 46!)</p>
<p>For care packages I used to send Advent calendars, I saw them the other day in Trader Joe’s. I think I will send all the college kids back to school with them-including guests, makes it fun to count the days till Holiday Break!</p>
<p>Another Gloomy rainy day here on the East Coast, not sure what the rest of the day holds but right now its pouring buckets! Stay dry and have a great day!</p>
<p>Second stop is flu shot after his surgeon wants to see him on weds. I’m not sure we will make it from LGA in time. He has made several visits to the u health center but haven’t been able to get him to go back.</p>
<p>S stumbled greatly early in the semester. He has been working hard to get back on track. One 1 credit lab might be unsavageable- sick once, overslept another time and that lab feeds into another. No makeups without a note from health center. Kind of hard to get there on the other side of campus when you don’t have a car and are really sick, but I guess that is college. Joining a fraternity hasn’t helped either.</p>
<p>That is the big difference that I’m seeing this time around. The college is incredibly helpful to freshman, profs not so much. He’s met with every prof and nothing he can do but just work harder going forward. Every class takes attendance now. I know it’s not high school, but then treat them like adults, no one I know has to bring in a note if they miss a day. Most lectures are online now, so you can watch them. I know it’s important to be there every day & it correlates to better grades.</p>
<p>My problem now is I’m having trouble backing away. I can’t seem to stop asking him about every test or quiz. If I don’t get a text all day I assume he’s overslept. Maybe it’s the scholarship. I don’t recall being this involved with my older 2 at all. S1 was asked to leave one semester so that is in the back of my mind as well. Or maybe it’s the empty nest, looking for things to obsess about. I did get 2 temp jobs to keep from going totally crazy. Argh</p>