<p>D1 bought a coat at a charity auction that belonged to one of my peers in HS - a long, plaid wool blanket-like coat with toggle closures. It was all the rage with her college friends, and very warm, too. Right now she has a NF that’s on the lighter side, which we got on sale for her for Christmas. I’m with fog - when we were in a crowd and lost her I quipped, “Just look for the girl in the black Northface jacket…”</p>
<p>Both Ds arrived safely at their locations yesterday - D1 to her new home and at least short-term employment, hoping to make more permanent, and D2 back to the dorm. When I took her to airport we talked about the various ups and downs, lessons learned, fears and hopes for this semester. I’m guessing it’ll be much better than last semester (she had a rough transition in, but she’s got a good foundation now), but there will be plenty of challenges nonetheless. It’s a hard program (really two) and she takes things hard, naturally. She did get calls yesterday from friends wondering if she was back, if she wanted to go to lunch, dinner, etc., and she was touched.</p>
<p>All very exciting. Here, we’re getting lovely big flakes of snow, so I’m staying put and waiting until tomorrow to get my car serviced. I have TONS of work to catch up on, so that is fine with me. Best wishes to everyone!</p>
<p>You all have been so helpful about giving me places to look for THE pea coat for my son. Even though I’ve kind of turned the search over to my son, I’ll show you all the exact coat: [Product:</a> Kenneth Cole REACTION® Men’s Fashion Walker Coat](<a href=“BONTON | Bonton”>BONTON | Bonton) Interestingly enough, the price is now higher then it was last week! Of course, there are always coupons and sales that would make this less. He would need it in a Small size, which isn’t even listed and makes me wonder if the medium fit. He tried on so many jackets that day and the only reason we didn’t buy it was it had not gone on the deep discount and we both thought that it wouldn’t be warm enough. Since then he’s tried on someone else’s coat and decided it was warm enough. As much as I like to shop, we don’t live close enough to enough stores to make this a real mission AND, he does have a nice looking warm coat.</p>
<p>Empty-nesting, is not yet a reality for us because our middle son is back home after college graduation. Fortunately, he’s come round quite a bit since Christmas break and is now working on a project that make work out very well and is also being a big help with some things we’ve asked him to do. Some of our friends with kids the same age also have them back home, so it doesn’t seem so weird.</p>
<p>Northface being replaced with Columbia or preferably Patagonia. D1 raided H’s closet and took back to college rugby shirts, flannel shirts and his old sweaters. She is tiny and wears his L or XL tops with leggings and boots. Hmmmmm sound familiar. That’s what I wore in college : ) I even bought her some leg warmers for xmas (as a joke) and she loved them!</p>
<p>We have also booked our spring break that will be without her. H is trying to work out if we can fly her in for the weekend… totally unfeasible!</p>
<p>kathie, my H and I were just saying last night that we each had secretly hoped our college grad might be around at least for a few months, and that we’re now actually sad that she’s managed to keep herself employed long-distance. We don’t “believe in” coming back home if not absolutely necessary, and we’re thrilled for her, but emotionally we both saw how nice it might be to hold her close for a bit before she made her real “launch.” Ah, well. This is best for all of us.</p>
<p>Why is it that we parents can’t ever quite win? We’re so often pining over another era, another alternative? And when we get what we say we wanted, it makes us crazy, too! I guess it’s because we love the kids so much.</p>
<p>^ Gibson - Bluejr’s clothes keep disappearing (rugby’s, flannels, etc.) thanks to his tiny little GF. I can only imagine the same. When I complained to Bluedad that I hoped they found their way ‘home’ when…well y’know the relationship ran it’s course as I paid for a lot of those clothes he reminded me of how many ‘trophy’ sweatshirts I still have from old college bf’s…ooopps! :o </p>
<p>Bluejr is squarely in the Northface/Patagonia camp, however that is a HUGE step up from a kid that wouldn’t wear a coat a year ago so I don’t really care what he wears, as long as he’s warm! He got a great Gore-tex over the holiday that is three season, can be worn for snowboarding, and go over his denali. For each kid, the best coat is really the one they will wear! Maybe I can get my 20yo to wear a peacoat? ;)</p>
<p>Responding to up thread discussion, Mama can still make things “better”. Got a text from D at 6 am on Sunday, a friend’s friend had what appeared to be a psychotic break (delusional, not knowing what was real, while completely sober). D’s friend did not quite realize the severity/reality of what was going on and “handed” off the boy to D to talk to him. D realized immediately that something was really wrong, so texted me to call campus police while she kept the boy engaged, calm. (In retrospect, none of us, including campus police, thought to contact the RA to get her involved/take over for D.)<br>
D ended up accompanying him in the ambulance and then had to sign to give the hospital permission to administer drugs as the boy was not 18 yet. Triage nurses asked D if she wanted to notify the boy’s mom, and D had to explain that she did not even know the boy’s last name let along his mom- D was just being a Good Samaritan. She got lots of sympathy from the nursing staff after that.<br>
Then D had to track down someone on campus with a car to come pick her up at the hospital in the neighboring town. Thank goodness a boy in one of her classes responded to her text for help (not that many first year students have cars, at least ones that D knows). It all ended up fine, but poor D was just “done”. And the last of her first semester classes still remains an incomplete until she prints out some pdfs the prof could not read and gets him hard copies of the docs, but she just could not cope with getting the last bit done. (Prof is not fussed by this, and knows D will get to it.)</p>
<p>Wow kinder! Way to go kinderD! Her true nature as a caregiver to others really showed through. She is an amazing young woman! So glad she was able to get a ride home. Hopefully she will be able to quickly get the last class taken care of and move on emotionally.</p>
<p>Kinder - What a sweet sweet girl you have to do all that!!! Reminds me of the HS ski club trip last yr where an acquaintence of Peter’s crashed and had amnesia - had to be medivaced to a hospital. Really freaked out everyone and some stepped up and others (most) ran away.</p>
<p>Just an F.Y.I.
The same train line (SEPTA: Paoli-Thorndale Line) that goes to Villanova, also goes close the St Joes University. The station is called Overbrook Station. It is located at 63rd St and City Line Av, a block or so from the campus boundary. </p>
<p>If you have any questions, feel free to contact us at 215-580-7800, or online at [SEPTA</a> | Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority](<a href=“http://www.septa.org%5DSEPTA”>http://www.septa.org) and use the online form or chat feature.</p>
<p>On male clothes, ShawSon is not a barometer of what is cool, but wears a very functional, water resistant, relatively inexpensive winter jacket by Weatherproof that we got a Costco. Warm, rugged. He’s happy with it. We also got him an expensive leather jacket from Costco ($169 or $179, I think) for spring/fall that he loves. We had to talk him into our spending money on him. We don’t have that problem with ShawD.</p>
<p>For dress clothes, I wait until JosBank has huge sales (they have sales every day, but only ocassionally are they huge). I have bought him a Merino wool topcoat for $99, a good quality blazer for $138, and a high quality suit for $149. Each has been a Chanukah present. None were appreciated immediately, but he’s thanked us for the suit (used at Moot Court competitions) and blazer (used at debate tournaments, some college parties, and the course he took at Harvard Law School). The topcoat is new but I figure he’ll use it for job/fellowship interviews and then thank me, but I figured for $99 it would be worth it.</p>
<p>So, just got off the phone with boychild. Had a nice chat…how was your weekend kind of stuff and how his schedule for the week…when he told me he has a student gov’t meeting tonight (he’s a dorm rep.) where they are going to explain the new roommate policy starting next year of optional gender neutral rooms (for soph, jrs and srs, only.) So if you want to room with a person of the opposite sex you can. One of the reasons he told me for this is since gay couples can be roommates it’s discriminatory to not allow hetero’s to share a room. </p>
<p>Any one else have a kid at a school that has a choice of gender neutral rooms?</p>
<p>kinder, big hugs to you as a parent and to your D. Y’all done real good.</p>
<p>My dad bought me and my sibs Navy surplus pea coats when we were in elementary or junior high. Terribly unfashionable at the time, but those things wore like steel, and kept us warm and dry. OK, that was in Southern California where it doesn’t take much to stay warm and dry, but still. I wish I knew what happened to them.</p>
<p>On the other hand, both of my D’s swipe clothing from my octogenarian mother. It greatly amuses my mother, especially when one of their friends mistakes a sweatshirt that my mother bought at Pic 'N Save decades ago for something from Urban Outfitters. D1 has a couple of winter coats that my mom wore as a college student. Everything old is new again.</p>
<p>Kinder - What a great story about your D. Her classmates are lucky to have her there!</p>
<p>My D is (already) coming home this weekend for a one-week break after the end of January term. She’s really enjoyed the January class - it’s one of a series of seminar classes she’s taking - but it’s been really intense with a couple of papers, a speech and a final this week, so she is looking forward to the break. She specifically requested healthy food for the week - she’s been going to the gym with a friend every night and doesn’t want to get off track. I offered to let her join my morning running group, but the 6:30 am start time was a deal breaker.</p>
<p>D has never been into clothes, makeup, etc. at all so I had to laugh when I saw her on our weekly skype call wearing a clearly new sweater that she had bought on an extended shopping trip with some friends over the weekend. And she was wearing lipstick (extremely unusual) She then went on and on about some really great lotion she had discovered. She ended that topic line by saying “I guess I had a really girly day”. Fine by me - it’s kind of fun to see a different side of her. I usually have to practically beg her to spend money on herself.</p>
<p>emilybee, I read an article a while back about a number of schools beginning to offer gender-neutral rooms to allow a safe space for transgendered students who wouldn’t fit well into a “men’s” or “women’s” dorm/suite/etc. I don’t think in most cases the intention was to allow hetero couples to room together, but of course that is a natural response to their availability (depending, I guess, on how limited the option is). </p>
<p>Go figure, I just showed a picture of the Kenneth Cole peacoat to my 20yo asking if he would ever wear it and he was over the moon, even asked me if I would order it for him. I’ll check our local TJMaxx/Marshalls to see what I can find him. Thanks for the heads up on the places to look. Luckily for me, he works so pays for his own things…I’m just the finder. I have been in the process of helping to shift him towards a more grown up look this year and he really likes J Crew. We’ve had excellent luck at their outlet (about 1hr from here)</p>
So glad she was able to get a ride home. Hopefully she will be able to quickly get the last class taken care of and move on emotionally.</p>
D1 has a couple of winter coats that my mom wore as a college student. Everything old is new again.</p>