<p>DS starts classes today. He moved into an apartment last May, so he went back to help all his friends moved their stuff out of his apartment. He seems to be happy, busy and excited about the new year. He also got a TA position for the intro class in his major. Getting paid to do what he loves, so he is pretty happy. Not to mention that this position usually goes to a senior or grad student. I’m thinking that this is a good sign he is in the right place doing the right things. :)</p>
<p>Creekland - we will be one of those freshman families on Tuesday! We leave today at noon to drive out and will be ready to move in at 8:30 am. Unfortunately, our move in time is 12 pm. What is up with that??? We have a masive amount of unpacking to do!! LOL!</p>
<p>I have been away most of this month, and just had a chance to catch up here. I mostly lurk, as my D does not want much of her details on this site. She was away for most of the summer, but we did get a chance to go on a family vacation to London earlier this month, and it was fabulous. I had been saving my amex points for umpteen years and finally used them on this trip. We dropped her off a few days ago. She is happy to be back and it was exciting for her to see “old” friends. She, like most other of your kids, has a new living situation this year, and I hope it works out. Every time the living situation changes, I think a shift in friendships occurs, and naturally, some of the new people become better friends and others that live elsewhere are less primary due to proximity. </p>
<p>We already miss her. This is Year Two, the empty nest. Last year was a hard adjustment, but I think it will be better this year. During orientation last year I slept with my cell phone on my night table (which I never do) and got calls at 11pm or midnight with updates, etc. Now I have to be grateful for whatever news I get. In brief, we found that due to the many other issues in our lives after D left last year, we became more involved in our house of worship. This was good for us. This year, we are reinvesting in friends and to some degree with my H’s D who lives a distance away from us. We have never really been close to her, since her mom kept her away from us when she was growing up, and step D had a great deal of ambivalence once she was old enough to decide for herself. Step D’s H and mine share professional interests, which is nice, and she has a few small kids, which are exhausting. We have to fly there to visit, so we can’t go often, and they have a crazy life with the kids and his job. We went over the summer and had fun, so we will go again sometime this fall. </p>
<p>5boys, glad to get the update on your son. He sounds like anywhere you plant him, he will grow just fine, so even though he is far from you, I am sure he will do quite well.</p>
<p>geogirl - I HIGHLY recommend going to campus early, getting a parking pass, and doing all the field house things first (ID, booths for bank accounts and clubs, etc). We had an afternoon move in time last year and someone suggested doing this to us. I’m glad we followed through on it. If we hadn’t, I don’t know how we’d have had the time to do it afterward. Others in our group said they wished someone had suggested it to them.</p>
<p>As a warning… we sat in the car for about an hour and a half waiting for the actual move in… NOT fun. Be sure you have enough gas… Once we got to the front of the line all went smoothly, but there are a ton of freshmen moving in on the same day. </p>
<p>We moved into Quad and it seemed slower than Sue B. My guy is in Sue B this year… but only on the 3rd floor, so they don’t get to use the elevators for move in (those are reserved for 4th - 6th). He should get some good exercise, though he does tell me they’re doing shifts with move in to give “carriers” a break. No matter which dorm, kids love their dorms - and the school. Wishing you safe travels and a good experience!</p>
<p>Otherwise, we’re at the crunch point time now deciding upon whether to visit U Miami with my youngest when we’re in FL. Since he’s just at their 25% stats-wise, I just don’t know… a day at the beach sounds awfully inviting, but we’ll be so close at West Palm and Ft Lauderdale. Knowing your guy likes it is helpful (I think!). My guy is interested in Marine/Tropical Bio… I’m unsure if he would be able to compete with the oodles of pre-meds there, but if he could skip the intro Bio class it might all go well. I suppose I should check to see if UM offers credit for cc DE classes. Many higher level schools do not. It is interesting that our kids are considering the same schools - just in the opposite order!</p>
<p>Anothermom2 - we get that empty nest next year… less time than it takes for the sun to complete a lap around the sun. It will fly by. Glad you had a nice trip!</p>
<p>Geo - I also second Creek’s suggestion. We also had the later move in time, so in the morning we went to BB & B and picked up his stuff, then I had H drop us off at the field house while we went through that really long, slow line and got him signed in, his ID card and through what I think was the field house with clubs and such. We actually stopped at the washer and dryer display and had the woman show him how to use the machine - lol.</p>
<p>Then move in we sat in line forever, while they sent singers up and down the lines. Move in was super duper easy and simple. </p>
<p>This year we get no help, that’s a bummer and he’s on the 3rd floor so I hope there isn’t some rule against elevators! We have a fridge to get up there! Neither of us even know where he’s supposed to get his room key.</p>
<p>This year I sent the kid by herself on an airplane. No move-in stories. She did leave about half of her wardrobe in her bedroom. She says she doesn’t need it. How can I be missing all of that work?</p>
<p>Mine is still home for another week. School doesn’t start until September 5th. </p>
<p>She’s been away most of the summer, so I’m enjoying every minute with her that I get.</p>
<p>She’ll also go back by herself with 2 suitcases and a backpack and that’s it. She’s still contemplating how much of what she brought home needs to go back. </p>
<p>It’ll be a busy semester for her – a full schedule of classes plus research-for-credit, 2 on-campus TA jobs and 1 online TA job (she’s contemplating whether to take another and is substituting for other TAs right now). She’s also planning on taking the Spanish DELE and the French DALF this semester.</p>
<p>OHMom - Eckerd is actually at the top of his list right now, but it was a little dismaying to see it rank #4 on Reefer Madness by Princeton Review. My guy is a greenie and would fit in that way, but so far, hasn’t cared for that kind of “reef.” He wants peers. Eckerd is on our list to visit before we head to southern FL, so we’ll see what he thinks. His stats fit Eckerd and he likes having the water part of it connected to campus instead of separate. Thanks for the suggestion though… if we hadn’t heard about it, I’d be wanting to know about it - esp since we’ll be in FL touring.</p>
<p>Eyemamom - the restriction against elevators if for Sue B for freshman move in. I don’t know if they have any restrictions on upperclassmen move in. We used the elevator to move my guy in on “trainee move in day” and I loved every minute of it compared to moving from the quad…</p>
<p>Moved D in Mon to a basement dorm room. Freaked out (silently) because the furniture was covered in mold. You can call me a helicopter parent but I scrubbed every piece of her furniture with lysol wipes - roommate insisted her furniture was fine. Roommate had also covered the floor with shag carpeting. I said nothing. I am very allergic to mold and only made it an hour in the room. We had no idea if D was allergic or not. She called me this morning at 6AM to say her face was all puffed up. This is the way she shows allergies, it progresses to nausea and vomiting. Freaking out because I am now 7 hours away at home. She is going to talk to her RA to see what to do. Personally I can’t imagine they will be able to get the room clean enough for her to live in (especially with the amount of stuff the two girls crammed in there).<br>
Any idea who I would call to start complaining if it gets to that point (she can’t sleep in there again tonight)? I would have no idea where to start. I realized this morning she is still under 18 so at least I have an excuse to step in if I have to.</p>
<p>She should go to the health service or a doctor and report her symptoms and get treatment. Then call the office that handles dorm assignments, and request a room change. This is when people do not show up due to transfers etc. and they probably can find another space for her shortly. The room probably needs to be emptied and cleaned professionally, and you are right, maybe it will not be enough. I don’t see how they can make her stay there if it makes her sick.</p>
<p>Absolutely call the housing office so they can work on a room change right away. I wouldn’t even discuss cleaning the room as it option. Simply say she will need to move rooms and you want them to have early warning to work on this problem.</p>
<p>You are not being a helicopter parent, this is a health issue. I would step in to help a stranger who is sensitive to mold.</p>
<p>I would not let my child or any child stay in a room that showed any mold on furniture, walls, or windows (well, or anywhere). What you can’t see behind walls or under the floor tile or carpet is more mold, so if it is on furniture, it is elsewhere and it is in the air. That is a major huge health concern and you shouldn’t have to pay to live in that type of space.</p>
<p>I agree with the previous posters, she needs to get to the health services for treatment. While she’s doing that, you can get on the phone to housing for a room change. I have a D with mold allergies, that is a huge health concern. </p>
<p>Any chance you took any pictures before the clean up? Although is sounds like a serious mold issue, that goes beyond what you cleaned, pictures might help.</p>
<p>Haven’t posted in a while and trying to catch-up on all the move-in stories/updates. Sounds like things are going well for most. And add me to the list of those who hope the mold situation can be fixed. My older son has a mold allergy and would never be able to sleep if his room had a mold problem. Hope she can move rooms.</p>
<p>We moved S2 into his dorm this past Saturday - all went well and he is thrilled to be living with all his fraternity buddies in the same building. I don’t know if you all remember that last year, he had his heart broken by HS GF - well, a new year brings new beginnings as it looks like he has a new love interest. We met her at move-in and she seems like a great, sweet young woman. We were a little surprised he was ready for another relationship, but he seems happy and has stated that although they really like each other (have been friends since last semester) they are going to be “chill” about it. </p>
<p>Hope all the kids are off to a positive start and have a healthy and happy semester!</p>
<p>Oldfort - Lol about walking around naked. Have to add that to the list</p>
<p>mihcal1 - Argh, not sure mine brought coat hangers either! I hope so because he has some nicer clothes he needs for work.</p>
<p>tozubri - I hope your daughter was moved out of the moldy room and that the school will move all the students out of the room, have it fully cleaned and look into the ventilation issues.</p>
<p>dwhite- good luck to your son, glad he’s ready to get back on the horse romance-wise :)</p>
<p>Kind of a funny story about son’s dorm room… on move-in day he was excited to find his room (a bedroom & bathroom suite shared with one friend) is larger than any of the others on the dorm floor, as is the bathroom. I asked him to send me pics from his phone since I hadn’t been able to help him move in. Looking at the pics I noticed why the bedroom and bathroom are so large - it’s the wheelchair accessible suite. Apparently it wasn’t needed for any students in wheelchairs, so it amounts to extra legroom and storage space for my son and his roommate!</p>
<p>Can’t believe S has been at school for two weeks already. Time to come home for the long weekend. So excited I can’t stand it!! :-)</p>
<p>May have to stop at the “gift shop” at the Union while he finishes packing up. They are having everything 70% off. That’s got me a little excited too!!</p>
<p>Today is the last day at home and S hasn’t done a lick towards even thinking about packing. He had the friends still here over last night with the g/f, and tonight is his farewell dinner. Last year I was so emotional over it all. This year it’s more like - you better get all your crap together, I’m not packing for you! I can’t decide whether I’ll cry or not over him being gone this year. 4 months was a long time home and I feel like I need us to get back on schedule already. It seems weird that his sister in high school is back in school and he isn’t yet.</p>
<p>Well D2 launched back to school sort of this week. She has to be there early for a cappella and was couch surfing for a few days so left her pile of stuff for us to bring this weekend. She can move into the dorm today, but D1 has a lease that does not start until Sunday, so we are heading out then to do the double move-in. Taking D1 and the BF out to dinner tonight. He lives near us, so I expect we might see her more than previous years. With D2 I have already had to send the SOL email. That is our shorthand for sign of life, in other words please send a text, phone call, email or facebook message so we know you are still alive! I guess she is having a good time back at school.</p>
<p>It’s the last day of August. As predicted, summer flew by for us. Oldest is now happily married, has started his own business and is finishing up his senior year at his college.</p>
<p>Middle (my '16) is busy with this year’s freshmen, but tells us things are going well. We expect to hear more from him tomorrow.</p>
<p>Youngest has started his senior year of high school and just started the CA. Meanwhile he’s putting in 25+ hours at work each week.</p>
<p>It’s almost like empty nest practice.</p>
<p>The local County Fair starts soon. I’ve wondered if hubby and I want to take an afternoon to walk around - sort of a date! We haven’t been to one since our kids were young.</p>
Since he’s just at their 25% stats-wise, I just don’t know… a day at the beach sounds awfully inviting, but we’ll be so close at West Palm and Ft Lauderdale. Knowing your guy likes it is helpful (I think!). My guy is interested in Marine/Tropical Bio… I’m unsure if he would be able to compete with the oodles of pre-meds there, but if he could skip the intro Bio class it might all go well. I suppose I should check to see if UM offers credit for cc DE classes. Many higher level schools do not. It is interesting that our kids are considering the same schools - just in the opposite order!</p>
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