I bought hand vacuum. I am not sure it will ever get used - but I feel better 
ā¦ all my other suggestions like folding chair , an open box for keys etc have been shot down ruthlessly. However, he was very particular about pillows ā¦ I suggested bedrest pillow (one with arms) - shot down!
@VMT - glad you mentioned the music performances. S is taking jazz band - usually need a dress shirt and tie for those performances.
@mtrosemom - yes, thank goodness for Amazon Prime! Though S is not much of a shopper and not likely to do much purchasing beyond snacks (stocking up on K cups, granola bars etc.)
So then - if they do buy something from Amazon that needs assembling, they may need a basic tool kit (screw driver, wrench,) - or can they borrow that stuff from student services?
āTide Pods=best invention EVER.ā
Yes, but be careful if you have small children around or even pets who wander. There have been multiple deaths attributed to pod detergent packs.
http://consumerist.com/2015/05/15/detergent-pod-poisonings-increase-even-after-changes-to-packaging/
They also note adults with dementia eating them 
That being said, they are pretty fun to squish.
Hope everyoneās summer has been great! We leave Tuesday to start the 13 hour journey out to Truman. We are planning two family days in St. Louis to catch a Cards game and get some good Italian food! Move in day is the 15th. There is a one week orientation āclassā and then classes officially start. I thought I had it together but I am starting to freak out just a bit! This house is going to be soooo quiet! 
@singermom4, mine will be bringing a basic tool kit with hammer, multi head screwdriver, pliers, level, duct tape
We bought a vacuum for older D; the whole floor used it. There is no way D15 will spend time vacuuming- if she puts away her clothing and brushes her hair I will be happy. We bought pods- hopefully she takes time out to do laundry!
The bed is high enough to put plastic drawers below. Other than that, no clue what they will do. She will be bringing a few nicer outfits with her as she has a few interviews currently lined up- no iron. I am the type who always worries whether itās unplugged, and I do not want anything more on my worry list. I need to take her clothes shopping and buy a few more drugstore items, then we are done.
Ordered Sā15ās laptop today with Windows 10! Hereās to hoping everything is ready for that OS.
The laundry not getting put away is totally me, though I donāt have much problem with my hair. 
I am going to try to aim for the hamperā¦ but no promises.
Just got back from my last CAP meetingā¦ it was so nice. I got some recognition and momentoes along with 2 other members who are also leaving for college, both on ROTC scholarships, for our years of service. Then we talked and laughed and ate cakeā¦ told other cadets in the squadron stories of the good olā days when we were airmen. Iāve got several people Iām going to stay in contact with. It was sad but nice too. Everything is changing so fast. But I am rather excited now!
Hi all, 2016āer mom here with a quick question. We are attending a going away party tomorrow for a young lady heading off to college in another state. We have already given her a gift card at the end of the school year as a thank you for tutoring my S and a graduation gift last year (she took a gap year). Iād like to give her a small going away gift but Iām drawing a blank on ideas. What kinds of gifts have been hits with your kids who are going away?
@albert69 - What a sweet last meeting. Youāve done amazing things through CAP, and I have no doubt youāll do amazing things in college and beyond!
@happymochi Thanks!
As for the gift - maybe a pen or a nice hairpiece? One of my best friends is a girl, and I got her a hairpiece that cost about $12. It was a decorated clip, sturdily built because sheās got really long, thick hair. Even if the girl doesnāt have long hair, there are some nice pin/clips/solid headband-like-things (not sure what theyāre called) you could get at a place like Icing for not too much money (I found a branch store at my local mall) that might work. Luckily the girl I know liked it. I looked like the proverbial bull in a china shop buying it (I had just come from a flight lesson so I came clomping into this dainty feminine store in my CAP uniform).
A gift card to an on or near campus eatery. My Sā12 used ALL the ones he was given.
I agree with a gift card for an eatery- Starbucks, Chipotle, etc.
@happymochi weāve been giving giftcards to the school store. Its a quick lookup to see what their school store takes.a lot are B&N. Some are not franchises. That with a nice handwritten note has worked for us.
Aaaand the complications begin.
We learned that my daughter will not be able to loft her bed, which is available for free in all the other dorms. She is in the ONE dorm that has built-in captainās beds. Crappy ones with only a nod to usable storage underneath - three small drawers. And one very small closet for both students. Apparently it was designed as a single, and later converted to a double (with the captainās beds) when enrollment increased.
Yeah, thatās going to work. My daughter needs a bigger closet just for her shoes.
The school requires a locking, armored trunk per student for storage of valuables, but there really is nowhere in the tiny room to store it.
Then we discovered that the classes the general enrollment counselor messed up her classes. She is pre-engineering, but she was signed up for the general bachelor of science freshman requirements, not the pre-engineering requirements. And she has three college English quarter credits from Running Start (she attended an accredited community college instead of her last two years of high school), but no one seems to know if that met the English Composition requirement for engineering, or if she has to take it again.
Arrrgh!
LOL, I am trying to get my son to bring shoes other than sliders and soccer cleats. There is no chance he will bring shoes, and I will do my best to convince him to bring sneakers.
And locked, armored trunk? Do they have master keys for all dorm rooms or something? I know they have bathrooms cleaned either daily or weekly at my sonās school (they must have at our school, for hall bathrooms anyway), but actually going in rooms without the studentās permission?
Thanks for the ideas! @albert69 @OHMomof2 @twogirls @MuggleMom
@rhandco , they assume that students will occasionally forget to lock their rooms, or leave the door open ājust for a few minutesā to go to the bathroom or something like that. The trunk is meant to be a safe place to store smaller stuff you donāt want walking away. The trunk in turn is locked to a desk leg that is attached to a wall.
Been getting my parents set up with gmail messaging and Skype. Hard to believe that I only have 1 more full day at home.
Despite being in a very rigorous program in a public HS, DS is one of the few kids he knows who are going away to college. If those kids had been asked a year ago if they would be in-state or out-of-state for college I suspect the majority would have said out, but a combination of too little advising and unrealistic financial expectations (the kids got into a lot of great schools, but just couldnāt afford them), made the Honors College at Ginormous State attractive to the majority and regular GSU or the other two state universities to most of the rest. I think DS would have been fine if the other kids were going away but as his friends all get ready to move into the dorms at GSU next weekend, heās a bit sad that heās not going with them. On the plus side he got his roommate and dorm assignment - finally - and was really pleased. His roommate is obviously incredibly smart and is from a nearby suburb, which will be convenient since he can borrow a car. Heās Middle Eastern so I hope someone in his family can provide a nice ethnic meal once in a while as a respite from dorm food. Two weeks, two days til he leaves, but Iāll hardly notice. I saw him this morning for the first time since Wednesday at dinner.