We have some session about safety and sexual assault the first night on campus. In addition to the blue light system, my college also has these keychain things that if you press it, it alerts public safety to who you are and your location. And they really drill the “if you see something, say something” idea. And just a lot of you are in a city, be alert, use the buddy system. My mom has never talked to us about date rape or rape in general. It is definitely a huge fear of mine, especially knowing the statistics are even higher for me as a disabled woman. Even going to a women’s college I worry. And I also worry about intrusions. There was one in one of the residence halls last year and it’s always in the back of my mind
@readingclaygirl I encourage you to take a women’s self defense class. If you can’t find one at your college or in your community you can buy a DVD set from Gracie Academy “Women Empowered” and learn the techniques on your own. You will need a partner to practice with. Both my daughters have/ are taking this class.
My D has on online sexual assault awareness course to take, and I think they covered the same material during orientation. She’s already had some exposure to drinking (thanks, prom!), doesn’t much like it, and knows what she can handle. Also, she has a black belt in kung fu, but hasn’t practiced it for a few years. She could probably still do some damage though.
We leave in 11 days. Rolling duffel bags came in the mail today and I realized that I bought the world’s most gigantic space bags and probably need to get smaller ones. Oh well. Her room is finally clean so at least it seems like it would be possible to pack if we ever get around to it (we’ll probably finish 3 hours before our flight).
It’s been an ongoing discussion in our house since middle school. I’ve hammered home what a serving of alcohol is, and how much a female about their size can drink in an hour and stay sober. I’ve talked a lot about the risks of getting incapacitated by drug or alcohol use. I’ve talked about how poorly the brain functions and you can’t will yourself to sober up, even if your brain is telling you you’re okay.
I’ve talked through some scenarios of having to babysit drunk or high friends. I’ve talked a lot about the buddy system, and sticking together, what to do if your friends ditch you, etc. I’ve given the kids options for what to drink when you don’t want it to be obvious that you’re not drinking or you are slowing down your drinking. Who can tell if you have a vodka and soda or just soda? We’ve also talked about how people nervous about making out or sex often use alcohol for liquid courage and the risk involved in mixing alcohol with sexual encounters.
We’ve had stuff come up in high school that proved to be practice runs for decision making.
Both kids have Uber accounts set up on their phone with a parent credit card. I told them to never make a risky decision because you don’t want to pay for a taxi or pay for an Uber. It’s on us. Safety first. Don’t worry about the money.
The drug and alcohol education course D16 was required to take online addressed not accepting drinks (& date rape drugs).
Sorry so long. I really like to spell things out with my kids and if they are squirming a little, but listening, I know I’m on target.
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As we are continuing the packing, just a reminder to bring a lightbulb for the desk lamp.
Those with sons, will they wear a robe to the common bathroom or just go in shorts or with a towel?
Has anyone bought a rain jacket for a guy?
Yes, DS bought a NorthFace rain jacket. He insists nothing special is needed (robe, etc) for the bathroom trek. Anyone found a manly shower caddy?
@psychmomma I bought a Columbia rain jacket at Cabelas for my son. Son helpful hints that I was told by a salesperson there were 1. Make sure that it’s waterproof and not water resistant , 2. Make sure the seams are sealed . 3. Make sure that the zipper is covered by fabric; otherwise water can get in around the teeth of the zipper . We are still looking for boots. Less easy for a boy than a girl. I don’t want to spend a lot of money because he probably won’t use them often.
@Cheeringsection I just bought an inexpensive black plastic one at Walmart.
My sweet girl purchased an LL Bean rain jacket at Goodwill for $3.00! She found out just how waterproof the jacket and pockets are when she mistakenly left the jacket out in the rain (a complete deluge) at camp. Her IPhone was in the pocket of the jacket and was completely dry when she retrieved the jacket. The jacket has so many pockets. My husband took her to Goodwill a few years back and it has become her mainstay. It is amazing how many name brand greats buys they’ve found there! (some with the tag still on them!).
Still haven’t picked up boots for my girl, though she does have some Dr. Martens that will work in the interim. She has a raincoat and umbrella, the coat might need to be upgraded once she actually has to deal with weather.
I’ve been working on the medicine kit. Followed the hint from others on here and picked up some .88-1.00 little bottles of ibuprofen, tylenol, etc. and then topped them off using corresponding meds from our giant Sams bottles. (Those little bottles hold a lot more than the 15-20 tablets they put in there!) They also had inexpensive knock offs of neosporin and hydrocortisone cream. (Bugs love to feast on my D.) Got a couple of the heat pads and realized I had some samples in my linen closet. Might as well send those along as well. If your child is on any type of maintenance medicine, you may want to remind them to use a drug interaction checker or feel comfortable calling a pharmacist or student health once cold and flu season gets here. I know there are certain cold medicines that don’t play nice with some medicines, or if they are on antibiotics those can negate other meds or there are things you shouldn’t eat/drink around the same time. All stuff we know, or may have read in that giant booklet that comes with a prescription, but perhaps our kids haven’t had to check on that before. Same thing with those multi-symptom cold medicines–I’ve always doled out those or a combination of single symptom meds when the kids get sick, now they are going to need to read labels to make sure they’re not doubling up on something. Again, seems like something that’s common sense, but it never hurts to throw a reminder out there.
Greetings from Nashville! We have a meeting at the business office this morning then some.shopping. the humidity is 84 %. I swear you can feel the air as if it’s 3D. D is happy to be here.
We’ve seen plain dark blue bath caddies at Target. We’re also big Goodwill fans here. My REI rain jacket is from there and is super sealed too. D has a North Face.
I’ll update again later!
So great to hear from you @sseamom !
Gotta love the humidity, @sseamom! :)) Especially when you check the temperature and think it’s nice. Like 75 instead of 90’s. But then you read that it’s 75 with a ‘real feel’ of 92. LOL My D is ready to head north!!
I got D16 the cutest little rain boots from Goodwill.
@sseamom I just got back from visiting my mother in Memphis and we could barely go outside because of the heat and humidity! I’m glad your D likes it there. I was happy to come back to CA with our much drier heat.
@Cheeringsection, I bought this shower caddy for my son 4 years ago in navy and it’s held up well. It looks like they’re having a sale right now:
http://www.saltwatercanvas.com/products/sale-mesh-shower-bag-black
Anyone have recommendations on towels?
@PAO2008, I used my $10 off coupon last year for “quick dry” bath towels from JC Penney.
@PAO2008 My towels are from Kohl’s I got them on 50% sale a couple weeks ago. I don’t know the brand but they are super soft and dry quickly
@PAO2008 I bought the Fieldcrest Luxury solid towels at Target on sale last week.