I did that too! Homer the dog is going to college with S19. It’s a surprise. S19 doesn’t know.
@momzilla2D it was a Groupon deal. I can’t pass up sharing info on a deal. I paid more but I saw it for $10 afterwards. Also $ 10 for shipping once you order.
Just had a momentary freak out/laugh. Dh, whose out of the country for business just called and asked if S19 told me about the email he got. Dh was sort of laughing so I thought maybe it had something to do with S19’s roommate. S19 just found out late last week his dorm/roommate assignment and finally reached out via email but still hasn’t heard from his roommate.
Anyway, apparently S19 just got an email from the ROTC program letting him know what time to report next week for orientation. Well, S19 had no plans to do ROTC so freaked out a bit and texted Dh wondering what to do. Apparently when S19 and Dh went for accepted student day in the spring, they talked briefly with the ROTC coordinator and signed up for what he thought was just more info about the program, not to be IN the program. So while Dh is telling me this, I logged into S19’s school account and see he has another email from his academic advisor saying they had changed his schedule in order to have Thursdays off for ROTC. OH NO!
S19 is playing a fall sport and needed to have Fridays off to travel with the team. So the academic advisor changed his schedule all around (without talking to S19) which meant he had two Friday classes, both of which he’d have to miss every time he has to travel with the team. So S19 quickly sent an email to the ROTC guy explaining he can’t do ROTC. Then I had him call his academic advisor and explain what happened. His advisor said he thinks it shouldn’t be a problem to his classes back to the original schedule, but he will have to contact both professors today and will let S19 know the outcome.
I can’t believe he is a week away from leaving school and this is the first time he’s ever heard anything from the ROTC office. Had he not been playing a fall sport, his move in day would be about three weeks away. I would think for anyone doing ROTC they would need a bit more notice that their orientation and move in is next week!
And not to belabor the mattress topper topic, but since S19 is so fussy and doesn’t like memory foam, I decided I’d better open the one I got and let him sleep on it. Thank goodness I did - it stunk terribly! I ended up laying it out in the basement to air it out for a couple of days. If that didn’t help I was going to return it. It seemed to help so he slept on it last night and said it was fine. D17, who has memory foam, told me hers also smelled also when she first used it (different brand) but wasn’t too bad. Tomorrow I’m going to figure out how to wrap it back up for easier transport.
@homerdog S19 has to be in temporary housing for the first five days. I assume it’s because he’s there much earlier than official move in day and guessing they aren’t opening up most of the dorms until the week before the rest of the kids come. I just saw that his temporary housing is a single in 4 BR air conditioned apartment. Going to be hard to move into his non-A/C suite after that!
@4kids4us Ah! i get it now! Makes sense. Three weeks early is SO early! We have friends whose kids are playing fall sports (football, soccer, XC) and they are all just going one week early. And the ROTC thing!??? Holy cow. What a scare! Glad that’s working out!
@4kids4us what a week you’re having! It can only be uphill from here.
D19 is finally back home. I felt like the loving parent thing to do since she’s been gone so long was to clear the evening, but of course after two days of traveling, she just crashed.
Her layover was in Hawaii yesterday, so we finally spoke on the phone. Begged her to reach out to her Driver’s Ed driver to schedule her last road hours. Tried again when she was in LA. Driving home from the airport today, she tells me she was only able to leave a message. At home, the full truth comes out. She’d lost his number, so the message she left was with the main office. Had she told me yesterday, I’d have had this done since I was neither in the air or in a conflicting time zone. Now, I’m feeling a bit guilty about not being sad that there are only 10 days till drop-off. Might hit in October.
Well, I guess it’s time to start coming out of denial. This is really happening- though you wouldn’t know it. Very little anticipation or preparation going on over here - just enjoying each other and helping little sister complete a geometry course. DS doesn’t seem to have a roommate assigned - I’m more than a little bit concerned about that. I really hope this wasn’t the wrong choice of school. Been having a lot of doubts lately. Only time will tell I guess.
Day 1 of local shopping for Dorm Mountain is done! (Plus finally ordering her textbooks.)
D19 is kind of shellshocked at the startup costs involved in going to college, I fear.
D had her last gymnastics practice today. There were cookies and lots of silliness and a few tears. A friend who quit the team months ago and his job at the gym weeks ago came into practice anyway for her last day (the coach was kind enough to pretend he was supposed to be there)- she even got a new skill on her last day! Two weeks till drop off and tomorrow morning the wisdom teeth come out. Whew!
The dorm shopping is done, mostly, other than a couple of odds and ends she’ll need to check if she needs once she’s there. I snuck a packet of of shower bombs into one of the orders, and we’ll sneak some homemade fudge into her bags too. Credit card and new debit card organized. I’ve done a search on doctors in our network near her dorm and need to print that out for her - our insurance fully covers her anywhere in the US while she’s a student. Need to get the health POA done. And then before we know it, it will be time to go…
@milgymfam Hope the wisdom teeth surgery goes well today! Sending healing vibes!!
I’ve been popping in here every few weeks just to see how all of you are doing with the impending start of the next chapter - especially as my guys start late. I have to say that this version of CC is SO not user-friendly , especially as I have lost all of the threads that were so helpful during the application process, and NONE of it makes any sense to me. I cant even search for things that I had mentally bookmarked to return to. Before I fade off into oblivion, I want to wish you and your kids the very best for the new venture, and hope that every last one of their dreams comes true! I also wanted to ask if anyone knows how to access previous discussions about healthcare info access etc. Best wishes to you all!
We leave for Nashville one week from tomorrow! I’m not ready emotionally, but S19 has been ready to get out of here for months and have his independence. It’s strange to really accept that things will never be the same with him. I’m guessing he’ll be home during some summers in college, but I know he’ll look for opportunities to experience new things and internships away from home. He’s been doing much more with friends than he ever has so I’m kind of getting used to him not being here.
Almost all the dorm items have been purchased and are mostly organized - hoping it all fits in the car, along with our luggage. I’m glad that it will be a weekend of activities, rather than just dropping him off and leaving.
For parents of daughters who have some extra time (some sons may like this but not mine), I’ll share something I did for D17 when leaving her at college. I made a large envelope and decorated it. Inside I put a bunch of little notes that were labeled. I wrote most of them but put in a few funny ones from my husband and S19. Some example titles were to open “when you are going to a college party”, “when someone hurts your feelings”, “when you ace your first exam”, when you are doubting yourself", “when you’ve had a bad day”, “when you’re stressed”, “when you want a laugh”, “when you’re about to start finals”, etc.
I won’t do that for S19, but I’ll leave a couple of notes with cash surprises in his drawers.
@elena13 ok those notes are too cute. And I like the cash surprise thing too. I’ll have to figure out where to leave something like that.
S19 is also out so much, either at work or out with friends. We did just come back from a giant family vacation with 17 of my inlaws so we got to spend a good amount of time with S19 then. It was terrific. But now, his friends are starting to leave. Wash U and Vandy friends leave next week. I bet the next two will fly by…we leave two weeks from this Saturday.
Hehehe, S19 got an email asking him for permission to read an excerpt from his application essay during the orientation events. The excerpt talks about his family. Anonymously but it’s a small school and I think he’ll be easily identifiable, not that I mind having his classmates know some rather flattering things about us 
We’re going back to Bed Bath & Beyond this weekend to return much of D19’s stuff and reorder it for pickup at the local store in New York. Somehow we hadn’t focused on the fact that while one of us is moving semi-permanently, the other three of us are going to New York for a long weekend and need room for our stuff, too. The back of the car is spacious, but not that spacious.
Driving down a week from tomorrow. Really hard to believe.
For anybody who can shop at Target/ Target.com for their kid, here’s a 15% off tip. Set up a dorm registry on their website. Just by registering, you will get a coupon code emailed to you good for one in-store purchase and one online purchase for 15% off about a week after setting it up. I waited until I had a dorm address for my D, but you probably don’ t have to wait for that if you don’t already have it, you can add it later. I put a bunch of items D19 needs anyway on the registry. I’m probably going to the the only one buying stuff off of the list, but that’s okay. I already ordered a tool kit without the discount since when I put it on the list, it showed as something that would be discontinued soon. I really like that tool kit, so I just bought it to ship to the dorm address so it’s there for us to move in with next week. I already shop at Target a lot since I live almost next door to one, and have a Target Red card for another 5% off, and free shipping w/o a minimum. Without a Target CC the minimum is $35 for free shipping unless there’s a special offer.
So excited for all of you who are SO close to getting your kids to college. Even though we still have a little over a month and a half to go, hearing about all of you getting so close is making it real. I can’t wait to hear how everything goes with the flights, the driving, the packing, the pick up of stuff at Target and BBY. Good luck to all of you! This really is a big deal!!!
@elena13 - I love that note idea - I think I’ll ask DS’s Dad to do that with me.
@jellybean5 - great tip about Target! Thanks!
Major dorm shopping is done for me, too. Thanks to this thread. I ordered a 2” memory form mattress topper with all other basic beddings from Amazon. They will arrive to our hotel in 1-1/2 short blocks to campus before we check in. I also bought a “stackable” power strip tower and a bedside mesh caddy just in case there is no landing space for glasses, iPhone or iPad and a small waste basket. My son has a laundry backpack, a shower caddy and quick drying bath towels from summer camps. So, bed, shower, laundry, garbage and extension plugs are all set. He is still in an intensive summer camp in oversea and he has only 4 days until move-in day after he gets home so I am taking care of his dorm starting items. I realized some of dorm items, especially twin extra-long bedding, have been increased in prices in Amazon or “sold out”.
My son ended up having two roommates in double-occupancy room (with an extra bed). Those three are good friends from last year’s summer program. They are very excited and we are very happy to have a significant discount on dorm cost. I assume there will be only 2 desks in a room so I even didn’t order a desk lamp or those desk top items. They will figure out something to share and buy together. Very likely, they will stick together next year as roommates, too (two-year dorm is required) and even beyond ( a very small school) if they don’t get tired being together.
have not been on here in a long time. Every week I travel for work and its been crazy . I have been home for 2 days and now DS is pretty much packed into bins. He will mostly need winter clothes. In one week we drive from GA to DC. to pick up dD17 and go into her storage unit to get the mattress pad and comforter for DS19. She has a different bed this year, so he is getting hand me downs. (comforter is black). Then we drive in NJ for a family thing, and will be in Rochester on Monday the 19th. We will pick up some stuff from Target once there (fridge and other assorted stuff). The only thing that DS is concerned about is his computer and his two monitors. WE have big waterproof bins for my husbands truck. Last weekend we went shopping for brand new underwear and socks.
Good luck to everyone else. I think DS is ready to leave already.