Hmmm…I’ve never heard of this fake wall thing, and now I’m curious. Any pointers on what to google for?
I flew to the US for DS’s move-in and convocation ceremony. He had flown over first for a pre-orientation outing, and I really wondered if it was necessary for me to go, but in the end I’m glad I did. He needed a bunch of things for his dorm room that he hadn’t been able to bring from home, so we had a good day shopping together, and then the convocation ceremony was very moving. It was also fun to watch him taking possession of his (tiny) dorm room space and starting to find friends among his classmates. I thought I would cry, but in the end I didn’t - he was just so happy, and, after all, this is the job we signed up for.
@dfbdfb I’d never heard of it either till I saw the picture - so not really sure what to google for. The one in the pic I saw looks like that smart stone cladding you often see around entries or fireplaces, but I guess it’s made up similar to how milgyfam described it. The poster had it all the way round her side of the dorm, one full wall and at least half of another, floor to not quite ceiling. It did look very pretty …
I’ve seen a few people putting up removable wall paper and murals in their kids’ dorm rooms on my fb/instagram feed. It’s supposed to not damage the wall when it comes down… no direct experience.
Yesterday was the first day of classes for D. I texted her in the afternoon to see how they went and she said everything was good except she is already getting sick. Ugh only 5 nights in and she is getting a cold! I know she has been going out with friends and staying up late so I told her she really had to take it easy this week if she wanted to feel better by the first football game on Thursday. Who knows if she will take my advice.
Sounds like she is having a good time. She said her hall gets along really well. One night a campus event had to be cancelled due to rain so the whole floor went to dinner together at a local restaurant. D and I still share an iTunes account so I can see all of her pictures. Makes me so happy to see pictures of her out having fun - she was so nervous that she would have a hard time meeting people!
@milgymfam That story about the girl in your D’s room was so crazy - I can’t believe she even thought that would be OK!!
I’ve finally read the pineapple thread (well, the first few pages) and anything I’ve personally seen so far pales into comparison.
@momtogkc it really wasn’t her fault. When she moved in they told her the wrong number room. She went back and told them the key didn’t work, and rather than sussing out the actually mistake they just assumed there was something wrong with the key and put in a maintenance request. Once my daughter unlocked the door and walked in on her it was a bit chaotic but she was very nice about the whole situation.
@milgymfam OK, that’s a totally different situation. I can see moving into a space which you honestly thought was yours, and then not really wanting to move after you have settled in. It is good that the there was incentive for the other girl to change back to her actual room, so everybody is now happy.
Not sure how best to support S19. He is in a dorm - not the best roommate situation, not horrible, but has resulted in him considering a fraternity (I’m not crazy about the idea, and I think once he understands more about that life he won’t be interested). Yesterday morning, a young man committed suicide in the Greek Village, with the rumor being something to do with hazing. The night before, S19 was at a party in the Village, and he is shaken - “It’s so sad…I’m just glad I wasn’t there.” My heart hurts for the poor family and my son. He is coming home for Labor Day weekend.
Oh @SammoJ , not a great start to your son’s experience all round. So sorry for you, it must be so worrying. Is the roommate situation not being sorted out? Can he switch rooms without having to consider a frat?
On another topic, I know a lot in my parents group like sending their kids insomnia cookies, but D19 isn’t within a delivery area (and the 3-5 day shipping option for what is supposed to be fresh cookies doesn’t excite me). So what I did is set up a food delivery app account that has D19’s address and contact details (she has to take delivery of food items personally at her dorm), and I plan to send her surprise yummy food every so often - starting with the dough jar cookie dough. If anyone has recommendations for other yummy and fresh treats (she’s in DC this year but any good chain recommendations welcome - there’s probably a few on the east coast I’m unaware of).
Related, if you send your students care packages, what type of things do you typically put in them? This is all new to me…!
Dropped S19 and, while I’m sad of course, I’m so excited for him! We have every reason to believe that Bowdoin will be a great experience for him. Dorm room is huge with big bedroom and a sitting room separate from each other. Big floor to ceiling window in the sitting room faces the woods and the organic garden. So pretty. Roommate seems like a really good match - athlete who likes to go to bed fairly early, not a gamer, and polite. His grandparents live nearby so that’s nice for S19 as well if they need anything. The president’s speech to the parents was moving and confirmed tha this is a very good fit for S19. Our goodbye was tear-free since we were really just so happy for him and the energy on campus was so positive. It was weird, though, to get on the plane and leave him behind.
They are hiking in the Maine woods until Saturday. Freshman orientation is Sun-Tuesday. He will meet with his adviser twice - once on Monday and then again on Tuesday to officially choose his classes. Class starts on Wednesday. Can’t wait to hear how his trip went!
@SJ2727 I love the pineapple thread! I would always laugh when I was dorm shopping with D and saw pineapple stuff. Care packages will be mostly food I think!
@milgymfam Oh, that makes more sense - I thought she just picked your 's room out of the blue!
@SammoJ So sorry about the roommate problems - hope you guys find a way to work something out!
@homerdog Congrats on the great move in! I remember those dorms, they were every nice. Did you get any great lobster rolls? I ave a few favorite places around there. 
I got a call from D this morning, her sickness was getting much worse. She was coughing, had a sore throat, the chills and a fever of 101.5. 
I finally got her to go to the clinic after class and turns out she has the flu!! Back in January she was in the hospital for 5 days with flu and pneumonia so I am so upset she has it again. That wouldn’t give her tamiflu because her symptoms started Monday so she is just going with advil, rest and lots of water. She already is feeling better tonight so hopefully it is just a very light strain compared to what she had last time.
Pre-O trip: check, and it did all the the things you hope a pre-O trip would do. She went hiking and rafting in WV, and came out with a set of friends to start the year with.
Move-in and drop-off: check, quite easy! Nice roommate, small room, and tons of fun. Convocation was a great end to this process for me, was amazing to look out over the freshman class of 488 and think about what they are in for. I was not sad to leave her, because it’s quite obvious that she’s in her right place. Would have been sad to take her out of there!
Orientation and register for classes: check, finished tonight with the big Freshman sing, and she got the 4 classes she wanted.
Classes start tomorrow morning!! Kenyon week 1 has been a huge success!
@SJ2727 There are a couple of Milk Bar stores in DC that will deliver through UberEats and Postmates. My daughter loves their cake truffles.
Well, after a few days of being relatively talkative and responsive, S19 has returned to form and responds to texts with “Good,” “yep,” “fine” and the ever popular thumbs up! I’ll try to catch up with him on the weekend and see how the first week of classes went.
@momtogkc Yep. We had lobster rolls! We had time on our hands so headed out to Boothbay one day and had some there. And then we found a cool place on the water near Brunswick for another awesome lobster roll. Had a great meal at Frontier in town and also had some great pizza in Freeport. We kind of ate our way through that part of Maine for three days. Lots of blueberry pie too. I’m still full. Lol.
I attempted to surprise my daughter with insomnia cookies last night as a celebration of her registering to vote. It backfired a bit. Ha! First she blocked the delivery driver on her phone because she thought the texts were spam. Then when we spoke and I spilled the cookies were a surprise she unblocked and called them back- but they were just letting her know they were behind schedule anyway; way behind schedule. They finally delivered a bit over an hour late and she had to stay up just to wait for them. Next time I’ll just electronically give her money and tell her to treat herself. No more surprises. ?
Glad to see mostly positive stories of drop offs!
We had a nice matriculation day ceremony yesterday. Big picnic on the hill, was quite nice. Very welcoming environment, ,and the kids seem very interesting and down to earth. Seems like a nice place for my son. He did a Pre-o program over the weekend and he’s meeting advisors and sorting his schedule out the next few days.
I wasn’t sad about leaving him there, but as an empty nester now I felt a little nostalgic for days gone by and had mixed feelings about moving forward with the next phase in my life. I’ve always enjoyed Fall and the excitement of going back to school, soccer season and all of that, so it feels quite weird not dealing with that. Still, proud of what my kids have accomplished and happy for the opportunities that await them.
Been lurking for a while but with all the move in stories thought I’d jump in. We actually dropped S off August 9, so it has been almost 3 weeks already! The first few days were rocky but he seems to have settled in well now. The reason he went so early is that his school has Autumn term–one class that meets 5 days a week, just frosh on campus and lots or orientation activities before the upperclassmen show up this Friday. A good way to ease them in, I think.
Back at home we have also been adjusting to just having our S21 here with us. And S19’s cat still seems a bit confused by his absence. I will be curious to see if S19 decides to bring the cat back with him spring semester (his school allows pets and he is in a pet-friendly dorm).
Of course now we are sitting multiple states away watching to see what Dorian will do! Two years ago the school evacuated for Irma but so far they don’t seem to think that will be necessary this time around.
Had a trip to the ER at 4am today with S19 - turned out it’s just a nasty stomach bug, but he’s still miserable, vomiting and has bad stomach pain. Any home remedies you know that might make him feel better? He is already taking and anti-nausea medication and Tylenol, don’t seem to help much. I’m just thankful right now it’s still 3 weeks until the drop-off.