@yucca10 That’s awful - unfortunately, other than downing lots of gatorade or pedialyte to keep hydrated, I can’t think of anything other than what you’re already doing. 
It is good, at least, that it’s happening now and not after move in.
@yucca10 Peppermint can help calm the stomach and also make the mouth taste better after vomiting. We usually save some candy canes or mints from restaurants for this purpose. Other than that no food, to let the stomach rest? Glad he’s still at home and not dealing with this during the early days of college.
DH heard from DD this morning (it’s his birthday). The last we had heard was on Monday (her birthday) and it left me feeling uneasy because it had been a hectic, not so fun day for her and she was glum. And her IG post was all about missing her cats and her boyfriend and too much homework and not caring about her classes and no free time and just wanted to come home. So I worry. But as she’s told me countless times, she is dramatic and sometimes she just has to do that and really she’ll be fine. DH reports today that she is doing great.
@yucca10 , ugh. I’m sure you know, but stay away from dairy till the bug is gone. Second gatorade. And chicken broth. Good luck!
@yucca10 - I once tried apple cider vinegar for a stomach virus symptoms. My 81-year-old dad who is in great shape thinks it cures everything. While I don’t agree with that, it did seem to help with the vomiting and nausea. Sorry he’s so sick!
I flew with S19 to drop him off. Everything was smooth. Beautiful campus. He and his roommate has the largest room in the building even though it is by a few sq feet. That will keep S19 in good mood for at least a couple weeks I think. We went to Target, and I have never seen a Target in such a disarray. All the back to school/college shopping must have taken quite a toll. They were out of tissue boxes and paper towels. lol. He is well settled.
I am very sad though. ;-(
@payn4ward what city? Target in DC was a total shambles on D19’s move in day, clearly filled with parent-and-freshman pairs. At least one other college had move in the same day. I guess they prep as well as they can, but it’s always going to be crazy.
@eh1234 thanks for the rec! For some reason the dough jar delivery fell through, so I quickly replaced with milk bar. That was a big success! Photo of a big smile and reports of “tastes amazing”. As @milgymfam noted, timing from afar is not easy. I thought I’d better warn her when the order got picked up - she’d just been about to shower! Will have to find a balance between good surprise and bad surprise factors!
D19 doesn’t have class on Fridays, so her first week of classes is done. Sounds like she is really enjoying the course, and the experience in general.
Although the roommate situation is blah, S19 is loving his classes. “Accounting is amazing!” said no one. Ever. Except my son. And he has an “Experimental Music” honors class that is taught by an accomplished musician (written up in New York Times). The class (12 of them) get to perform what they create at a music festival later this fall - excited to see!
So glad to read all the stories of those first college days!
Happy to hear about a few more good move in days. Target by Tulane was wiped out as well - not even a hair dryer in sight, BBB wasn’t so bad.
There was a freshman suicide at Tulane yesterday - so devastating.
Re: care packages…I mailed one out today that had homemade brownies that I then froze, then mailed. It will be delivered Wed; I will let you know the results. Not the best timing on my part to send them out on a holiday weekend but I guess I’ll see if they are still good, they could definitely handle a normal priority ship mail time! I also stuck some practical things in there like some cards, his spare car key and a photo…he didn’t take a single photo with him!
My D is across the country and I’ve sent her UberEats cards via email. Just make sure your kid knows where the Uber pickup spot on campus is, if there is a designated one. I’ve also sent more non perishable stuff that she likes like certain snacks from Trader Joes.
When I was a new freshman my dad sent me HUGE trays of brownies from some bakery he must have received a mailing from. This was actually a good way to meet my hall mates, taking those extra brownies around.
@TS0104 I’ve sent homemade cookies to my college kids a number of times. I do freeze them right after they’re baked and until ready to ship, use usps prepaid boxes, and try to send early in the week to avoid weekends. The recipients have never cared if they were slightly less fresh or a bit crumbled, they’ve just been thrilled to get something from home.
@momtogkc - That’s awful. So hard to imagine that at any time, but especially at the start of college.
My S19 got his first care package today and I was surprised to get a nice thank you text. I included a couple of things he needed (more face wash etc.) one of his favorite snacks (combination of honey roasted peanuts and raisins) and some homemade cookies. I know he won’t eat many of the cookies since he has been eating super healthy and also vegetarian since starting school, but at least he can share with his friends. My D17 loves when I send her my homemade chex mix and pumpkin bread.
Thanks to everybody for the advice - S19 slept about 16 hours and feels mostly fine today. Also today old friends called and invited themselves to spend a week with us as houseguests right before we’re leaving for college. Well, I guess they’ll just have to put up with all the last-minute craziness!
So sad to hear about the two suicides here. I can’t even begin to imagine what the parents must feel.
All is going really well with D19. The most shocking part of this transition for us is her lack of communication. That I miss! I’ve texted her and her answers are brief, like three words if I’m lucky. Last night my husband & I made her have an actual conversation on the phone with us. It’s been 10 days! We wanted to know about her classes and how she is adjusting. It was reallyl nice to hear her voice. She was happy & enthusiastic. She likes her classes and professors. She sits in either the front or 2nd row. Last night she had dinner with her mentor (her Women s Leadership Program matches them with an older student). She likes her a ton. This afternoon was the large activity fair. She was very excited for that. She has her eye on several clubs. I heard lots of voices in her room. We told her we could call her later once her friends left. She said no need, it was just her door open and as kids walked by they were saying hello to her & her roommate. So it was a great phone call. I just hope she’ll text a little more often with details. She might not need to do that but I would love it if she would. It would help MY transition. It’s funny because S16 has always been great with communicating. I guess I have been lucky for the last 3 years. Even this year he continues to keep in touch alot. He even shared his Google calendar with me - and I didn’t even ask him to do that! But I am glad he did. I know when he is in class (He has 5), at his work study job, at his intern job in Boston (20 hours each week) and at club meetings. I am super fortunate he does that. Plus I know when to not text him by looking at his calendar. I would love D19 to do that eventually.
Well, we get on the plane tomorrow. Oddly, the whole family is scattering at the same time. S19 and I head to the east coast where he starts college and then I am off for a month of work-related travel. H heads off to see his folks for a month. D16 returns to college. The house is abuzz with frenetic energy.
We had dinner with friends tonight and S19 said his goodbyes to his long time coach. Tomorrow we see more old friends and do the same. This feels kind of awful and sad. However, we have already done this with the 2 older kids and though it feels like a ‘goodbye’ now, I know that this is a temporary feeling. We’ll see S19 again soon enough and the sting that comes with ending this phase of parenting will fade. Nonetheless, right now my stomach is on a roller-coaster.
One weird thing that has happened since S19 left is that I also miss D16 more! We FaceTimed for an hour yesterday.
I may go to H Mart today and get S19 some of his favorite snacks that he probably can’t find near campus. I thought about baking cookies, but he’d probably prefer those weird lychee jelly cups. He wouldn’t let me buy him anything for his room, so I left him with a bag of trail mix, a Brita pitcher and an espresso machine. I imagine he’s putting $8 a day into a vending machine.
After spending orientation week checking out some parties, S19 was spending his second Friday night in a practice room. I guess that means he had his first private lesson and was officially informed about his professor’s practice expectations!
S19 moved in two weeks ago and just finished his first week of classes. It took till Wednesday or Thursday of this week to get all his class and ensemble placements in order (music major) and get a final class schedule in place but he’s happy with it now. Doesn’t seem to know he should be upset about 8am classes. Likes the classes, even seems happy with the freshman English class. Likes all the professors, surprisingly. He’s really happy, except…
By the middle of this week he was quite sick with a high fever and nasty sore throat. I’ve been sympathizing with all the other parents of sick kids here on CC. He got in to student health and was diagnosed with strep in spite of a negative rapid strep test, and given amoxicillin. He started the antibiotics yesterday morning and is experiencing the miraculous cure today. Parents are relieved.
He has kept in touch much better than I expected. It’s making this empty nest thing easier to handle.
Best wishes to all of you with upcoming move-ins.
@SJ2727 We went to a Target in Towson, Baltimore County.
I had thought about ordering things for “Pick up at Store” at Target and BBB. We did find everything we needed and were not in time crunch, so it worked out fine without pre-ordering. We also ordered computer related things and shipped them to the dorm and the dorm mail room was convenient and efficient.
I am glad that they are transitioning to free laundry. The laundry machines need card swipes but the student card comes loaded with laundry money. Laundry was also free at UT-Austin dorm for S17.
D19’s dorm has a swipe laundry, but the swipe part doesn’t work. I think laundry should just be included, personally. She has to wait till she has the time and ability to go and source a bunch of quarters, after loading her laundry money for the semester into her swipe card before going to school, which is why she hasn’t done laundry yet. Ha.
She has a tentative class schedule as of last night. The advisors talked her out of a couple of the courses she had pre-chosen, which would be fine except the ones they talked her into are in waitlist status. She’ll be in a hold pattern for another week or so to see if they open for her (she’ll go during that time) and have to rework the schedule on September 9/10th if they stay full.
Her shins are not loving the third floor dorm room- she’s had chronic shin splints for years- but overall she’s happy with her school and has made friends… and is ready for “summer camp” to end and classes begin. She misses working out especially since the gym hasn’t been open except to varsity athletes and club teams don’t start for three more weeks. She ubered to a gymnastics workout once, but that is all that fit into the orientation schedule (plus the Uber made it very expensive). She’s a work out six days a week gal, so once she can get into her class and workout routine she’ll fell completely settled.
I agree that laundry fee should be just included in boarding and it should be free to students to encourage better hygiene. 
Never heard of doing frivolous laundry because it is free. lol