Just back from Disneyland. We gave daughter a choice …Italy, Caribbean, etc. She picked Disney 
. We called it the farewell to childhood trip and had a blast. (And 3 days probably costs the same as a week in Hawaii yikes). Signed her up for her own credit card yesterday. 29.99% apr !! so it won’t get much use, will link it to her Uber and pay it for her to build some credit. We leave four weeks from tomorrow. I’m dragging her to the gym with me every morning and she’s surprisingly agreeable. No ‘soiling the nest’’ yet. Kinda wish she would.
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Same with our S22. Over the course of his first two years I think he spent, maybe, $200-300. It’s the one item that has actually been less than what I spent on books 30+ years ago. A lot of kids just rent textbooks on-line (about $50) and quite a few professors give out a lot of free materials instead of relying on texts.
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I don’t want to overpromise, but I think I may be narrowing in on something. I need a little more experimentation time tonight but I am hopeful.
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Thanks for the dedication to the cause.
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S24 got his Dorm allocation and Move in date today. He got a single with AC in an ok dorm. He is happy about the single but I would have liked a double. I hope he does not feel too lonely. Getting a single as a freshman is rare where he is going so I was surprised. He moves into the dorm 5 weeks from today and time is flying.
I talked to him about what he needs for the dorm and he is like its not a big deal other than clothes, towels, sheets, pillow he does not have anything else on his list.
Me: do you want a mattress topper?
S24: Hmmmm, not sure.
Me: Do you need a fan or a air purfier?
S24: hmmm, may be a fan…
Me: Don’t you need a laundry basket and trash cans…
S24: May be…
Anything I ask he is like" Hmmm". I told him he needs to think about these things and he says what’s the big deal if he ends up needing anything he can always buy it later. He is still not realizing that he wont have a car and we will be very far away so it may not be easy to get things quickly like at home.
Will sit with him again this weekend and make him start writing a list.
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Same here but S24 is in a hall full of singles.
I told him he should make an effort to study outside of his room, as he would likely have if he had roommates.
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I need to check to see if this is a hall full of single or mostly doubles. Good suggestion to ask him to study out of the room or in the library to see if he will make friends that way.
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Tell him to look on tik tok for ideas, that might get him excited about it
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Check (or have him check) his college’s Residential Life webpages. S24’s college provides not only pictures of typical rooms in each dorm but also dimensions of each room and the furnishing provided. The school also provides lists of what students should and should not bring. S24 and I used his school’s list as a starting point.
We have acquired almost everything on S24’s personal list. What we do not have are items that he and his suite mates will share. He is in a two-bedroom, four person suite. He and his suite mates must stock and clean their bathroom. They need a plunger, toilet brush, cleaning supplies, and toilet paper. So far, they have not made any decisions about who is bringing what.
Our tentative plan is to move S24 into the dorm then take him to Walmart to get snacks, laundry soap, and anything else he realizes he forget. If there is anything he wants after that, he will either have to order it online or figure out how to get to a store that sells it.
you just described my life. LOL
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@RadM @national_delivery Same here… except we have ~8 weeks before move in.
At this point, I’m only focusing on stuff S24 needs day 1 e.g., twin xl bedding, towel/toilettries, and upgraded bike security stuff since UC Davis is so bike-centric and there is apparently so much bike theft!
S24 is now set up with Amazon Prime (student membership free for 1st 6 months and $7.49/mo after) for anything else. Stuff he needs (that we pre-approve) can go on our credit card; stuff he wants (vs. needs) go on his.
We/he will have a chance to move winter clothes either during Parents Weekend or Thanksgiving.
stupid question but I cant for the life of me get the answer… What is the advantage of them having their own prime account versus having them be an authorized user in mine?
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That’s a good question. I don’t have Prime membership, so our situation is different than yours.
The kids can get a discount if they use their .edu address. That’s it as far as I know.
(We had our D get prime when she was a student and shared her account).
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We are skipping Parent’s Weekend. DH is going early September for a game b/c they are playing his alma mater. Then the fraternity he is rushing is hosting their own parent’s weekend 9/20 and we were told this is much more fun, less chaotic than parent’s weekend that the university holds. I am excited because they are having a bunch of events at the frat house for the parents, a tailgate on Saturday before the game and we get to go to the game as well so I am really excited about that.
Hard to believe he moves in in three weeks and three days 
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I’m right there with you. I don’t even get a “Hmmmm.” Any mention of sheets or a fan or a sleep mask (good idea, right?!) is met with a version of “…but how are we going to get my kayak there?” Yes, because that’s what everyone headed off to engineering school needs. A kayak.
I like the idea of just focusing on what they need for Day 1. Which is August 9th for us. From the way he behaves you would think that’s August 9, 2025.
Honestly, if it were me I’d have a gorgeous dorm room totally planned out by now! Fingers crossed I have better luck with D26. 
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He is not much into Social Media but will suggest and see if this works.
Did not know about student discount for prime. We have one so probably will share that or have him open one and we will use it.
In regards to bike have you considered renting? If theft is problem renting may be better. We are planning to rent the first Sem and see how it goes.
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How does one make use of a kayak on campus? Or get off campus to use it without a car? It’s not like my S23 who (apparently) can take a surfboard on the bus (if you bring it to college). So isn’t the next question how are you going to take a car to college?
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Wow August 9th is closer than our move in date. Good luck. I think the suggestion of going with Day 1 items makes sense. But do keep in mind that that if its a big state school the first two weeks will be crazy and the school S24 will be attending told us to avoid shipping in the first two weeks as thing are still chaotic at this point. So you may want to get stuff needed for first couple of weeks if possible.
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