Have her make you a Spotify playlist- not quite the same I know, but she can add songs to it while at school which could be fun!
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Itās all still very much in boxes, but hereās the āfanciestā image from their dorm so far. They thrifted that coffee table. 
Her dad and I are going to have pizza tonight and ignore the massive life change.
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That is a cozy space. I feel like Iām paralyzed right now because S24ās dorm has not been assigned yet and every dorm seems to have a different layout.
OTOH, I was just thinking how much more difficult it would be for when my D27 heads off to college considering she probably way more space considerations that S would need. Where to put makeup? Nail polish?
Boys are so simple. LOL
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At work yesterday, D24 asked if she could switch to a seasonal employee and come back to work at the holidays. The boss said yes; all D24 has to do is send an email in about it, which sheāll do today.
DHās sister and her 2 kids were here this weekend for a brief visit. It was nice that all of our kids got to hang out together. All of the kids (our 2 kids + SILās kids) get along well. Every visit, though, opens our eyes a little bit more to how different families can be sometimes with certain things. Like my SIL saying that maybe her 11th grade daughter āwill just grow out of the autism and ADHD and maybe by the time sheās in college, we wonāt have to deal with it.ā Umā¦what?!
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My kid got pertussis this spring, even though vaccinated. The urgent-care doctor said that vaccine wears off, too. Does a person get natural immunity from having it, or are they likely to just keep catching it unless re-vaxxed?
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We move into Phase 2 of the packing this week, when we move the bags from D24ās room to the living room to re-sort and double check and such, which will also allow her to clean her room and reset it before leaving so that when she returns it isnāt chaotic. We have a small home, no spare room or formal dining room, so things like this function a bit like one of the sliding tile puzzles - we will be moving around the college pile for about a week but itās the price we pay for having a small mortgage and almost paid off house, I guess! My kid is fairly minimalist, especially for a girl, if I base my comparisons on pics I see on social media - not taking any appliances, not a clotheshorse or shoe collector, she MIGHT take an unconstructed lego set but that would be the most āextraā thing sheād have. Fingers crossed it all fits in the outback! (we do have a roof carrier to borrow if needed, too.)
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Weāre going to try to make it with a Mazda5 (four people so the second row seats are up), a bike rack, and soft roof carrier.
And I am confident we can! I havenāt told anyone this, but I am secretly hoping we will not even need the roof carrier. Not least because we have had new bulkier but not Day One necessity items direct shipped. And hopefully that folding wagon arrives on time . . . .
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Definitely helps that we rented the microfridge - yes it costs more to rent, but it was worth not having to lug/store/move the thing (and only way to have a microwave, which she wanted to have.) We have the room to fold down half of the backseat as we are leaving little sister back home at a friendās for the move-in. We actually just picked up an extra bag, as a visitor to a family friendās cabin forgot a backpack and it turns out they live across the street from the Target nearest the college, so I offered to return it and save the family friend the hassle of trying to ship a packed backpack! (and secondary benefit would be to connect with someone local in case of emergency.)
Oh, and we donāt have a wagon, but we have a dolly/cart that my husband uses in his business that folds very flat (and he uses it cart mode most often to move gear) so we are tucking that in as well.
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We are direct shipping a beverage fridge that actually cost less than a similar one-year rental. I donāt actually want to buy a new one each year, but still, there are some interesting economic incentives going on.
No freezer or microwave but S24ās room is like three doors away from the floor kitchen. Of course I then wondered why we were doing this at all, and I was informed beverages are special and must be kept close at hand and secure from roaming gangs of beverage thieves . . . .
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With the combination of coupons and target rewards, we got a Whirlpool mini fridge for a grand total of $43!
Pretty sure we need some kind of carrier now for our car so that we donāt have to take two cars to Maine. Any recommendations for a soft carrier? We have a Toyota Highlander with roof rack.
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We bought a cheap one off Amazon like 8 years ago for under $30. Iād describe it as weather resistant but not necessarily entirely waterproof (once through a bad storm we got some dampness). Downsides include not being good for MPG and it can be a little noisy, although it helps to pack it pretty full and put a twist into the tiedown straps.
The modern equivalent would be something like this:
https://www.amazon.com/Rooftop-Cargo-Carriers-Car-RoofBag/dp/B01MRP9LCW/
Or this for a little more:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CLLM91F1/ref=vp_d_vp_d_fuw_pd_pd?th=1
I note the second one seems to imply you should not use these with cross bars set closer than the bag can fit inside. We do it all the time, you just need to make sure it goes over the BACK cross bar, not the front one.
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Ugh I had pertussis! Itās terrible. I caught it from a child in my daughterās preschool class when she was little.
There is some natural immunity but like the vaccine, it eventually wears off. You need a booster at some point.
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So we bought S21 a mini fridge and it has become our albatross. Keeps getting moved from place to place and not used after the first semester until he finally was able to ship it home. No one wanted to buy it since post COVID the school put fridge mircowave combos in all the dorms! Renting is totally worth it so you know it will be gone at the end of teh year!
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Some more adulting today. D24 had to return a phone call to the dentistās office to confirm her appointment for tomorrow a.m. She said, āI HATE phone calls like that!ā 
Welcome to Adulting, kiddo.
She also finally looked up what her mailing address will be at college. And after nagging from yours truly, she called the student life/mail room people to confirm what date she can start having mail and packages sent there. Mail Room Lady said she can basically do it right now. So I think that we are going to buy the dorm fridge online from Walmart or Target and have it shipped to campus.
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Yep, my school includes the micro fridge as standard furnishings - I wish more did that, the rental fee is great to avoid moving and storing (seriously, we live small in 1000sf) and feels a little more sustainable to me, too. Add the 150pp to room and board, no one would notice, and everyone would rave about the āfreeā fridge (like they do āfreeā laundry and āfreeā parking, etc.)
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Thank you @NiceUnparticularMan!
@snappity207 totally agree about rolling everything in. My daughter has to pay three dollars per load of laundry. Roll it in! Unless itās a deterrent to do excessive loads, in which case charge them.
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Yup, I am happily paying a premium for the fridge fairy to drop one off and then take it away in May. No schlepping, no storing. Worth it.
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~2.5 weeks before move-in left. S24 is saying goodbye to most of his friends this week, including his GF of 6 months who is going out of state for college. My usually stoic son is giving a hug twice a day so I know heās getting emotional.
I plan to cry it out a few days before he leaves so that I am not a mess during move-in.
I managed to do that with my older one and it worked.
Dear Husband will shed tears for sure 
so no point in saying anything to him.
How do you all manage this?
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First time so I am not sure, but I will guess āpoorlyā. My sleep is definitely off, I am moodier than usual, just lots of little indications of emotional stress. Which I do not find at all surprising and I am just going to ride through it as best I can.
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We have a running family joke from a time we picked the kids up from camp one year. The camp had laid out a big spread of food for everyone. We each ate a āfreeā banana. So now whenever we experience something similar, itās āfree bananas!ā
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