<p>“He pressed about 30% of the shirt (didn’t touch the VERY wrinkly sleeves) and said “good enough”.”</p>
<p>He’s got a bright future ahead of him with the federal government or with a pothole-patching crew in Chicago.</p>
<p>Oldfort, yes. The straw that made me start that thread was my 14-year old daughter running late for some casual event (sleepover, pool party, something like that), and she was running around the house in a panic. While gathering her things, she tossed me an ever-so-slightly wrinkled t-shirt and said “PLEASE, iron this for me!!” Who am I kidding? She didn’t really say “please.”</p>
<p>It was a good thread. I always wondered if apples fell far from the tree.:)</p>
<p>Packing is not an issue with us. DD1 is taking an Escalade ESV’s load of stuff to college including 8 cubic feet of food, 6 cf of architecture supplies, 2 cf of makeup, 8 cf of personal care products, a fridge, clothes, clothes, and more clothes, and so on. </p>
<p>Selected items include Costco warehouse sized containers for coffee cream, shampoo, detergent, and enough other sundries to last her thru grad school. </p>
<p>Her Tiger mom seems to think (as I posted in another thread) that she’s going to attent BioSphere II University so she needs everything possible available from day 1. Thankfully her dorm room has lots of storage…</p>
<p>Everything has been packed in moving boxes and is ready for the 200 mile drive…</p>
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<p>There’s no need to rub it in my face, fendrock :-). (See you on the 22nd??)</p>
<p>My “issues” (like we have all day, people) aren’t that I’m going to overpack … that’s not a concern at all … nor is it some fear that the kids will be in locations where they can’t easily obtain anything they need. Both are going to schools in locations that have easy access to shopping, and in the case of S who is staying in our metro area, I could easily bring something to him, no big deal. It’s more that in a weird way, I like to do it. I liked packing their suitcases when they were little and we went on trips. Don’t ask. We all have our thing.</p>
<p>PG…I totally understand. I actually never packed my kids’ bags on vacations (but I made sure MY bag had essentials in it). However, when DD went into the Peace Corps…and had quite the restrictions on sizes and weight for her luggage, I DID help pack (and she really appreciated it). BUT she asked for the help. </p>
<p>There has to be a compromise plan here…they pack some and you pack some. That way everyone gets a piece of the action (and the responsibility).</p>
<p>I used to pack for my girls and myself whenever we went on vacation, until one time I packed 10 pairs of underwears for D2 and none for D1, then I was officially relieved of my duty. After that, D1 supervised D2 on packing until she went away to college.</p>
<p>I am sick of waiting for her to pack so I am doing it today. (Everything but her clothes…I’m not that crazy) Because of her obligations and my obligations we will be together about 30 more hours before we pull out Wednesday morning. I got all over her yesterday (not usually my character…but everyone has a breaking point 
) and she admitted she has the ability to do it, but she would just rather I do it. Fine with me. Although I can already hear it…“mom…you didn’t pack _________” I already warned her…I don’t want to hear it.</p>
<p>My youngest D is a last minute person. I bit the bullet and tried not to nag her about waiting until the last minute to pack it all when she left for college. She did start organizing early–what would be organizing for her, i.e., putting everything she was taking into a pile on the floor of the family room. Of course her stuff stayed there until the day before she left! It was all I could do to NOT pack it all up for her. </p>
<p>Four years later–she hasn’t changed. She’s moving to Philadelphia August 31st and still hasn’t organized herself. There are boxes of stuff that we hurriedly packed up after graduation that she hasn’t even opened. It’s really hard if you’ve got a different style of organizing than your kids. Plus, you soon realize that even if they’re not living at home anymore–their “stuff” seems to be around forever.</p>
<p>I staged my S’s stuff for college by laying everything out in the guest room, by category. That way, he could see what he had, I could make sure it was all clean, etc. He made the decisions about what to actually take. Rejected items were put back in his room. </p>
<p>So we found a middle way that helped assuage my anxiety. :)</p>
<p>like many others on this thread, my packing personality clashes with my younger daughter (the one that is starting college this year)…it has literally kept me from sleeping through the night the last three weeks…</p>
<p>I am a planner and I never leave anything until the last minute…</p>
<p>D2 is the opposite; would have left it until 3 days before if she didn’t comment about the bags under my eyes…</p>
<p>“Ok, mom…I’ll start…not for me, but for you”…</p>
<p>Sleeping through the night is so underrated…</p>
<p>Wow, what a difference a year make. Last year, I was certifiably nuts. Son is now starting sophomore year and the only thing I have done this year is drive him to BB&B and Target. My only suggestion at Target - “Would you like some duct tape?” Of course, I am doing laundry and looking at the University bill, but it is SO much better at our house this year.</p>
<p>“It’s more that in a weird way, I like to do it.”</p>
<p>If you liked Big Macs, you might get heavy; if you liked to drink, you might lose your job or get a DUI. What’s the worst that can happen to somebody with your compulsion? A severe case of Packrat’s elbow?</p>
<p>BerneseMtn - I’m with you! Last year at this time, I had the entire living room filled with “must-haves” for my freshman son, whose college is, fortunately, only a one-hour drive away. Bed-risers, enough pharmaceuticals to supply the entire dorm, extra printer ink, a surprise photo collage of my son’s high school major events (which he made me take back home because it was so…high school), everything I could find on every CC packing list ever written - you name it, I packed it.</p>
<p>This year- nada. He was so disorganized in packing up to move home (he ignored my requests to start moving things home over spring break EXCEPT for one 6-inch frypan), when we packed up our compact cars to capacity, four huge boxes remained on the sidewalk. I was about to tell him he was going to have to come back up for another load (150 miles roundtrip, gas at his expense), that this is what happens when you don’t plan ahead, etc. etc., when one of his future roommates happened to stroll by, who mentioned he had rented a storage unit for the summer. Talk about serendipity!</p>
<p>I walked away while the boys emptied the cars, grabbed some boxes and took off for the storage place. I have no idea what went to storage, nor, I’m sure does my son. So this frees me from the responsibility of making a packing list. He’ll bring what he packs, be surprised when he gets to the storage unit, and figure out the rest.</p>
<p>PG, you can come organize me (closets, garage, “junk” room) anytime!</p>
<p>Top Ten Ways You Know You Have a Suitcase-Packing Problem:</p>
<ol>
<li>You canceled your gym membership because it’s more fun to just stay at home and lift suitcases filled with heavy objects.</li>
<li>Your favorite role-playing game with your spouse is “the Stewardess and the Skycap.”</li>
<li>You named your twins American and Tourister.</li>
<li>You teared up during the scene in “the Hangover” where they argued over whether the shoulder bag was a man purse or a satchel.</li>
<li>You quit your consulting job to work as a baggage handler at O’Hare.</li>
<li>Your naughtiest daydreams involve Angelina and Brad reclining on a luggage rack.</li>
<li>You DVR “Deal or No Deal” because of the cute metal suitcases.</li>
<li>You asked your local luggage store to install a dimmer switch on their lighting so you’ll have an appropriately romantic atmosphere when you shop there.</li>
<li> The last time a TSA agent asked you if you packed your own bags, you kneed him in the groin.</li>
<li>You hide a stash of Samsonite catalogs under your mattress.</li>
</ol>
<p>Schmaltz
I don’t know what your day job is, but you are definitely one of the most humorous in the CC community. I can just see a book, with chapters on packin, move-in day to K, college,…</p>