Although there were pediatricians at the Keller Hospital at West Point, they provided care for the children of military families on post, not cadets, who were considered fully emancipated adults, regardless of age, and who were taped, weighed, poked, prodded, tested, squeezed, and jabbed regularly. Cadets received top-notch medical care compliments of the Department of Defense which also included being randomly and routinely awakened in the middle of the night to supply urine for drug testing. Sleep has never been a high priority for the Army.
We moved to Arizona when our son was two and began care with with an excellent pediatrician. That is, until he faked his own kidnapping. Instead of trying to find another, we just asked our PCP if he’d take on our son’s care, and he did.
The “found” article is from 2018. Under the headline it states: " On Oct. 12, 2018, he went missing again."
Further down: "Then came Oct. 12.
Salerno, 61, left his home in the Moon Valley area of north Phoenix and hasn’t returned.
For the third time, his family and law enforcement are concerned for Salerno’s well being."
At the end of the article: " Salerno had been listed among the thousands cataloged on the federal government’s database for missing and unidentified persons, www.namus.gov. His profile has since been removed, but his whereabouts remained unknown as of Tuesday.
His missing person’s case is listed as a “check welfare” and not as a more suspicious or high-priority search, according to Sgt. Vince Lewis, a Phoenix police spokesman. As with past incidents, there are concerns about his mental well-being.
“He may shy away from law enforcement if contacted,” Lewis said.
Salerno was last seen driving a 2001 Ford Explorer Sport with Arizona license plate CAE1773. He is described as being 5 feet 11 inches tall and 250 pounds with long brown hair that he usually keeps in ponytail.
Authorities ask anyone with information to call the Phoenix Police Department at 602-262-6151 and refer to case number 2018-1814745."
So I’m not sure what happened after December 2018.
does anyone have experience with kids who have mental health concerns or just started medication going far from home and any support plans or systems you put or helped put in place?
If your child is still on your insurance, make sure you keep track of the date you need to send documentation so that you don’t get charged for the school insurance.
Your student’s school will provide a list of what to bring and what not to bring that will give you a place to start; it’s important to pay attention to their guidelines and aspects such as what kind of electric or extension cords are allowed or encouraged, and what size sheets to purchase (typically Twin XL, but schools vary).
College mattresses are not great, so a 2-3" mattress topper is helpful and not just a luxurious extra. I got this, and he likes it a lot but there are lots of options out there. (You still need a mattress pad to go on top of the topper, for comfort and for being able to wash it.)
He used the 19 gallon zip up blue bags as storage and organization bags in his room, and uses a bag for laundry as it’s easier carrying that to the laundry room than a laundry basket/tub/hamper.
Over the door shoe holder type thing is useful for putting on the outside of a wardrobe if they’ve got one, for holding everything from hats, to tea, toiletries, etc.
We fit all of this into a hatchback with the seats down. (He was bringing a LOT of outdoor gear so that also took up a decent amount of space, and a guitar in a hard case!).
How much clothing to bring is so personal. We did leave his wool sweaters and heavy jackets at home, with the plan that I brought them out with me at parent’s weekend in October.
This is 100% correct. Psychiatrist here. I will add that these illnesses often go undiagnosed for one year or more because students self-medicate with cannabis. The stress of moving to college for the first time combined with genetics can bring about the first onset of symptoms. Students may not feel comfortable disclosing to their friends that something is off. Parents are not around to observe these subtle changes so it is really hard to identify right away. Glad your son is ok.
If you have a place in your home for it, use it as a staging area over the summer for things you will need to take. This allows you to keep a visual check on how much room you have in car if you’re driving/how much to ship. It also allows you to see your progress.
You may also want to join a FB Buy Nothing page as there seem to be a lot of things, like lights, bed pockets, etc that others purchased and didn’t ever/no longer need.
And do NOT unpack mattress topper from original packaging. It will never be that small again!
After my daughter’s first year, when she took way too much stuff, we told her the rule was she had to be able to fit everything into her Ford Fiesta because we wouldn’t pay for storage over the summer again! That worked well.
Anybody used a company called storage scholars to manage the ‘stuff’? Looks like you can ship it to them (and have any online purchases shipped to them) and they deliver it all to the dorm on move-in day. We will be going cross-country no matter what school she picks, so it seems like a great plan to me but….? All of my Ds schools are on their list of partners.
This is a great question for the parent facebook group for the final school. I am sure you will get great feedback and guessing not all locations of this vendor are the same.
Move out, store, and deliver to new dorm can be a helpful service for summers if affordable, but sounds unnecessary for a first time move in.
If the school is a plane flight away, and you are accompanying your student, you each check two large duffles, plus each have a carryon, and any remaining items you ship (Amazon delivery day) to your hotel or an Amazon hub, or buy when you get there (try to identify Targets that are farther from campus but driveable for you in your rental car, as the nearby Target will be picked over). I strongly advise not to overpack or overthink the little things. I cannot overemphasize, less is more :). Plus, there’s Amazon Prime for anything needed later.
You might want to hold off until you find out how move in works are your kiddos school. At my D’s school you pull up at an assigned time and upperclassmen volunteers empty the car and bring the stuff to the room where it is waiting for you when you get there. And depending on the move-in time you’re assigned you don’t always have a lot of time to get unpacked. I would not want to rely on a company to be there at just the right time.
D goes to school 1200 miles from home. Her freshmen year we flew Southwest and took advantage of the free two checked backs. We brought clothes and bedding I wanted to wash and some other personal items from home. Bigger items we bought online and did in-store pick up for them once we got there. We bought the majority of her stuff once there at Target, etc.
This year she moved into an apartment and I ordered a lot on Amazon and had it sent to a pick up location and we picked it up once in town.
It all takes some organization and coordination but you just need to keep telling yourself that as long as they have clothes, bedding, shower gear and school supplies, they will survive for a few days. We made 2 Amazon orders before we left campus for things we’d forgotten. And you can even Door Dash from most major stores if you need something fast.
just looked up one of my daughter’s schools and the quote for summer storage was approx 35% more with this company not counting the extra month you have to
pay to meet their 4 month minimum
Also, most colleges will let you direct ship and either will be in your dorm room
or at the mailroom - so looking more at their website - not sure why you would pay a middle man. we just checked items on the plane and each of us had 2 free checked bags = 6 bags, shopped at target near school and direct shipped other items. The tote a ton Samsonite duffels available on Amazon worked great, easy to
store in the dorm room
and then use to pack up for summer storage.
Don’t forget the zippered mattress encasement for that used mattress. Also, there tends to be confusion about the difference between a mattress pad and a mattress topper. The pad is the fitted (and often quilted) protector that most people use as a layer between their fitted sheet and mattress. The mattress topper is to make up for the hardness of the dorm mattress.
At all of my kids’ colleges you could send to the mailroom provided it’s not too far in advance, but good luck getting your stuff on move in day, and if possible, the mailroom could be on the opposite side of campus as the dorm. We used 3 ikea blue bags as checked luggage, plus carryons, order ship to store at BB&B on the way from the airport to campus (gone but target might offer it). Student helpers were definitely hit or miss depending on school and dorm (and not during COVID).
