;)
December 15th, 2015
Wow, the time is just flying. It seems like it was not that long ago that once again it was time to get your kids ready for school and now it’s almost time for the holiday break.
Even for college, there are many trips to the stores for the usual supplies. The stores are always busy with back-to-school sales and a constant stream of kids and their parents or caregivers trudging along with questions like, “Do you really need that?” “Are you allowed to have that?” Or, “I didn’t see that on the list (of suggested supplies).” Or even, “That’s for older kids in high school—you don’t need that.”
With my own children, I found that the necessary school supplies for college are really not that much different than what was needed for high school. The cart is loaded with mechanical pencils, highlighters, paper, spiral notebooks—all the usual—which will go along with having their backpack, iPhones, earphones, water bottle, etc. However, they do not need Crayola crayons and Elmer’s school glue. I tried to put these items in the cart and my son, Casey, kind of looked and gave me the evil eye. I innocently said, “Are you sure you don’t need these?” I guess he doesn’t—he’s all grown up. Now, though, it’s an iClicker - a device used by professors for students to do homework, take tests and answer questions in the classroom. That’s kind of neat as long as it works, I suppose.
All the stuff that came back from his first year of college went back to Morgantown along with all that is needed to actually cook meals, wash dishes and, yes, clean his apartment. Last year in Casey’s dorm room, his bathroom was cleaned by a maid. This year, he is the maid. Or whatever the male equivalent of that is. So, on the suggested list of things to bring is granite top cleaner. Truthfully, I don’t have that in my house now, but he has that in his apartment. He has a washer and dryer and will be doing his own laundry this year. Yay!! I tried to assure him that this should be easier for him since he will not have to trudge home with his duffle bag full of clothes every weekend like he did last year. He is a double major in engineering, mind you, and when I was showing him what buttons to press on the washer and dryer his eyes were crossing. He actually asked me which one was which—not buttons—but which was the washer and which was the dryer. His father laughed out loud—this is going to be good!! I should have taken him seriously when he said washing clothes was going to be his biggest challenge this year. Oh my. And I was sure it wasn’t going to be long before his t-shirts were looking pretty grungy because he washed them with his jeans.
So, in two trips to Morgantown, I hauled carts of stuff and lined all the drawers, ran the new dishes through the dishwasher, finagled a regular-sized shower curtain to fit a much smaller opening for the shower stall, added cushions to a very austere/uncomfortable sofa and chair, and filled his cupboards and refrigerator with food. And Casey still had stuff left at home to take down, but he assured me he would put away his clothes, get the printer hooked up, the coffee pot plugged in and use a Brita water pitcher instead of tap water to drink. I haven’t been down to his apartment for quite a while but I am pretty sure it does not look the same as when I left it at the beginning of the semester.
While we were shopping, I would ask him what he would like to have for his apartment, he would tell me yes to this or no to that, and, even though he said he did not want this when we were shopping, I left a glass candy jar filled with M&Ms on his kitchen counter and I frequently send M&Ms to refill the jar. For him, a little touch of home.
