Why do freshman parents hang around at drop off?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm a dinosaur. In the early 90s my parents helped me pack my car and i drove 15 hours to college by myself. DS is a rising senior and our oldest. I would imagine the parting won't be quite as extreme as I experienced!

In 1987, I loaded my car and drive myself to college, too. Hugged my mom on the porch, got in the car, and pulled around the block to the gas station to fuel up. Then I put my head on the steering wheel and bawled for 10 minutes. I called my mom from a pay phone when I got to school. I cried for another 10 minutes when I hung up. After that I had a blast!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
LOL. The "parent orientations" are set up precisely so the colleges can force the crazy parents who can't let go to separate from the kids. They're useless otherwise. We never attended any of them.

We feel the same way with the “parent weekends”. We visited on our way to a vacation on a non football weekend about six weeks after fall began. She was proud to walk us around campus and loved we bought lunch for a grateful poor kid. We also did a bit of grocery shopping. Her and her roommates were not social and barely connected. [b]We NEVER once met their parents. [/b]

Those weekends just seem like forced fundraisers with their games and movie on the lawn. We are not football fans at all. It was quieter in town. We didn’t have to wait for a table. Much more enjoyable.

Why would you expect to meet your kid's roommates parents? That is strange.

Where did I once say I expected to meet my kid’s roommates parents?

Read the bolded. sounded like you had expectations. Seemed strange to mention it at all

Sorry but to me parents weekend sounds like not only time to see your kid but meet other kid’s parents. Some of them talking about looking forward to meeting in person the way the FB parents talk. I have my own group of friends, I don’t need to meet other parents like it is a play date.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
LOL. The "parent orientations" are set up precisely so the colleges can force the crazy parents who can't let go to separate from the kids. They're useless otherwise. We never attended any of them.

We feel the same way with the “parent weekends”. We visited on our way to a vacation on a non football weekend about six weeks after fall began. She was proud to walk us around campus and loved we bought lunch for a grateful poor kid. We also did a bit of grocery shopping. Her and her roommates were not social and barely connected. [b]We NEVER once met their parents. [/b]

Those weekends just seem like forced fundraisers with their games and movie on the lawn. We are not football fans at all. It was quieter in town. We didn’t have to wait for a table. Much more enjoyable.

Why would you expect to meet your kid's roommates parents? That is strange.

Where did I once say I expected to meet my kid’s roommates parents?

Read the bolded. sounded like you had expectations. Seemed strange to mention it at all

Sorry but to me parents weekend sounds like not only time to see your kid but meet other kid’s parents. Some of them talking about looking forward to meeting in person the way the FB parents talk. I have my own group of friends, I don’t need to meet other parents like it is a play date.

I have my own friends and I’m friends with my kids roommates parents, I’m actually friends with about 5 of them after 4 years. I get some people have social anxiety and don’t care to meet people or make friends but I’ve met some great people at my son’s college,

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
LOL. The "parent orientations" are set up precisely so the colleges can force the crazy parents who can't let go to separate from the kids. They're useless otherwise. We never attended any of them.

We feel the same way with the “parent weekends”. We visited on our way to a vacation on a non football weekend about six weeks after fall began. She was proud to walk us around campus and loved we bought lunch for a grateful poor kid. We also did a bit of grocery shopping. Her and her roommates were not social and barely connected. [b]We NEVER once met their parents. [/b]

Those weekends just seem like forced fundraisers with their games and movie on the lawn. We are not football fans at all. It was quieter in town. We didn’t have to wait for a table. Much more enjoyable.

Why would you expect to meet your kid's roommates parents? That is strange.

Where did I once say I expected to meet my kid’s roommates parents?

Read the bolded. sounded like you had expectations. Seemed strange to mention it at all

Sorry but to me parents weekend sounds like not only time to see your kid but meet other kid’s parents. Some of them talking about looking forward to meeting in person the way the FB parents talk. I have my own group of friends, I don’t need to meet other parents like it is a play date.

I have my own friends and I’m friends with my kids roommates parents, I’m actually friends with about 5 of them after 4 years. I get some people have social anxiety and don’t care to meet people or make friends but I’ve met some great people at my son’s college,

Wow. This is really and truly pathetic.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm a dinosaur. In the early 90s my parents helped me pack my car and i drove 15 hours to college by myself. DS is a rising senior and our oldest. I would imagine the parting won't be quite as extreme as I experienced!

In 1987, I loaded my car and drive myself to college, too. Hugged my mom on the porch, got in the car, and pulled around the block to the gas station to fuel up. Then I put my head on the steering wheel and bawled for 10 minutes. I called my mom from a pay phone when I got to school. I cried for another 10 minutes when I hung up. After that I had a blast!

No one cares about stories from the 80s.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm a dinosaur. In the early 90s my parents helped me pack my car and i drove 15 hours to college by myself. DS is a rising senior and our oldest. I would imagine the parting won't be quite as extreme as I experienced!

In 1987, I loaded my car and drive myself to college, too. Hugged my mom on the porch, got in the car, and pulled around the block to the gas station to fuel up. Then I put my head on the steering wheel and bawled for 10 minutes. I called my mom from a pay phone when I got to school. I cried for another 10 minutes when I hung up. After that I had a blast!

No one cares about stories from the 80s.

Truly. LOL!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I don’t get it really. Last year for drop off of our freshman four hours away, we got a hotel for the night before in town. We had an early check in time the next day (Saturday). We unloaded everything, did a bit of help for organizing and then said our goodbyes. The room was a 4/2 and it just got crowded with the other girls and their families. We didn’t stay to decorate and get everything just so. We didn’t take her to lunch or dinner. We just drove off back home as she started her next chapter.

I noticed in the FB page where parents are talking about making a weekend of it (understandable), but they are talking about how much time they plan to spend to get the rooms Insta ready, take their kids with them and/or stop by for breakfast and or lunch before driving off home. Maybe their kid needs a longer goodbye or they do, but that is all foreign to me!

If we tried decorating HER room, she would have a literal conniption fit.

I know everyone is different with a goodbye and I’m trying not to judge, but if you are one help me understand!

We can't help you. You clearly don't have the capacity to understand that every family is different and every kid is different. I'm not trying to judge, but it seems like your daughter didn't want you around.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm a dinosaur. In the early 90s my parents helped me pack my car and i drove 15 hours to college by myself. DS is a rising senior and our oldest. I would imagine the parting won't be quite as extreme as I experienced!

In 1987, I loaded my car and drive myself to college, too. Hugged my mom on the porch, got in the car, and pulled around the block to the gas station to fuel up. Then I put my head on the steering wheel and bawled for 10 minutes. I called my mom from a pay phone when I got to school. I cried for another 10 minutes when I hung up. After that I had a blast!

No one cares about stories from the 80s.

Same experience for me in the 2000s except I had a cell phone to call home.

I didn't see the need for my parents to come. I could unload the car on my own and if I hadn't wanted to they had upper classman volunteering to carry stuff that day.

[Anonymous]

I’m the one who is taking two cars to move my kid’s stuff into her apartment this week. She has been there for two weeks preparing for rush week. We drive down on Friday to move her stuff into her apartment while she is going through the rush process. Because it is so busy, we probably won’t even see her. We basically dropping stuff off and will let her decorate. The next day since we are so close to Savannah, we are going there for the day and having lunch and dinner. The next morning we will stay to see the girls who received bids for her sorority run to the house. Then my partner and I head in separate directions since we have two cars. I’m going to meet friends on the beach for a week in SC and my partner drives back home.

She has been told she either downsizes or gets storage next year!!!

We hope to see her over Labor Day but probably won’t until Thabksgiving.

[Anonymous]

Had to stay around for several hours to make sure that the hot tub that we had just lugged up several flights of stairs got hooked up properly & was in good working order.

Feel a bit guilty though because I let him set up the Tiki bar, although I was kind enough to get rid of that darn desky type thing that someone had left in the room.

Also feel bad because we had to leave prior to the arrival of the king size adjustable bed.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm a dinosaur. In the early 90s my parents helped me pack my car and i drove 15 hours to college by myself. DS is a rising senior and our oldest. I would imagine the parting won't be quite as extreme as I experienced!

In 1987, I loaded my car and drive myself to college, too. Hugged my mom on the porch, got in the car, and pulled around the block to the gas station to fuel up. Then I put my head on the steering wheel and bawled for 10 minutes. I called my mom from a pay phone when I got to school. I cried for another 10 minutes when I hung up. After that I had a blast!

No one cares about stories from the 80s.

Same experience for me in the 2000s except I had a cell phone to call home.

I didn't see the need for my parents to come. I could unload the car on my own and if I hadn't wanted to they had upper classman volunteering to carry stuff that day.

Good for you but, other kids/people have different needs and wants.

[Anonymous]

Oh...and don't get me started about the big screen TV and the cable guy.

Put up a bulletin board with the Uber eats number. And then I left.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm a dinosaur. In the early 90s my parents helped me pack my car and i drove 15 hours to college by myself. DS is a rising senior and our oldest. I would imagine the parting won't be quite as extreme as I experienced!

In 1987, I loaded my car and drive myself to college, too. Hugged my mom on the porch, got in the car, and pulled around the block to the gas station to fuel up. Then I put my head on the steering wheel and bawled for 10 minutes. I called my mom from a pay phone when I got to school. I cried for another 10 minutes when I hung up. After that I had a blast!

No one cares about stories from the 80s.

Same experience for me in the 2000s except I had a cell phone to call home.

I didn't see the need for my parents to come. I could unload the car on my own and if I hadn't wanted to they had upper classman volunteering to carry stuff that day.

Good for you but, other kids/people have different needs and wants.

You mean other parents. None of this is about kids.

[Anonymous]

Not to be snarky but worst thing you can do is lurk on the Parent FB page at any school. I didn't pay attention to the FB page at all until I checked it out Sophomore year. I quickly realized how thankful I was to have such a pleasant and stress-free year doing things my own way -and following DC's lead - and not listening to all sorts of crazy advice, or hearing others problems, anxieties and rantings about this and that. Honestly I didn't have a care in the world when some parents were losing their minds over things being posted and all sorts of ridiculous advice being doled out. Unfollow that page and you do you OP. It's the best!

[Anonymous]

Why did you go at all? We sent our college freshman to school by herself on a flight and had shipped most of her things beforehand so they were waiting in the room. Different strokes. There's not a right or wrong way to do this, it depends on the kid and the family.