Practical Moms Guide to College: Finals Care Packages

Reminds me of my mail room days in college! I had forgotten all about that. Yes, the care packages took forever to sort and categorize :)

Natalie writes Almost Never Clever ( http://almostneverclever.wordpress.com ), a deviant scrapbooking blog that just might surprise you.

I actually despise care packages but that's because I'm the one who delivers them! I work in the mail room at my school in a dorm of over nine hundred Freshmen - for every major holiday [and some not-so-major!], midterms, and finals, the kiddies get care packages and it's always a pain to deal with them, especially when the kids don't pick them up.

As a college student and someone who constantly gives out these packages, do yourself a favor - call them to make sure they're doing well and if you really want to help, send them some cash. I never got a care package in college and I was fine but I loved when my parents would call me just to see if I was doing well and to let me vent about my finals. It meant more to me than a box of random stuff would. But that's just my opinion. :0]

Sincerely,

Randa from About Life* ( http://aboutlifestar.blogspot.com/ )

I almost wish I was back in college so I could send this to my mom! Almost. Finals? Ick!

Contributing Editor Jenna Hatfield (@FireMom ( http://twitter.com/FireMom )) blogs at Stop, Drop and Blog ( http://stopdropandblog.com ) and The Chronicles of Munchkin Land ( http://thechroniclesofmunchkinland.com ). She is a freelance writer and newspaper photographer.

Great ideas!

There is something magical about a package in the mail! My daughter is at the finish line of a very hard semester, and she almost cried when she told me how much she appreciated getting some fun things from her momma. She'll remember it forever!

P.S. Including a little something for the roommate is always a good idea, too!

Joan

www.JustTheRightThings.com ( http://www.JustTheRightThings.com )

I would really consider first where your student lives and if it is practical to send them a package.

For example, my freshman year it was easy to receive packages at my dorm and my mom sent them to me all the time.

Later, when I moved into an apartment, it was a real pain to get boxes. No one was ever home during the day to get them and then it was an extra errand to go to the post office to pick them up. It was worse with UPS - the pickup facility was a couple cities away.

I missed the packages in my later years, but I honestly wouldn't have wanted an extra errand while I was trying to study for finals.

Natalie writes Almost Never Clever ( http://almostneverclever.wordpress.com ), a deviant scrapbooking blog that just might surprise you.

Cash is always just the right thing!

Nancy G www.justtherightthings.com ( http://www.justtherightthings.com )

She's slip an extra $20 or something randomly into my bank account. At the end of the semester I was almost always low on cash and she knew that even studying in the library meant that I'd be spending a bit more money on food and coffee. It really was appeciated.

Contributing Editor Karen Ballum also blogs at Sassymonkey ( http://sassymonkey.ca ) and Sassymonkey Reads ( http://sassymonkeyreads.ca ).