Collecting for College

This coming fall (gulp!!), my older daughter heads away to a 4-year college. You'd think I'd be used to the idea because this is what we homeschoolers work towards for 12 years, right? Well, my heart is not ready for her to go away, but I've already started getting her stuff ready to leave the nest.

This is a large, plastic, storage bin. I commandeered it to start collecting the myriad of odds and ends that she'll be taking with her. Just in case she had ideas of throwing other junk in there, I labeled it. I don't have the money to buy her all-new stuff in August, so it works better for me to buy things a little at a time. So far, the container has a lint roller and a spray bottle of the homemade cleaner we use.

Other items I plan to add to the container: dishes and utensils (for 1), bed and bath linens, extra personal care items, Command hooks, laundry detergent, a small sewing kit (I can hope, right?), a first-aid kit, and over-the-door hooks. I'm sure we'll think of other things, too, along the way. I found a really helpful, FREE college shopping checklist at Bed, Bath & Beyond. It's available on their website at bedbathandbeyond.com/shopforcollege.

When August comes, all of her extra stuff (besides clothes and electronics) will be ready to go.

Q4U: Have you sent a child off to college already? What am I missing?