Granny_Weatherwax Posted December 1, 2015 Share Posted December 1, 2015 Are you sending a package? If so, what are you including? DS said his school has wonderful food services and he is not lacking for anything. I want to send him something but really have no idea what. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mom22ns Posted December 1, 2015 Share Posted December 1, 2015 :bigear: I'm thrilled to see this thread so I can get ideas from the more experienced parents out there. Currently I plan to send some Cliff bars, homemade cookies, and theater size packages of a few kinds of candy. Can't wait to get other ideas. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FaithManor Posted December 1, 2015 Share Posted December 1, 2015 For dd, I sent her the ultimate family fudge which she adored. I also sent cocoa pkts, and then to counteract all that sugar, dried fruit, almonds, beef jerky, and an Olive Garden gift card since it was close to auntie's house where she was living. Ds is commuting so I won't have anything to mail. But, I am planning to kick off the week (two nights before we leave for Egypt) with his favorite home cooked meal (stuffed roasting chicken and all the trimmings), and a pint of Chocolate Therapy ice cream. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FaithManor Posted December 1, 2015 Share Posted December 1, 2015 How about a starbucks card, something funny that relieves stress like one of those stress balls to squeeze, or silly putty, and then a note with a word of encouragement. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
clementine Posted December 1, 2015 Share Posted December 1, 2015 Mine was a funny, stress reliever pack. Little play-doh tubs, party hats, window chalk, cliff bars, light-up yo-yo, dove chocolates, a paddle/rubber ball, tic-tacs. 6 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FaithManor Posted December 1, 2015 Share Posted December 1, 2015 Mine was a funny, stress reliever pack. Little play-doh tubs, party hats, window chalk, cliff bars, light-up yo-yo, dove chocolates, a paddle/rubber ball, tic-tacs. That sounds like a lot of fun! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
regentrude Posted December 1, 2015 Share Posted December 1, 2015 We do St. Nick which is on the 6th, so that is the occasion for the package. I sent: fleece lined tights because it is cold gift card to favorite coffee shop set of three miniature noteboks with cute titles some artisan chocolate we found in a nice store her favorite "study candy" dried fruit 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jane Elliot Posted December 1, 2015 Share Posted December 1, 2015 Kind Bars, Mints, PG Tips (caffeine, his favorite tea), Emergen-C (because they always get sick during finals this time of year), Thinking Putty Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hillfarm Posted December 2, 2015 Share Posted December 2, 2015 (edited) I am partial to new office supplies. I bought dd several different types of "post it" notes and tabs, some nifty new highlighter markers, a couple of new pens and pencils, and a funky eraser thing that looks like a mechanical pencil but is full of just the white eraser, which comes out like the pencil leads do in normal mechanical pencils (and this has been her favorite thing from the whole gift box :huh: ) I also bought several of her favorite single serving yoghurts (she commutes to cc and lives at home) and quite a lot of her favorite fruits. Strangely enough, she also requested double the amount of fresh vegetables we usually eat, said snacking on them raw helped her to think. Edited December 2, 2015 by hillfarm 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TechWife Posted December 2, 2015 Share Posted December 2, 2015 I sent ds' off yesterday. I forgot to include the Star Wars Mr & Mrs Potato head. They are still in my car. Sigh. I did send him books he left at home during break, Milano cookies, pudding cups, Kit Kat bar, protein bars, Rice Krispie treat. But I regret I forgot the potato heads. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FaithManor Posted December 2, 2015 Share Posted December 2, 2015 Darth Tater! :hurray: Love it! :smilielol5: Techwife, you get the prize for fun package. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MerryAtHope Posted December 2, 2015 Share Posted December 2, 2015 Great idea! I'll have to think on what to do for DS... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JumpedIntoTheDeepEndFirst Posted December 2, 2015 Share Posted December 2, 2015 When my mom sent me packages she always included enough extra treats for a few of my closest friends. Very popular and appreciated. Years later, as a wedding gift I think they all received a copy of their favorite cookie recipe. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
creekland Posted December 2, 2015 Share Posted December 2, 2015 We took our boys loved items when we saw them. And we took them to Wally World/Wegmans and loaded them up with specialties from popcorn to pomegranates. Youngest will be home in a little over a week. Middle comes home right before Christmas. Now I'm on Christmas shopping - esp stockings - mode. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dhudson Posted December 2, 2015 Share Posted December 2, 2015 (edited) I did an advent care pkg so there is something little to open each day. Some food things to snack on, vitamin c drops, a Starbucks card, a Dr. Who madlib, Star Wars socks, his favorite candy and chia seed peanut butter because we tease that chia seeds give you super brain power. Edited December 2, 2015 by dhudson 6 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
school17777 Posted December 2, 2015 Share Posted December 2, 2015 I am not sending a package because I just sent them back to school after T-day with a bunch of goodies and they will be back in two weeks for Christmas. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bugs Posted December 2, 2015 Share Posted December 2, 2015 Thank you for this thread. My daughter's love language is "gifts" and it is not mine; this thread gave me a nudge to send her a package. It included a Starbucks gift card because every single college in the PNW has one or one is within a couple of blocks, Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Renaissance Mom Posted December 4, 2015 Share Posted December 4, 2015 and a funky eraser thing that looks like a mechanical pencil but is full of just the white eraser, which comes out like the pencil leads do in normal mechanical pencils (and this has been her favorite thing from the whole gift box :huh: ) . I have one of these and love it! I use it all the time. My kids think it is weird. Guess they just don't appreciate the beauty of novel office supplies. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
regentrude Posted December 4, 2015 Share Posted December 4, 2015 (edited) PSA: the postal service is incredibly slow these days. I sent DD her package on Monday with Priority Mail 2day shipping. Today is Friday, and it has not arrived. There is no snow anywhere between here and her that could be an excuse. It shows no tracking info besides having left here. Arrgh. ETA: Called the post office. The person was very nice and said that means that probably something is wrong with the label and they can't scan it. It should at least have been scanned at the sorting facility. I am so disappointed :( I really needed her to have this before finals. Edited December 4, 2015 by regentrude Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hoggirl Posted December 4, 2015 Share Posted December 4, 2015 PSA: the postal service is incredibly slow these days. I sent DD her package on Monday with Priority Mail 2day shipping. Today is Friday, and it has not arrived. There is no snow anywhere between here and her that could be an excuse. It shows no tracking info besides having left here. Arrgh. ETA: Called the post office. The person was very nice and said that means that probably something is wrong with the label and they can't scan it. It should at least have been scanned at the sorting facility. I am so disappointed :( I really needed her to have this before finals. Oh, I'm so sorry Reg. :( The tracking is maddening to me. Ds did not receive a December care package (I try to send one per month) since we were just there visiting him for Thanksgiving. We took him to Walmart to let him get some snacks. FWIW, he chose Cajun Trail Mix, Cheese-Its (two varieties), peppermint kisses, cherry kisses, and cashews. I think girls would be more fun to buy for. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ikslo Posted December 5, 2015 Share Posted December 5, 2015 (edited) Sent my nephew-in-law one the other day. Lots of edible goodies, including a can of SPAM. Because I saw it on the shelf and couldn't resist. Also a whoopie cushion. And a Metal Earth airplane model kit. Edited December 5, 2015 by ikslo 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Granny_Weatherwax Posted December 5, 2015 Author Share Posted December 5, 2015 (edited) I think girls would be more fun to buy for. I agree completely. Buying for a son is difficult. DH and I went yesterday to look for items to send but ended up deciding not to send anything. DS doesn't want food items and he still has boxes of GF snacks that I have sent earlier this semester. His school's food service department is just too good for him to want any food items. His college town is small and there are no Starbucks or other main stream coffee houses. His school has an in-house coffee shop but that is included with his room and board. I looked at some Star Wars items - I found a great pair of Sith socks - but DH thought sending something like that was silly and a waste of money. He still has plenty of notecards, pens, notebooks, etc. I guess I'll focus on doing DD's laundry and organizing her room here at home. That would make both DD and me feel better! Edited December 9, 2015 by ScoutermominIL 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
regentrude Posted December 7, 2015 Share Posted December 7, 2015 Update: my package finally made it to DD today. One week after I sent it with 2 day shipping 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
clementine Posted December 7, 2015 Share Posted December 7, 2015 Update: my package finally made it to DD today. One week after I sent it with 2 day shipping This is so frustrating! Packages that I send to dd are around $20 if I choose guaranteed 3 day delivery or about $8 if i choose 'hopefully' 3 day delivery. Her packages have always arrived in 3 days with the cheaper delivery method. You definitely didn't get what you paid for. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
regentrude Posted December 7, 2015 Share Posted December 7, 2015 This is so frustrating! Packages that I send to dd are around $20 if I choose guaranteed 3 day delivery or about $8 if i choose 'hopefully' 3 day delivery. Her packages have always arrived in 3 days with the cheaper delivery method. You definitely didn't get what you paid for. I'm just glad it wasn't lost completely. At least she has a few more days until she comes home. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mom22ns Posted December 7, 2015 Share Posted December 7, 2015 Update: my package finally made it to DD today. One week after I sent it with 2 day shipping It is so frustrating when packages don't arrive on time, particularly when you pay extra to make them arrive on time. While getting it sooner would have been nice, at this point, I'm glad to hear it made it at all! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hoggirl Posted December 7, 2015 Share Posted December 7, 2015 It is so frustrating when packages don't arrive on time, particularly when you pay extra to make them arrive on time. While getting it sooner would have been nice, at this point, I'm glad to hear it made it at all! I agree - and what *really* is the guarantee good for? There's no recourse if they don't get it there when promised. I think it's extra challenging this time of year with the holidays. Much higher volume of mail than they are used to handling. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FaithManor Posted December 7, 2015 Share Posted December 7, 2015 Update: my package finally made it to DD today. One week after I sent it with 2 day shipping Ouch! That would make me unhappy. I am waiting on a package to my newphew - deployed in Kuwait. The USPS promised only three days to the APO and the military maintains 10 days to base, but yah...not happening. Took about five or six days to the APO and it's been two weeks since then. I just hope he gets it before Christmas. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tampamommy Posted December 7, 2015 Share Posted December 7, 2015 Quest Bars. Espresso beans. Walnuts, almonds, cashews, pecans. Whole grain english muffins with a jar of almond butter. And plastic knives. :) 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jenny in Florida Posted December 8, 2015 Share Posted December 8, 2015 We're in a weird position with my son. First, he is going to school only 90 minutes away and is home frequently (especially since he started dating a girl who lives closer to us than to campus). So, we don't do care packages, instead stocking him up on things to send back with him when he goes back to campus at the end of a weekend. Also, he often doesn't have "finals" in a traditional sense. He's a performing arts major, and his finals are often in-class performances that happen during the last couple of regular class sessions. We were on campus this past weekend, though, to see his choir concert. So, I took along a with some home-made cookies, a couple of loaves of his favorite home-made bread and a four-pack of ridiculously-expensive health food store sodas he likes. I called it a "Happy Last Week of Class" package. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TechWife Posted December 8, 2015 Share Posted December 8, 2015 Sooo, I talked to ds Sunday. He did not receive his care package! He went to the service desk (where packages are sent) and they told him they stopped receiving packages for the semester on Dec. 1 (there was no notice about this). We checked the UPS tracking and sure enough - it was delivered there on Dec. 1 and has a person's name on it as having signed for it. I sent him the UPS tracking info last night and told him to take it to the service desk and make them look. UGH! 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hoggirl Posted December 8, 2015 Share Posted December 8, 2015 Sooo, I talked to ds Sunday. He did not receive his care package! He went to the service desk (where packages are sent) and they told him they stopped receiving packages for the semester on Dec. 1 (there was no notice about this). We checked the UPS tracking and sure enough - it was delivered there on Dec. 1 and has a person's name on it as having signed for it. I sent him the UPS tracking info last night and told him to take it to the service desk and make them look. UGH! For ds's last package, it was shown as delivered on the tracking, but there was no slip in his PO box. Very important to keep those tracking numbers. Once I sent it to him, they were able to locate his package. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TechWife Posted December 9, 2015 Share Posted December 9, 2015 They found it today. I don't know the full story yet, but I'm glad it made it to him. He'll be home on Thursday, though, so I imagine his snacks will be coming home with him. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tsuga Posted December 9, 2015 Share Posted December 9, 2015 Are you sending a package? If so, what are you including? DS said his school has wonderful food services and he is not lacking for anything. I want to send him something but really have no idea what. You can order him a pizza or Chinese food if you know he'll be in. :) We do that for our students sometimes. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Granny_Weatherwax Posted December 9, 2015 Author Share Posted December 9, 2015 You can order him a pizza or Chinese food if you know he'll be in. :) We do that for our students sometimes. I wish I could. He has celiac and there are no GF pizza places in his tiny college town. The food service department is wonderful, though, and has a nice selection of GF foods so he's not missing out. He also has a drawer full of GF foods I purchased for him earlier this semester and has specifically requested no more food. :) He has to remove all food items from his dorm room for Christmas break so we'll be bringing most of it home. I found a funny card and will mail it to him. I'll also try to send him encouraging or funny texts. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
regentrude Posted December 9, 2015 Share Posted December 9, 2015 On the topic of ordering food for the college student: DD complained that the dining hall does not serve a lot of fresh fruit. She was really missing that. I found that a grocery store in her neighborhood does deliveries and ordered a selection of soft fruits (berries, i.e. stuff you put in a package and mail) to be delivered to her dorm for her birthday. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tsuga Posted December 9, 2015 Share Posted December 9, 2015 I wish I could. He has celiac and there are no GF pizza places in his tiny college town. The food service department is wonderful, though, and has a nice selection of GF foods so he's not missing out. He also has a drawer full of GF foods I purchased for him earlier this semester and has specifically requested no more food. :) He has to remove all food items from his dorm room for Christmas break so we'll be bringing most of it home. I found a funny card and will mail it to him. I'll also try to send him encouraging or funny texts. Oh darn! Darn food restrictions. :( Nice to hear that the food services can accommodate all dietary needs at least. Regentrude's option sounds great! I always hated the food service fruits and veggies--old and limp, and I couldn't afford the nice produce from the nearby store. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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