ereks mom Posted February 21, 2012 Share Posted February 21, 2012 (edited) The care packages I've been sending ER seem to have a lot of food, a little money, a few pencils, lip balm, and other stuff like that. I'm looking for suggestions to make my care packages less boring. :tongue_smilie: Edited February 21, 2012 by ereks mom Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cara in Ky Posted February 21, 2012 Share Posted February 21, 2012 Honestly, all I cared about was the food when my parents sent a care package. lol Maybe you could take some family photos each time in a creative way ie have the younger kids shape themselves into a heart, messing up the college child's room/stuff... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
amey311 Posted February 21, 2012 Share Posted February 21, 2012 http://parentingteens.about.com/od/carepackage/a/care_packages2.htm I liked the idea of quarters (for laundry), the local paper if you're from a small town, and hobby magazines or similar. If it were me, I'd want People magazine. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dolphin Posted February 21, 2012 Share Posted February 21, 2012 Silly socks blank journal with a message (so that nurses and visitors can write, they can draw, paste their hospital bracelet into) With stickers, colored pencils or crayons. disposable camera (Kids like to take pictures) Little stuffed animal. As Easter is nearing places like Kmart, Walgreens, and the dollar store have little ones that aren't too spendy. combs and for girls hair bands. You could get a craft, like you know the foam thing with stickers. Get a big bucket and break it up into little ziplock bags, and then get those door hangers, or visors or something. packs of cards (go fish, old maid) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
amey311 Posted February 21, 2012 Share Posted February 21, 2012 This is for the 21 year old college senior, right? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JFSinIL Posted February 21, 2012 Share Posted February 21, 2012 CollegeMan enjoys Amazon bringing him surprise bags of Swedish Fish or cases of heat n' eat Indian foods. I love using Amazon Prime to ship stuff off to him! When he first went off last year, I used Shutterfly and made a photo book with shots of us, his pet dog, etc. and had it sent to him. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ereks mom Posted February 21, 2012 Author Share Posted February 21, 2012 This is for the 21 year old college senior, right? Right. Part of my subject line was cut off. I tried to edit, but you know how that goes. Anyway, ever since he went to college, I've sent care packages with mostly food items, but that's starting to seem... boring. :( I'm in a rut, I guess, and I've started to wonder what other people send their college kids. Just looking for new ideas... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ereks mom Posted February 21, 2012 Author Share Posted February 21, 2012 Silly socksblank journal with a message (so that nurses and visitors can write, they can draw, paste their hospital bracelet into) With stickers, colored pencils or crayons. disposable camera (Kids like to take pictures) Little stuffed animal. As Easter is nearing places like Kmart, Walgreens, and the dollar store have little ones that aren't too spendy. combs and for girls hair bands. You could get a craft, like you know the foam thing with stickers. Get a big bucket and break it up into little ziplock bags, and then get those door hangers, or visors or something. packs of cards (go fish, old maid) Oops! My subject line was cut off. This is for my college student son. I edited, so maybe it'll show up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Diane in CO Posted February 21, 2012 Share Posted February 21, 2012 My suggestion would be homemade goodies and special treats that remind him of home (chips/salsa from favorite Tex/Mex restaurant in town etc.) I also second the roll of quarters....that was always much appreciated when I was in school! HTH! Diane Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ereks mom Posted February 21, 2012 Author Share Posted February 21, 2012 CollegeMan enjoys Amazon bringing him surprise bags of Swedish Fish or cases of heat n' eat Indian foods. I love using Amazon Prime to ship stuff off to him! I just opened an Amazon Prime account, but I hadn't even thought about having Amazon ship stuff to him. Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ereks mom Posted February 21, 2012 Author Share Posted February 21, 2012 (edited) Quarters for laundry--I don't have to do that because washer/dryer use if FREE at his school. Well, it's paid for in his fees, but they have NICE washers & dryers and students don't have to pay to use them. How cool is that!?? Still thinking about the local restaurant idea. I wish I could send him salsa from our favorite Mexican restaurant, or fried pickles from our favorite burger place, but of course, that wouldn't work. :lol: Edited February 21, 2012 by ereks mom Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
amey311 Posted February 21, 2012 Share Posted February 21, 2012 Still thinking about the local restaurant idea. I wish I could send him salsa from our favorite Mexican restaurant, or fried pickles from our favorite burger place, but of course, that wouldn't work. :lol: The salsa you could do if you were willing to pay for it. You could pack it with some dry ice and send it overnight. But is it worth $30+ for local salsa? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jenny in Florida Posted February 21, 2012 Share Posted February 21, 2012 (edited) If it were me, I'd want People magazine. :) My daughter and I have enjoyed looking at bridal magazines together since she was quite little. So, I'd tuck one of those in her college care packages every now and then. Things are different now, of course, than when a lot of those lists of suggestions were written. Nowadays, kids who are away at school can see photos their parents take just by logging onto Facebook. And we e-mailed our daughter links to any articles we thought might interest here. I used to send mine an extra copy of the Playbill or program from any shows we saw while she was gone. I'd send her a book I especially enjoyed and wanted to share with her. We sent iTunes gifts cards, silly socks (because the dorm rooms were always cold), gift cards for local coffee shops and health food stores she liked, things with which to decorate her dorm room for holidays, craft kits to share with friends, a silly greeting card I thought she'd like, etc. We tried to always include some practical items but also at least one little surprise. But mostly, the biggest hits were food. I sent home-made cookies and bread and such, but also just regular packaged stuff she either had trouble finding locally or just couldn't make time to go and get. I found those "if it fits, it ships" flat rate boxes from the post office were really great for sending non-perishbles. I could stuff a lot of food into those and ship them inexpensively. Edited February 21, 2012 by Jenny in Florida Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jenny in Florida Posted February 21, 2012 Share Posted February 21, 2012 I just opened an Amazon Prime account, but I hadn't even thought about having Amazon ship stuff to him. Thanks! We used Amazon to send stuff to our daughter all the time! There were certain food items she really liked that were either hard to find or very expensive in the college town. Through Amazon, we kept her supplied with Kitchens of India shelf-stable entrees, papadam, Cascasian Farms peanut butter granola bars, basmati rice, candies, etc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris in VA Posted February 21, 2012 Share Posted February 21, 2012 You are already tons better than me--mine goes to VCU in Richmond and has yet to receive a package from me! I do send him home with lots of food when he visits...:D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ereks mom Posted February 21, 2012 Author Share Posted February 21, 2012 But is it worth $30+ for local salsa? Nope! :D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Photo Ninja Posted February 21, 2012 Share Posted February 21, 2012 It may seem boring to you, but my dc love getting any food I send them. It is food that they don't have to buy themselves, and depending on what you send, it reminds them of home. Two of my dc don't have Trader Joe's where they are, so I send them their favorite food and treats from Trader Joe's. They love it. I send my ds food he likes, like packages of Pasta Alfredo that I buy when they go on sale for $1 each. My ds loves those, but won't buy them himself (which is good because while he likes them, they are not healthy at all). I have sent a recipe for a meal he likes along with all the non-perishable food needed to cook it and some money for the meat. He liked that, too. I have sent spaghetti and canned marinara sauce. He seldom eats sweets, so I don't send him cookies or candy, except for the Trader Joe's special cookies they sell only at Christmas time. My dc love when I send a gift card to Walmart (the one big store where two of my dc have to shop), or a Target gift card to my other son because that is where he shops, or iTunes, or just a Visa gift card so they can use it anywhere. Once I bought one ds meals in the cafeteria (added to his student card). He lives in an apartment off campus, so this allowed him to have some large, eat-all-he-wants meals without needing to cook. When mac and cheese is on sale, especially the microwave ones, I send those. All my dc love when I send them Starbucks coffee, both ground in bags and the Via instant packages. Only one ds has a Starbucks near the school, so I send him gift cards. The others like the coffee so they can make it themselves. I watch at Target for the $5 dvds and send those occasionally as a surprise along with microwave popcorn. I have also mailed cookies and pumpkin bread because he enjoys treats from home. My dd is different than my sons because she really appreciates treats (cookies, candy, whatever) and loves getting small surprises: earrings, a cute scarf or fuzzy softs, ear buds for her iPod, or anything, really. But she's a girl and girls are different. Two of my dc love when I send Barnes and Noble gift cards because they have Nooks and like being able to buy books. How about seasonal decorations? One Christmas my ds had to be at school until just before Christmas, so I sent him a 2 ft artificial Christmas tree, some packages of appropriate sized ornaments, battery operated tiny lights, a star for the top and a tiny tree skirt. I sent it with packages of apple cider mix, and A Christmas Story dvd. He loved it and he and one roommate who also had to stick around campus had a fun couple hours decorating the tree and watching the movie over and over. Dh thought I was a bit crazy for mailing that, but it fit into a post office flat rate mailing box, so I did it anyway. It is the wrong time of year now, but Easter is coming. Maybe you can find something decorative to send. I sent a birthday party in a box once, with birthday plates, napkins, cups, balloons, blowy things that make noise, party hats, and a gift card to a store to buy a cake and ice cream. That was a hit, too. I think our dc really just want to be reminded that we love them enough to send them a care package, or even just a card. I don't think they care as much about what is in it as they do that we are thinking about them and sent them a surprise. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dolphin Posted February 21, 2012 Share Posted February 21, 2012 Oops! My subject line was cut off. This is for my college student son. I edited, so maybe it'll show up. It sounded like you were making care packages for a kid in the ER. So, just ignore my suggestions:D Playing cards would still be good, but maybe not old maid:lol: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wabi Sabi Posted February 21, 2012 Share Posted February 21, 2012 In college I had a roommate whose mother would send her care packages: shampoo, food, tampons, etc. To be honest, it always puzzled me and I still don't quite understand it: why spend the money to ship a $0.99 bottle of Suave shampoo? Wouldn't it make much more sense to just send her a gift card to WalMart or Target? That being said, I do like the idea of buying speciality, hard-to-find items on Amazon and having them shipped directly to the student. Makes more sense, IMO, since shipping is free assuming you have Amazon Prime. Favorite treats- say, Grandma's famous brownies, make sense too. In general though, I think most college students would really appreciate money or gift cards more than anything else so that they make their own purchases as needed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ereks mom Posted February 22, 2012 Author Share Posted February 22, 2012 It sounded like you were making care packages for a kid in the ER. So, just ignore my suggestions:D Playing cards would still be good, but maybe not old maid:lol: Oh, I get it now! I mentioned ER (my ds's initials), and you thought I meant the ER at the hospital! :lol: I admit I was kinda wondering. :D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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