Crowdsourced College Care Package

We feel wildly fortunate that our three offspring have managed to successfully navigate their ways through higher education and are all off into their careers.

But that doesn’t mean we don’t remember what it is like having them away in school.

A few years ago, after our youngest made his way off to college, we asked for ideas on creating the ultimate college care package. Here’s what we came up with:

The #1 Suggested Item – Homemade Baked Goods

Jan, a reader from our Facebook Page suggested: “How about brownies and ch.chip cookies – NOT out of a box! Nobody gets homemade any more it seems.”

Jane, also from Facebook added: “Homemade caramel fudge brownies…”

I am SO not a baker. And brownies? Don’t get me started. My only attempts have turned out runny goo or a black brick-like substance.

Jane had inadvertently suggested the impossible. But since we have the smartest and most clever readers, I dove right in.

Because we are purposefully homeless, I borrowed a kitchen (don’t ask) and started with Jan’s cookies.

Easy, really anyone can do cookies. I didn’t burn the bottom of a single one! The trick is to actually allow the oven to preheat.

For packing, I put four to a baggy, for busy college student grab-n-go ease.

That’s not cheese in the picture.

Believe it or not, the brownies were perfect! Well, until the caramel topping part.

I really thought I had followed the directions to the letter, but as usual, things went terribly awry.

The caramel wouldn’t spread without decimating the brownies underneath and then it cooled into a rock-hard mess. Cutting them into squares (squares being a very flexible term) took a Herculean effort that required sculpting tools.

I sent them on anyway with the hope The Boy doesn’t yank a filling out.

Things I couldn’t mess up by cooking them

Wendy from Twitter said: Anything local that they can’t buy where they are now. My kid is from Hawaii, live in NYC, so Crack Seed Shop care pkg is (love.)”

I really related to Wendy (after googling what crack seed was — it’s safe!); our kids all graduated high school
on a small tropical island. The conch shell horn is family tradition, The Piglet drove her dorm-mates crazy with her incessant blowing.

The Boy went to a college with a rich sports tradition, so the horn came in handy at football games.

Laurie from Facebook: Rolls of quarters for the laundromat were always a hit!”

Mary Anne exclaimed, Money!”

LOVE the rolls of quarters. Especially since we expected our kids to work for daily basics while in college, it’s a good way to give them a little money without ACTUALLY giving them money.

College is ridiculously expensive and we feel strongly that to appreciate it, they must pitch in. Though, like
Mary Anne, we sneak them checks for their birthdays and such.

Another no-money cheat is gift cards for groceries, restaurants, clothes, etc.

The Ultimate College Care Package

Another Twitter pal: “Lots of storage solutions if there is a dorm involved!”

Absolutely wonderful idea.

Dorms are tight spaces and anything you can find to create space would be most welcome.

The Boy received a laundry basket for this suggestion, as he was post-dorm.

No one is better at cracking an inappropriate, yet wickedly hysterical joke than The Boy’s “Uncle” Rich:

“How about a stack of nudey magazines and a 5 pack of Red Stripe?”

While The Boy may well enjoy those things, I found a magazine that I hoped he would find equally stimulating: Entrepreneur.
The lead story?

Young Millionaires, How They Did It.”

Also see: 9 Things We Wish We’d Known BEFORE We Sent Our Kid to College

Family friend, Devin, was equally as scary: Technology.
Some cool gadget he doesn’t have yet… but for entertainment, not education. (ipod, psp,video watch…) Or, the funny option: Magnums.”

Holy crap! Devin’s kids get video watches?

We got The Boy a movie (movies are technology, right?), he’s a pilot, so Airplane! is a cult classic among his friends.

I’m ignoring the condom suggestion. The Boy would kill me for blogging about his condom situation.

Another note on movies. We sent both The Piglet and Decibel “best of” video DVDs in their first care package. They included funny clips of them, family antics, theatrical productions, band & choir recitals,
etc. They LOVED it! Of course we have no footage of The Boy, so he didn’t get one.

Thank you notes. Make sure you include stamps. Get the most masculine ones you can find if your spawn is a male.

Doesn’t mean that they will actually be sent, but it ups the odds. I’m happier to get a thank you phone call myself, seems much more personal (and fun!) but am satisfied with an e-mail.

But, the older crowd considers those means of communication rude – my mother-in-law included. So my kids send real live old fashioned thank you notes (I think).

Microwave mac ‘n cheese / soup / ramen noodles. These just-add-water comfort foods are great for care packages, and college students put these way up on their favorites list.

They also work as a nice packing buffer for breakable things!

Other nice packing materials:

— local newspaper sections (homesick babies read these)
— small bags of chips (the ones with lots of air in them)
— and sanitary products (sounds strange, but these are EXPENSIVE and are appreciated).

More GREAT ideas from our brilliant readers:

Favorite snack foods

Lynn @MamaSays, says (from the comments below): A cookbook aimed at new cooks, some essential spices

Melissa suggests (from the comments below): Kites (for spring) and the little guns that shoot nerf-type balls. Stress relievers!

TSogge says (from the comments below): Couple pairs of new underwear!

More ideas from Your GypsyNesters:
The Boy uses his conch shell horn at a football game!

Toiletries: Shampoo, creams and potions, deodorant, contact lens supplies from www.contactlensesplus.com, special soap, acne lotion, perfume — that kind of stuff. The Boy got toilet paper this time. He and his roommates can’t seem to keep it in stock. We sent it as a joke, but I’m sure it will be put to use.

Things for their computer: Print cartridges, computer paper, etc.

Pics from Home: Stick ’em in a frame if you are feeling fancy. Or not. They’ll love ’em either way.

Make sure you send enough food to share: College kids are ravenous wolves. No better way to make a new friend than to share a cookie or two.

Veronica, GypsyNester.com

More: 9 Things We Wish We’d Known BEFORE We Sent Our Kid to College

YOUR TURN: Any ideas to share? Let’s brainstorm and come up with ideas for our newly “empty” nested friends!

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4 thoughts on “Crowdsourced College Care Package”

  1. Good article. Lots of creative ideas.

    Kids these days have so much more than we had back in the 1960s. I´ve seen articles about parents buying microwaves and mini-refrigerators for their college students.

    We had food served in the dorm, except for breakfast which was cafeteria style. We had popcorn that we popped ourselves for snacks.

    Rita blogging at The Survive and Thrive Boomer Guide

    1. With our kids the solution was that we didn’t give them money. If they wanted stuff they had to have a job to buy it. Worked great, they never didn’y have a job… before, during, and after college.

  2. Really great article, Glad to read the article. It is very informative for us. Thanks for posting. – dentist in windsor mill md

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