College shopping and a parenting fail that thankfully I was able to rectify quickly.

One week from today, on Friday the 13th no less, we will be taking Peter to N.C. State and getting him moved into his dorm room.  

He is very ready to go to college.  I am less ready than he is. But time waits for no man (or mama) so we had to get his dorm shopping completed whether I'm ready for him to leave or not.

Before we went on vacation, I drug him (not kicking and screaming but there was a lot of protesting) to Bed Bath and Beyond to at least get his bedding procured.  He said that I could just do all of his shopping for him but I knew he would not like the things I picked out so I insisted he go.  

We found a comforter he really liked but of course they didn't have it in twin XL so he picked a white one. I immediately turned up my nose and he got frustrated. "You want me to pick out my own stuff but when I do, you don't like it!" 

I then explained that he would probably be spending a lot of time ON TOP of that comforter sitting and laying when he was in his dorm room.  It's a very small room and other than a desk chair there is no other seating.  I told him that white would be dirty in no time.

He agreed that my argument made sense and found a nice brownish one.  It will definitely hide the grunge!

Then we picked out sheets and he was done.  "Are we ready to go yet?" 

I had hoped to get more done but decided we could do it after vacation.  I then went home and signed up for Bed Bath and Beyond's college program where you can get 20% off all of your purchases through the end of September if you are a college student.  This is a much better deal than their normal 20% off of ONE item coupon!

We got back from vacation and he kept putting off going shopping for all of the rest of his stuff.  I had printed out lists and cross referenced them against other lists and knew we had a lot of shopping to do.  Peter took one look at my lists and said, "Nope!  There is no way I need all of that stuff!"

And he was right.  The list that I started with had every single possible item A GIRL might need to start college. It covered everything from tampons and fingernail polish remover to costumes for sorority mixers and dresses for formal events. (I will definitely keep this list for Sarah but it was too comprehensive for Peter or any boy for that matter.)  I was able to cross a lot of those items off immediately but a lot of the items made sense even for a very low maintenance boy. 

I finally pinned him down and we went back to Bed Bath and Beyond on Tuesday to make use of that 20% off coupon.  We pulled up to the store and there was a big sign across the front stating "We are remodeling but come on in!  We are still open for business!"

We walked in and I was immediately annoyed.  Yes, technically they were "open for business" but in reality there were large sections roped off and you couldn't access them (namely the storage solution section - a must for college dorm room shopping) and other sections were very empty (health and beauty - another section we needed as I was trying to make the most of my 20% off entire purchase coupon).

The only thing we ended up getting there were some nice white towels.  They were thick but not too thick and they had little loops sewn in for hanging on a hook which seemed practical to me.  

We headed to Target where we got more things checked off but still had a lot left.  I decided that in order to keep the peace and our sanity, I would shop for the rest of the list at Walmart and Amazon and Peter would not have to help.  By this point most of the items that I wanted his input on were purchased.  He was extremely happy with that arrangement.

So the next day, he went with a group of friends to Carowinds and I spent the morning in Walmart and the afternoon on Amazon and I think we are done with dorm shopping!

There is a Target within walking distance of his dorm so if we have forgotten anything or he realizes he did need something from that giant list created for girls, he can go there himself and get it. (I just wanted to avoid that Target on move-in weekend figuring it is going to be a zoo.)

Now all that's left to do is pack which we will probably not start until Thursday because I always like to wait until the last minute to pack.  

Oh, and speaking of waiting until the last minute!

In my head, I thought that tuition bills would be sent out on July 28th. I had this date in my head from the online orientation I slept went through. We were on vacation then and I remember saying, we should have a bill waiting on us when we got home and then I proceeded to forget about it until Wednesday when I realized it was August 4th and I had not seen a bill or received an email.   I had Peter check his email and he didn't have anything either.

We logged into the MyPack Portal (the website they use for housing info, schedules, tuition, alerts, etc) and low and behold there was an alert that said Peter's bill was past due and if it wasn't paid soon his schedule was going to be cancelled.

WHAT???????????

Apparently, while I correctly remembered the July 28th date,  I didn't correctly remember that this was the date tuition WAS DUE! 

Thankfully I was able to quickly get things taken care of and all is well. For now anyway.  

I guess I should have paid better attention in the parent orientation.  But I also feel like an email alerting us that bills were posted and due is not too much to ask.

And because I hate a post with no pictures: