The Boy is in Boston. . .

Just got home from dropping my oldest at College.  Wheww!!  I must give the school credit, it went very smooth, they had student leaders and student athletes helping the freshman get their stuff moved in to the dorms.  That was a huge help, and they were very organized, the most organized move in process I have ever seen.  I vaguely remember my brother moving in and I do not remember my sister moving in except in her apartment.  I remember my move in and we did not have help of any kind except what came with me. 
Because the school is up North there is no AC only heat.  It was pretty hot moving and setting everything up even with the help.  We got him set up and he has two roommates in a  room built for two people and furniture for two people.  They had events planned throughout the day for everyone and we had planned to leave to come home that afternoon.  Needless to say we stayed and attended all of the events for the family.   I love that this college has a culinary school because the family dinner we had was amazing!!!  We were able to meet several of the boys on the lacrosse team and a couple of the soccer players that helped move us in.  Everyone was very nice and helpful, I feel at ease about my sweet Sprat being there.  I am going to miss him terribly though. 
I was a little worried at first but then he escorted us to the car and told us he had to go find the rest of the team.  I took that to mean, I am ok and ya'll can go now, and the hubbs and I reluctantly left our first born in the big city. 
I left him with the letters I had written him over the years about different things and how he was at certain times of his life. In those letters I also enclosed a little money, which he does not know about yet.  I do not know when he will read them or if he will read them, I hope that he keeps them because I wanted him to have something in my handwriting.  I have some old journals from my mothers father and I cherish them because I never knew him, he had passed away before I was born.  The journals are just about his daily activities but it mentions my mom a couple of times and her sisters and brothers and what they were doing at that time.  I hope that Sprat will keep my letters the same way. 
Here are a few pictures from the day:

Dad giving last minute advice, the building in the background is one of the education buildings.

The trunk covered in stickers to hold all of his extra gear. 

College, What do Boys Need to Pack. . .

So we are three for three on acceptance and each offered scholarships.  Sprat's first choice offered a little better deal and has many opportunities.   He has decided on his first choice and so begins the filling out of all the paperwork.  I have been looking at what a boy needs to pack for college, those lists are hard to find.  What to pack and how to decorate for girls are all over the place.   It is much harder to find lists for what boys might need for college.  Sprat does not drink coffee per say, so he will not need a coffee maker.  It seems I know more about what he will not need than what he will need. 
We recently dealt with a dead battery in Sprat's car, I do declare that kids today do not know how to deal with adversity.  Maybe it is just my kids, but I am pretty sure there are others dealing with this same thing.  Some days I feel as though I have done too much for my kids, they have not struggled for things.  I guess I should really thank my Dad for letting me drive a big ole piece a junk, that first car I drove left me stranded on more than one occasion and brace yourselves this was before cell phones......  I should preface this with the fact that the first vehicle I learned to drive was in fact a pick up truck, mine was a real truck.  It was not some souped up, jacked up, big tired piece of junk you see girls driving these days.  Mine was in fact my Dad's pick up truck.  It was beat up but, it was mine to drive when I needed it and I was darn glad to have it.   There were kids in my high school that drove a lot nicer cars than I did but my Dad taught me a really good lesson.  You work and earn your own wheels if you want to drive anything nicer.  The truck never let me down, the car I later drove did leave me on several occasions.  I drove the truck until I learned how to drive a straight drive.  I have to thank my Dad for that too, not many girls in my high school drove straight drives or even knew how.  I unloaded all of this on you to tell you about the battery fiasco with Sprat.
Sprat came in one evening and mentioned right before he was going to bed that by the way, his car had been hard to start these last couple of days.  The hubbs went out and he was able to start it.  He said it was a little sluggish and that the next morning I should go out and listen to him start it so that I would know what to tell the guys at the shop.  Well it is pretty easy to describe silence, yep you guessed it the little black berry would not start.  With great hesitation and reluctance I gave my eighteen year old the keys to MY car.  Ughhhhh, what was I thinking????  With glee in his eyes that I have not seen since he was probably eight years old Christmas morning, he took my car to school. 
It was indeed time for a new battery.  The way they put batteries in these cars these days are so crazy that the average person or even the Auto Zone cannot replace it.  I had to go to my mechanic to get it replaced and they had to special order it from the dealership.  Ughhhh.   Finally at three o'clock I had the new battery and all was good with the black berry.  I prayed that all would be as good with my car when Sprat got home with it.  I got text from him periodically through the day how nice my car was and how great it drove, all I could think of was that song by the Beach Boys, "Fun, Fun, Fun"  if you do not know the lyrics google them. 
With this anecdote, I will share what I picked up to add to Sprat's packing list for college. 
I bought him a kit that has jumper cables, gloves, bandages, and a head lamp to leave in his car.  I have a first aid kit that I made up for each of us to have one in our cars, just in case.
This is my wisdom for today with regard to kids, especially boys getting ready to go off to college.
Stay tuned I am sure I will figure out what he will need in his dorm before it is too late.