Additional Coverage:
- I’m planning every aspect of my son’s college dorm room with the moms of his future roommates. I wonder if we’ve gone too far. (businessinsider.com)
From Dorm Room to Design Studio: How College Prep Turned into a Wedding Registry
Sending a kid off to college is a rite of passage, a bittersweet moment for parents. But for some of us moms, this transition has taken on a whole new dimension, thanks to the ever-present group chat.
My younger son is college-bound, and the dorm room group chat started innocently enough. We shared orientation dates, dorm layouts, and even tried to recruit a fourth roommate via Facebook (he ghosted us, by the way).
Then things took a turn.
Suddenly, the chat became less about logistics and more about interior design. Matching bathroom rugs?
Check. A stockpile of cleaning supplies?
Double-check. An espresso machine for the dorm room?
Triple-check (and a little bit of mom-envy on my part). We’re comparing meal plans and coordinating color schemes like it’s a wedding registry, not a dorm room.
My older son’s college move-in was significantly simpler. A few essentials, and he was good to go.
No themes, no matching towels, and certainly no espresso machines. He and his roommates figured it out, just like college students have been doing for decades.
These moms are wonderful, and I understand the desire to make this transition smooth for their sons. But I can’t help but wonder if all this planning is a little much.
My own dorm room back in ’88 was decorated with hand-me-down posters and a lace-trimmed pillow. It wasn’t Instagram-worthy, but I survived.
My younger son seems less than enthused with all the fuss. He shrugs and says, “I’ll figure it out.”
And I believe him. Ultimately, we parents are grappling with letting go.
We want to ensure they’ll thrive without us, and sometimes that manifests in obsessive planning. But what they truly need isn’t something we can pack in a box.
They need resilience, adaptability, and the ability to navigate their own lives. And just like we did, they’ll figure that out too.
Even if the towels don’t match.