I feel like I’m “old hat” at sending kids off to university and here I am…about to do it again as my oldest leaves in less than a week for her SECOND degree…and then there’s next year, when I get to do it all over again with Child #2!
It’s what we want for them isn’t it? That they head off into this wonderful world to explore their passions and dreams…make goals for their futures.
It’s just not exactly very easy…piling up the car, sending them off. Holding your breath, keeping in tears…pushing them out the door when really, all you want to do is drag them back in.
Besides the emotions of it…you spend a great amount of time making lists, gathering items around the house to fill kitchens, bathrooms and new living spaces…deciding what needs to be purchased while trying to fit within a budget that’s already been obliterated by tuition, computer, books, residence, meal plan and travel expenses…not to mention the astronomical amount of things that are needed for these new places they’re about to call home.
For the last several weeks, my daughter has been on the search for an apartment. This being her second time around, her choice of student housing comes with a few more expectations. She’s lived in residence (that was grungy and likely soon to be slated for demolition), a brand new residence (somewhat like a glorious hotel suite), an apartment in France for her year abroad (that had us putting an apartment together in Europe on one crazy adventure) and a three bedroom apartment with a few friends for her final year. Four different places in four different years! This time around, degree #2, there’ll be an apartment in a city she’s never been to…where she has spent multiple hours on end looking at Pinterest boards trying to figure out how to do this with a little bit more class and style…maybe a few less posters taped to the wall and one or two items that will actually find themselves in frames.
With two weeks to spare…an apartment has been secured close to the university…small, but with new appliances, a lovely kitchen, a separate living area and bedroom complete with washer and dryer. Nicer finishes than she’s had in the past…subway tiles, stainless steel appliances and hardwood floors.
She’ll be leaving soon…to make it her home.
If you’re like me, if you’ve been around the block researching living arrangements and decorating dorm rooms…or if you’re about to do it for the very first time…there’s help!
Canadian Tire has put together a site with some fabulous ideas for helping your university student head Back to Campus…including some fantastic Student Life Hacks for making the most of a small space on a budget!
And…you can enter your hacks for a chance to win!
Student Life Hack Contest
All you need to do, share a photo or video on Twitter, Instagram or YouTube referencing @CanadianTire and using the #StudentLife hashtag! Enter for a chance to win daily prizes of $100 gift cards and a grand prize of a $1,000 gift card…just by sharing your best student life hacks…like using a shoe organizer on the back of the bathroom door for all of your bathroom items…or putting your dorm bed on risers to make room underneath for storage!
Click here for full details and inspiration!
And…if you’re not too busy checking off the massive to-do list, packing, purging and trying to get everything in order this week…so you can stuff your child’s belongs into a car or a few suitcases and send them on their merry way…join us for Canadian Tire’s #StudentLife Twitter Party with over $2,000 in prizing!
Destination Back to Campus Twitter Party
Date: Wednesday, August 19th
Time: 8:00pm-9:00pn pm E.
Host: @CanadianTire
Hashtag: #StudentLife
Details: $2,000 in prizing, No RSVP
Honestly, from experience…this is an incredibly exciting time filled with angst and turmoil and excitement for not just your child heading off to university…but for you.
There’s something about watching them grow up, fly on their own, chase after their dreams and goals that makes you feel like you want the time back…where you’re decorating nurseries instead of dorm rooms…where you’re sending them off to the pre-school down the street and not some college hundreds of kilometres away.
And yet…it’s exactly, what you’d hoped and dreamed they’d do.
Disclaimer: This is a sponsored post for the Back to Campus campaign for Canadian Tire. All opinions and stories, as always, are my own.