A Surprise from Home -- Packing the College Care Package

When my oldest first started college I sent a care package to her through her university. It was a simple click, buy, and deliver to her dorm. But it was just a bag full of candy, and she's fairly health conscious, so I decided in the future I would make and send my own.

I've enjoyed assembling care packages for her these last four years, although not as frequently now as a few years ago. Still, even in her senior year, I can put together a decent little goodie box and cheer her up when she's had a bad week or is stressed about exams, or boyfriend challenges.

I've included some strange (and not so strange) items in her packages, depending on the situation. Some of the items I've sent to her over the years include (in no particular order):

• Girly stuff like soaps, mini hand lotions, lip gloss, and sachets for her drawers

• Food items like microwave popcorn bags, peanuts, fresh fruit, dairy-free chocolate, tea, homemade hot cocoa mix, mini homemade banana bread, and spices (she loves to cook)

• Mini manicure sets, a new toothbrush, gloves, fuzzy socks, gift cards for pizza, Chipotle, or Starbucks

• Coffee, air freshener for the community bathroom, protein bars, new pens, pencils and highlighters

• Cash (of course), laundry nuggets, mini-stress balls, puzzles, a favorite book to read when she needs to regroup from a test or exam, small stuffed animal

• And finally, a personal handwritten note for encouragement. 

My daughter enjoys these little packages and she almost always calls or texts me right after opening them. To be honest, I like to send care packages because I get a kick out of putting them together, as much as she enjoys receiving them. It makes me feel connected when she's so far away.

More on College Care Packages

There are numerous online companies that will send a care package to your child with just a click (and a credit card) including carepackages.com and Campus Cube, but it's easy enough to pull one together with a trip to the dollar store and the market. It's also more fun for you.

If you want to go high end, Harry & David's or The Popcorn Factory offer fun gift sets at a variety of price points.