new load

The incoming students appear to be a good group of kids. At the parents reception last night, one mom shared the advice of intrusting the college bound with independence while they are still in high school. Allow them to manage their own money, have them do their own laundry, etc. This builds their confidence in a safe environment and is one fewer challenge during the first year away from home. My parents did this.

This reminds me of the first time I did laundry on campus. I blocked out an entire Thursday afternoon in Lankenau's Laundry Room. I loaded one washer, waited for it to end, loaded the wet load into the dryer and started my second load. As I'm folding my fourth dry load, a resident comes down and loads up four washers all at once. I was dumbfounded. We never could do this at home! And, it never occured to me that it was "fair" to hog all the washers and dryers. Quickly I realized this college norm. Laundry always went quicker after that! I also learned that Friday or Saturday nights are the best night to do laundry (before going out, of course).