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Before Your Teen Leaves: Dorm Packing & College Prep Tips
17 Plays1 day ago
Are you overwhelmed by social media dorm trends and giant retail packing checklists? You are not alone.
In this episode of The Positively Healthy Mom, we are breaking down the ultimate guide to college transition prep. We sit down with Lara Becker, founder of The Dorm Guide and author of The Dorm Room Guide, to cut through the consumer noise and focus on what your rising college freshman actually needs for a happy, healthy, realistic and budget-friendly move-in day.
Lara shares her expert, practical advice on navigating the emotional "senior summer" rollercoaster, stepping back to let your teen take the lead, and avoiding the over-shopping trap fueled by viral TikTok and Instagram dorm reveals.
What You’ll Learn in This Episode:
- Why you should throw out standard retail packing lists and what the true essentials are.
- How to avoid the "Ritz-Carlton" dorm trend and style a functional, comfortable space without overspending.
- Understanding your teen's complex emotions and back-and-forth behavior before they leave.
- Practical ways to give your rising college student real responsibility before move-in day.
- Why a simple measuring tape is your best friend during college visits.
Whether you are feeling the emotional weight of letting go or just trying to figure out how to fit your life into an extra-long twin bed setup, this episode is the perfect antidote to back-to-school anxiety. Tune in for an honest, grounded conversation that balances the logistics of packing with the heart of parenting.
Support from Host Laura Ollinger:
- Positively Healthy University - Right now she can handle her schedule, her grades, her responsibilities. What she's still building is the emotional toolkit she'll need when she's on her own. Enroll her in Positively Healthy University today!
- Connect On Instagram: @positivelyhealthycoaching
- Let’s Work Together To Make Your Connection With Your Teen or Young Adult Joyful!
- Rate this podcast!
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Transcript
Emotional Challenges Before College
00:00:00
Speaker
The summer after senior year of high school, before college, especially for boys, and this is not just my own experience. I've seen this with thousands of people in our Facebook group. i feel like the boys disconnect because they're not ready to admit that they're leaving.
00:00:15
Speaker
But they're, you know, they're not wanting to show that emotion that they're scared, right? They don't want to show that they're scared to go to college. They're not going to know anyone. You know, nobody from high school is going to their college. It's a whole new world. So,
00:00:27
Speaker
We have to give them a little grace because those emotions are kind of getting pushed down, I think. And so it's giving them the ability to, okay, you don't want to shop for your dorm room. That's fine. We'll just get you a few essentials and we'll go from there and and not push too much, but help where you can.
Introduction to the Podcast and Guest
00:00:45
Speaker
Hello and welcome to today's episode of the Positively Healthy Mom podcast. I'm your host, Laura Olinger, teen and young adult wellbeing coach and founder of Positively Healthy Coaching. Today, I'm super excited to introduce Laura Becker, who is the founder of The Dorm Guide and author of The Dorm Room Guide, which I have a copy of right here. So I'm so excited to get into this topic today and ah this content because As I mentioned, my daughter just graduated from high school. She's heading off to college. She's my oldest of four teenagers. So I feel like everything I learned today is going to just be fresh and new and exciting to hear from you and so pertinent to this time in my life.
00:01:23
Speaker
And I know great information to share for our audience as well, who has so many that are doing the same
The Origin of The Dorm Guide
00:01:28
Speaker
thing. So Laura, first, just like tell us, like, how did you get into being um an expert on dorm rooms? You know, it all started in 2021 when I was getting my first child ready for college. And I started his, he went to a small school and there was no good information on his school's website about what to bring or what he needed. It was my first foray into this. And so I started researching online and looking at every time I would look up a question or try to find a product, the answers were Really? That's what you recommend? It's like 3.2 stars on Amazon. I don't really understand that. And so i would I just kept looking into it. And then I started to really understand the world of influencers and affiliate marketing and what people were doing. They weren't telling me from their heart, this is the best product to have. This is the one I get commissioned on. So I was like, okay, where do I actually get honest advice for what we're about to go through? And I really struggled, but I muddled through it. i did a lot of research. I like to research. I come from a digital marketing background, so really comfortable in that space.
00:02:32
Speaker
Did all the research, got them set up, got them moved in got back home and thought, now what am i going to do with all of this information? My next child's not going to college for a few years. yeah And I just learned all this. and I'm like, you know what? I'm just going to start sharing it. And so I started a little Facebook group.
00:02:48
Speaker
And then I started a website. Because I have that digital marketing background, that wasn't a big stretch for me. yeah And then it just started taking off. So in the summer of 2022, when the next batch of kids were graduating from high school, We, you know, I just started sharing and more people started following and it has evolved from
Purposeful Dorm Preparation
00:03:07
Speaker
there. And I get so much satisfaction. It gives me, now that I'm an empty nester, it gives me so much of a purpose. And I love it. I love helping people get through this phase because it's emotional.
00:03:20
Speaker
The kids are nervous and that comes out in different ways. And, you know, some of it is over shopping. Some of it is, you know, ugly behavior and soiling the nest. and there are all those things that we go through. And yeah so... How do we keep it positive?
00:03:32
Speaker
How do we keep it affordable?
Critique of Extravagant Dorms
00:03:34
Speaker
i have a big focus on non-toxic because a lot of the stuff that's out there that's marketed for dorm has a lot of garbage in it. So yeah that was the genesis of it. And it just keeps growing.
00:03:46
Speaker
Okay. I love that. it all It all resonates with me so much, especially like the over shopping, like just like i I'm an over packer. think most yeah most ladies tend to be on trips because we don't know what we're dealing with till we get there and we want options. And so I can only imagine, you know, my daughter and I haven't started shopping yet because we don't have a roommate yet. But as soon as we go, I know we're going to just hit the ground running and we'll probably just go crazy. So so glad I'm talking to you today. And I would love to just introduce the idea which so many of us are familiar with if we have kids this age, especially girls, where this like dorm rooms turns into like the Ritz Carlton of a dorm room. It's like yeah is like the the fanciest, prettiest, most beautiful thing. And um you have two sons. So I'm kind of curious i on your take on this, but also really, I love just your insights on like, is that really
Writing Against Unrealistic Standards
00:04:36
Speaker
necessary? And and what does that do for the students?
00:04:39
Speaker
You know, it's funny when last summer, three different book publishers reached out to me about writing a book about dorm rooms, and it's because they're seeing all that Ritz-Carlton dorm on you know social media, and they wanted me to write a book about it. And I said, I will not write a book about that because that is not normal. That is the very small percentage of people doing that, but it is the large percentage of what is getting passed around on social media because the algorithms are looking for that engagement.
Simplicity in College Transition
00:05:02
Speaker
If you look at the comments in posts that have rooms like that, it's not positive engagement in a lot of cases. yeah It's people saying, why would you do that? Why would you spend that much money? you' only going to live there for nine months, that kind of thing. So when i Penguin Random House is my publisher, and I said to them, I want to write this book as an antidote to that.
00:05:22
Speaker
so And it's not because I'm a boy mom, because I spend a lot more time with girls and girl moms, getting them ready for college. It's because you're only going to live there for nine months. And honestly, If you overdo your room and it just looks amazing and you hire a professional decorator, which does happen, you could be alienating people on your hall, right? So they don't have the money to do that. They don't think it's necessary, but they think you're in a different you know bracket than they are. And so I don't think that's a great way to start out college. And I love the idea of just come in, be yourself, and you start over when you go to college. Don't start with all of that spending and overabundance and and just no form
Researching Dorm Needs
00:06:05
Speaker
of struggle. College is about learning both academically and personally. And if you go in there and you're all set up and everything's perfect, are you really learning? Are you so are you having a little bit of a struggle? is your bed a little bit uncomfortable? So i I get it, and I love to help people decorate their rooms so that they're they're really cute, they're gorgeous, but they're not over-the-top and expensive. I love that. I love that because I do see that on my feed, and I'm like, whoa, what is happening? Like, this doesn't feel right, and it doesn't feel normal because, you know—
00:06:34
Speaker
When i think of college kids, I mean, I can't say I was a starving college student eating ramen noodles, but, you know, that's kind of what I think of, right? you Like you're saying the struggle, the learning, that the really kind of getting perspective, like what is important in my life and what is important in this time? and I feel like maybe we're just kind of, a setting the bar too high, that then when they graduate, they won't be able to sustain that on their own. And so it's like, well, then there's there's... nowhere to go but down from here for a while until maybe someday they can kind of recover that, you know, view and image and lifestyle.
00:07:08
Speaker
And so, yes, i'm I'm glad we're kind of talking about this. So what is, like, tell us your tips and your secrets on how to make it pretty, how to make it kit cute, but also functional and reasonable and cost-effective.
00:07:19
Speaker
Right, so the first thing everyone needs to do before they start shopping for a dorm room is research. Because if you follow influencers and if you follow brands like Pottery Barn, they're, you know, here, buy this TwinXL, this, and then other brands are saying you need these five things. Well, every single dorm is different. It's not like when we went to college. And everybody had a twin XL bed and the rooms were pretty much set up the same. So different now. We see bed sizes, twin, twin XL, full, full XL, lots of suite style dorms that are more like apartments or that at least have shared common areas, small kitchens, bathrooms that are private in those suites or even just between two rooms. My son at Auburn
00:07:58
Speaker
Auburn doesn't have one communal bath situation in their dorms. It's all private baths. Private baths mean you have to clean them in most cases, too, which is a lot of fun. Four boys in one bathroom. oh Right. So he didn't need a shower caddy.
00:08:13
Speaker
Because he had a bathroom attached and they just kept their shower stuff in the shower. But a shower caddy is on every packing list you're going to see out there. And that's why I say avoid the packing lists.
00:08:23
Speaker
So the biggest tip I can give you is avoid all those really pretty with the check boxes and all the colors yeah that tell you here's everything you need to buy. You don't need an extension cord because they're mostly not allowed in dorm rooms anymore because of electrical considerations and risks.
00:08:39
Speaker
you know, where your laundry is. You don't need a rolling hamper, laundry hamper, if your laundry is three floors down and the only way to get there is by stairs. And so it's just taking into account everything that is specific to your dorm room and then really analyzing the rules because they're different everywhere. If you're going to go to school in California, the rules are vastly different there than they are in a lot of the rest of the country. Fabric drawer dressers aren't allowed.
00:09:06
Speaker
Curtains, rugs, things like anything that's possibly flammable is just prohibited. So but that's different everywhere. So most people think I need to bring a rug and a mini fridge and a microwave.
00:09:16
Speaker
And I'm telling you those three things and whether or not you can bring them is very dependent on your school and even the dorm that you're going to be in at your school. So it's research. Yes, that's such a great answer. And finding that information, obviously, on your college's web website that has the housing um portal or whatever that might be. ok Yes.
00:09:35
Speaker
And you're not always going to be able to find. We have a list of 25 questions to try to answer before you shop. It sounds like a lot, but they're they're not huge questions. But at least it gives you that foundation. And if you can't find all those answers on your housing website, which was the case with me with my older son who went to the tiny school with no information, it's helpful if you look for parent Facebook groups.
00:09:55
Speaker
um YouTube can be a good um help. A lot of kids do walkthroughs of their dorms and they post them on YouTube and you can actually see how everything lays out and they talk about this was great. I'm so glad I brought this or this ended up not being useful. So that can be another source as well.
Parental Involvement in Dorm Shopping
00:10:11
Speaker
Yes, I have to tell you a quick little story. um yeah So last summer, I was a volunteer at a camp um in California. So I was actually staying in a dorm room at the University yes at the university of San Diego. I mean, had not been in a dorm room since I was in college, since my sophomore year. And I was pleasantly surprised to see that they had the built-in kind of chargers in the actual furniture. So like in the headboard, um i was like, well, this is cool. This is fancy. It felt like a hotel. Really? Really?
00:10:40
Speaker
That I haven't seen. That's funny. And, and you know, ah a lot of the schools, no charging furniture. no you know, and you're if you're bringing a surge protector or a charging thing for your desktop, it has to be UL listed. i mean they're all of those rules. So if they provide themselves, then you don't have to worry about...
00:10:56
Speaker
all the rules. But that's, I have not seen that. That's amazing. Yeah, I have a feeling maybe that's why they do it because they want it to be to their standards and and they had it built into the desk and everything. So it was really nice.
00:11:07
Speaker
Okay, so you know this idea of like parental involvement. So you know I coach college college kids and I coach kids going off to college and every family is different and I'm sure that'll be part of your answer. But um a lot of moms just want the kids to figure it out on their own. They're either busy or they just feel they are capable to figure this out. So sometimes I'm...
00:11:26
Speaker
The one like, okay, what do you need to pack? What do you need to buy? And I'm like searching for the list and things like that. um Other families, you know, we see the total opposite. It's this mom and daughter bonding experience or maybe, you know, mom and mom and son kind of last time to spend a little quality time at Target together before going off to college. What do you think? And I mean, knowing there are um these vast differences, what do you think is kind of just like the best ah combination of support versus just allowing them to make their choices?
00:11:55
Speaker
Okay, that's a great question. We see all kinds of variations. I will say our Facebook group has about 150,000 people now, and I see all the time people will make a post, my son has no interest in what he's bringing to his dorm room, what should I do? And so we see that a lot with boys. And as a bull mom, that was the case. And as I was buying things from my second son, and I was like firmly into this dorm guide then, and he's like, oh my God, mom, you've overtaken the dining room with all the I don't need all this stuff. Okay. Well, some of it was I wanted to test it out and see how it worked. But right when we got to the dorm room, when we got it all set up and and we were about to leave. He's like, oh, my God, this is amazing. I would never have thought to bring all these things if you hadn't kind of pushed me. Well, did he need every single thing in the room? yeah Probably not. But um he ah was happy with it. I would say in general, parents are...
00:12:45
Speaker
in general, too involved. I'm going to email housing and ask them if we're allowed to bring this or how big of a fridge we can bring to that. And I always respond, why don't you let your student email housing and ask that question? Because if you send them off to college and they haven't asked any of those questions, and they haven't gotten comfortable getting emailing housing or maintenance because there's a problem in the room.
00:13:08
Speaker
What if they call you and say, mom, the light bulb is out in my big, you know, overhead light in my room. Can you call maintenance? I mean, you don't want them to do that. So right this summer is a great time to give pushback and give them more of those responsibilities. When it comes to dorm shopping, though,
00:13:26
Speaker
um There is reining them in. So my one of the people that works with me, she's got a daughter at the same age as my son. And this one was she had a spreadsheet and it was categorized and links to everything, the daughter. And her mom was like, OK, no, we're not spending three thousand dollars on your dorm room. And so. Yeah. There's that reining it in. there's i i have an article where you can read about how to budget for your dorm room and use that as kind of a negotiation tool. Okay, if you want the $200 mattress topper, then where are we going to give back on something else? And so I think that that's really great conversation to have that negotiation and budgeting so that they don't just go crazy. um but you're giving them kind of free reign, but within a
Emotional Preparation for College Girls
00:14:12
Speaker
budget.
00:14:12
Speaker
Yes, yes, okay. That makes so much sense. Just a quick word before we get back to the episode. If you have a teen daughter heading off to college and you've quietly wondered what happens when she's there and I'm not, when something goes wrong at 11 p.m. and she can't call me,
00:14:29
Speaker
That worry is exactly why I built Positively Healthy University. It's a three-hour live workshop just with me and a group of 10 girls where she'll get to build the emotional toolkit no college prep class covers.
00:14:43
Speaker
How to sit with hard things, how to regulate without reaching for her phone first, how to build a real community when she gets there. I have got two sessions this summer, so head to positivelyhealthycoaching.com slash phu for dates and to grab her spot.
00:15:00
Speaker
I have tapped at 10 girls on purpose. Okay, back to the show. I kind of wanted to pop back to your oldest son. So what would your advice be? And I think you might've given the answer, but I want to clarify when you have a son, it's going to be a son. Let's just be honest. there i I can't imagine there's many girls that are like, I don't care. I don't need anything. Right. But when you do have a son, that's just like,
00:15:22
Speaker
you know, not kind of they're excited about college, but they're not really into that, that decorating thing. Like, is this the time that a mom really should kind of like what you did for your second son be like, okay, I'm on it. I'll help you figure it out. And that's my role. Cause I'm your mom and I love you. um Or is there a way to, to get them more engaged? I don't know. What are your thoughts?
00:15:39
Speaker
Yeah, I think, yeah you know, I took my older one to Target and at the time Bed, Bath & Beyond was around. And we went to some of those typical dorm stores. The problem is if you wait till July for some of those,
Bonding Through Dorm Preparation
00:15:50
Speaker
they are so picked over, you can't find anything anyway. And getting them excited about it early is even harder. So you can also take the approach of, you know your son says, I just need ah a blanket, a pillow and a toothbrush in my clothes and I'll be fine. Well, okay.
00:16:06
Speaker
My boys are starving all the time. Dining halls are great. Unlimited meal plans are great, but they get sick of them. There's dining hall fatigue. It's a real thing. They are hungry at 11 o'clock at night and nothing on campus is open. One of mine was an athlete and he is hungry 24-7, so he needed snacks. A lot of people, the dorm is three buildings away from the dining hall. it's sleeting, it's pouring rain, it's, you know, 10 below. I don't want to go to the dining hall. So, you you know, you've got to kind of go, do we need a mini fridge or not? If your school doesn't provide one, then do you need it?
00:16:39
Speaker
That is actually something I think is pretty necessary for most situations because of dining hall fatigue and late night snacking. But I had to handhold him a bit, but it did give us that time for bonding. And and i think now now that he just got out of college, I I think he looks back and he appreciates that, that time together. And the other thing I'll say about kids right after they get out of college, and even after they've been in college for a few years, and this is my favorite part,
00:17:07
Speaker
They start to see you as someone who, you know what, maybe my mom and my dad were right. Maybe they do know what they're talking about. Because all these years as a bit rebellious teenager, especially boys, I just thought they were dumb and I didn't listen to them. But now they're starting to realize that maybe mom knows.
00:17:26
Speaker
And it is the sweetest thing. I'm seeing that for sure with my oldest one. My younger one, meh, we're still getting there. But, you know, yeah. It's definitely something you see evolve as they go through college, as they become more
Parental Wisdom and Independence
00:17:38
Speaker
independent. And they email housing and maintenance, and they take care of things on their own. And they have a flat tire, and they have to fix it.
00:17:45
Speaker
And then they start to realize, gosh, I know why you wanted me to know how to change my tire, or what to do. you know Because they think theyre you know nothing's going to happen to me. My tire is never going to be flat. And then they experience it and it helps them grow and I think build that bond with you about how you've always been there to try to help them, even though it may may have felt like pestering.
00:18:04
Speaker
Yes, yes. So i that that's so beautiful because, you know, it's all about the meaning. Like, you know, things don't have meaning unless them, except for the meaning that we give them. And so if we, you know, are sensing any, you know, pushback or tension or anything like that, if we just look at that as a a gift, um some great quality time, some great time for learning opportunities or learning about budgeting or whatever it might be, um it can kind of bring some different energy and to the moment and because it's like, wow, i'm I'm really helping my
Supporting Post-Graduation Transition
00:18:34
Speaker
son launch. And maybe he doesn't appreciate it now, um but certainly in the future, he'll, you know, look back and be like, man, my mom, my mom was pretty awesome. Like she always, you know, was helping support me whether I thought I needed it or not. So that's I'm glad you shared that with us. I think that's important um yeah because that's what this is. It's like, I love what you're doing because it's not just practical advice, like that the kind of measurements and and what we need and what we don't need. But there's this emotional element, too, of just kind of like launching your your child off. So I can see you're nodding. i There seems like so something else on your mind. Yeah. Because there's a whole um section on our website called parenting. And it's really for for the parents to understand, you know, what are they going through? How do i handle some of these situations? And that the summer after senior year of high school, before college, especially for boys. And this is not just my own experience. I've seen this with thousands of people in our Facebook group.
00:19:29
Speaker
I feel like the boys disconnect because they're not ready to admit that they're leaving. But they're, you know, they're not wanting to show that emotion that they're scared, right? They don't want to show that they're scared to go to college. They're not going to know anyone. You know, nobody from high school is going to their college. It's a whole new world. So...
00:19:47
Speaker
We have to give them a little grace because those emotions are kind of getting pushed down, I think. And so it's giving them the ability to, okay, you don't want to shop for your dorm room. That's fine. We'll just get you a few essentials and we'll go from there and and not push too much, but help where you can.
00:20:02
Speaker
Yes.
Importance of College Orientation
00:20:03
Speaker
It's so funny, the timing, because it's like all spring semester before they graduate. The focus is so much on just kind of end of year AP, you know, exams and finals and grades and, you know, making sure the transcript is getting sent off, all these things. And then all the sudden you hit summer and then it's like, like those emotions then have a chance, like you're saying to kind of like bubble up and all the sudden it's it's this kind of thing. um It's so funny because my daughter, you know, I typically don't talk about her too, too much, but it's too good. It's too good not to share.
00:20:32
Speaker
Literally, the day after her graduation, or two days after we had a beautiful graduation party for her, it was a joint with her friends, and it was perfect. And that night, something changed. And there's this look in her eyes. And I said, honey, what is going on? Like, we just had the most perfect weekend with graduation. The weather worked out. My parents, my sisters,
00:20:53
Speaker
And she's like, I'm just ready to go. She's like, i i'm I'm ready to be independent. I'm just done. I'm i'm ready to go. I'm like, okay, well, we still have a little bit of time. And then, this is the best part, literally two or three days later, mom, can you come with me to my orientation after all? I wasn't going to go. was just going to send her on the on the plane. ah Mom, i really need you to... And I said, honey, pick a side. yeah's like a It's like a toddler who can't decide if they're ah a baby or a big kid, right? And they're this back and forth, back and forth. right And that's what I felt literally just within 48 hours. She's like, I'm out. And then she's like, no, I still need you, mom. I bet it was kind of... Kind of cute. The sweetest story. And you know what? Orientation, when I went to college, no parents went to orientation. Thank God, because it was kind of ah the first chance of you're out on you know your own for one night, and it was a little bit of chaos. But um now, like we went to Auburn's orientation. They call it Camp War Eagle. They have a whole track for parents and a track for students. And it just, at that school, I love that school, um but they just did such a nice job with that for parents. And they even have one, um
00:22:00
Speaker
kind of counselor person come in and talk to the parents about letting go, about letting your kids become adults and take care of those things on their own. And she was amazing. And I just highly, unless your daughter doesn't want you to go, um i highly recommend going if there is a parent track.
Documenting Dorm Details
00:22:15
Speaker
um if it's If it's just students, then you shouldn't go. But if there is that parent track, it really helps you feel comfortable with the environment that they're going into, what kind of support they can have. We got to see the dorms. We got to see a lot more things than we'd seen during the tours. um And yeah, it's a great thing to do. So I'm glad she's on board. You're going to go?
00:22:33
Speaker
Yes, I am. And originally, I didn't realize there was parent programming. That was kind of new. I think just in the chaos of spring, I knew we were registered. She was registered. I had the travel plans for her. But then I clicked on, I'm like, oh. And then she's like, mom, I want you to go. So I'm like, OK. So I quickly um hopped in with the plane plane tickets and all that stuff. So um yeah, I'm mix excited. The one thing you have to bring, or you can pick it open when you get there, is a small measuring tape. Because if you get to go see the dorm rooms and you can figure out how big is this window if I want to put a curtain here or how high does this bed actually raise, right? So, ok yeah, there are a handful of things that I suggest to parents so if you're going orientation or if just the student is going, send them to do it.
00:23:16
Speaker
Take lots of videos and photos because when you're sitting there dorm shopping, blind and you're like, i i went in that room, but I can't remember what it looked like in that corner. there a bump out there? And how did that closet door actually work? Can I hang something there? So just as much as you can document ok if you get to go. And if you have her dorm assignment by then and can get into that dorm, even better. Okay,
The Dorm Guide Resources
00:23:38
Speaker
these are such great tips. Man, I love it.
00:23:41
Speaker
Okay, so with our remaining time, i would love to just have you explain all your resources because I went on your website and man, it is packed full of information and stuff and you know guides and downloads and articles. and And then you have this book and then you have the Facebook group. Tell us, you know, for people like me just getting started, where's the first place we should go? And then how do we progress through all your information?
00:24:04
Speaker
Okay, so first thing you should do, go to the website, thedormguide.com. The first tab on the left is all about planning and budgeting and just start to read through like research and how to budget, that kind of thing to get your bearings. And then go and research your school, the rules, that the layout.
00:24:22
Speaker
Don't assume your bed's at TwinXL, all the things we've kind of already talked about. Can you bring your own fridge? do you have to rent a fridge? Are you allowed to loft the bed? How? i mean there are all those things that are different everywhere you look. So from there, the next tab is kind of um how to set the room up, things to think about, lots of little tricks and and hacks that we've learned over the years. then the next tab will talk you through what our product recommendations are. I have a dorm room in my house that I built a few years ago. I found, yeah, oh my gosh. It took me like 18 months to find dorm beds for sale. They're actual dorm beds that adjust and they're Twin XL. It's crazy. But we do a ton of filming up there.
00:25:01
Speaker
It is um a double dorm room right now. We have it set up one side girl, one side boy. And we kind of demonstrate things and show different products. We go buy the products, bring them in, test them. Does this really fit? How do we like the way this works? Is it organized and hold things? Is it going to get messy? Is it going break? um And so we do a lot of demonstrations there.
00:25:19
Speaker
Instagram is a great place to see all of that video conference. So we're we're the dorm guide on Instagram. um That's also on our Facebook page, which is confusing because there are Facebook pages and Facebook groups. So Facebook page is like Instagram where we post and you can make comments, but you can't make a post there. That's what the Facebook group is for. So if you have questions...
00:25:40
Speaker
You can come into the Facebook group, which has a totally different name, but because it's been there for so long, I don't want to change it. It's dorm shopping recommendations and deal alerts as long as possible.
00:25:51
Speaker
um But you can come in there, join the group, and then you can post a question. I answer every question. I spend eight hours a day doing that and eight hours a day doing all the other content. It's a lot, especially this time of year. Yeah. So, but please search the group first because it's been there for four years. And the questions are pretty much the same every year because the the needs are the same every year, right? And then the kids' nerves are the same every year.
00:26:17
Speaker
So all of those things are there. The book, if you're, you know, I just want to sit down and be able to open up to the section on how to layer a dorm bed or how do I organize my closet. The book is a really good place to do that because it kind of takes you from the beginning, from researching through budgeting, where and when to shop, like what things not to buy on Amazon, what things you should only buy on Walmart, that kind of thing. And there are reasons for that.
00:26:42
Speaker
So the book takes you through all of that without having to, you know, comb through a website and try to find the answer or through a Facebook
Flexible Approach to Dorm Preparation
00:26:49
Speaker
group. Yes. And i'm I'm a big fan of hard copy stuff. So that way I can like highlight and write notes or I could open it up and show my daughter and this is what she said. And so i and it's portable. You know, I like to just...
00:26:59
Speaker
bring in the car if I'm at a doctor's appointment and just, you know, instead of yeah set rate mindlessly scrolling, have an actual thing that will help me. So, yeah, that's great. Okay, any last bit of um tip or idea that we haven't covered that you think is super duper important?
00:27:16
Speaker
Yes, I think that a lot of families get hung up on thinking of every little thing. What are all the things I need write? don't want to forget anything. It's okay if you forget something. There's Amazon, Target, right? Things that you can buy after they move in. Don't plan on shopping at the local Target or Walmart at move in and expecting to find anything.
00:27:36
Speaker
It's bad here where I live in Atlanta and I'm not even near a university. um In July, it's already bad. It's really bad near the college campuses. um So whatever, you know, if you're looking for something that's very specifically dorm and is seasonal and might run out of inventory, you should probably plan to buy that over the summer. Mm-hmm.
00:27:54
Speaker
If you're looking for an air purifier or a queen-sized comforter, things like that, you're going to find those any time of the year. Twin XL, very dorm-related storage, dorm kind of decor, that kind of thing. That's the stuff that is out the door pretty early. um But don't worry about it being perfect when you're just, you haven't even seen your room yet. You can wait on some of those things.
00:28:17
Speaker
Yes. I just love your whole philosophy because it honestly lines up with just the way I coach my clients just on their life in general, because a lot of the people that come to me, um it's very perfectionist mindset and it's this all or nothing. And that's where they get the anxiety and the self-doubt and the procrastination and and everything that kids need help with because they think it has to
Closing Remarks
00:28:39
Speaker
be perfect. And the more I work really hard on moving people, especially even parents also, to kind of like 90%. Like, that's kind of the number randomly use. It's arbitrary. But like, is 90% good enough? Or like, for example, my kitchen or my family room, 90% of the time, it's 90% clean. And is that good? Does that work for you? Yes, it works for me. Other people might need to change that depending on their personality. But it's like, we don't need 100% the most perfect thing because at the end of the this is their life. It's going to change. They're going to move. You know, the focus isn't even the room. It's their experience at college as a whole. Exactly. and the networking and the education all those other pieces. So kind of keeping in mind, this is just one part of that puzzle or part of the pie. And so I love that you're just setting people up for success and also just in a realistic sense. And I love the non-toxic stuff. That's super cool from my perspective as well. Last thing we want is some bad chemicals. So thank you so much. And again, why don't you just repeat where people can find you?
00:29:39
Speaker
Sure. We're The Dorm Guide, at The Dorm Guide on Instagram, TikTok, Facebook. You can find the website, thedormguide.com. You can go to the long-named Facebook group, Dorm Shopping, Recommendations, and Deal Alerts. Or you can find the book called The Dorm Room Guide on any many anywhere you buy books. There it is. Yes. yeah There we go.
00:30:00
Speaker
Thank you so much for your time. And all the links will be in the show notes, so everybody will have access. Great. Thank you so much, Laura. When you get a chance, please go to the show notes and click on the link ratethispodcast.com slash tphmom to give my podcast a rating and review.
00:30:19
Speaker
And if this episode resonates with you, be sure to share it with your mom friends who are going through the same things. Be sure to tune in for next week's conversation. Until then, keep up the good work.