Calling all U of I parents! We’ll be in town on Saturday morning for your Parents 101 sessions sponsored by the Mom’s and Dad’s Associations. Free cookies, on site ordering and lots of fun. See you there!

I just wanted to report on our newest feature. We now have separate mailing lists for all of our partner universities! When you place an order, you can select to be on From-mom’s mailing list, or the list pertaining to a specific university fundraising program.

Our From-mom.com newsletter includes reminders and special offers. We don’t share your information with anyone else! You’ll just get information from us including coupons, shipping deals, and new products.

Our fundraising mailing list is really just a reminder service! If you son or daughter goes to one of our partner schools, select their mailing from the menu at checkout, and we’ll send you reminders about when finals are, how long it takes to ship there, and more. Don’t worry,We don’t share these mailing lists with anyone else, either!

One of the great parts of sending a care package is the message enclosed. Reading the messages you guys send is one of my favorite parts of this job. Some funny, some heartfelt, and some sure to cause your child embarrassment. They fall into a few categories…

Short and Sweet: I love you, Love Mom and Dad, Enjoy, etc.

Funny: Enjoy stuffing your face, don’t forget to brush your teeth.

Emotional: I can’t even think of an exact quote here…They tend to be very lengthy…I’m missing you every hour of the day. Please know that we love you more than anything, enjoy this magical time of the turning of the leaves and changing of the winds. I’m not kidding here.

Whatever kind of message writer you are, keep doing what you do. Your kid will love hearing from you.

Starting in October, this blog will feature our favorite message of the month-not to poke fun (well maybe a little) but mostly to display the love you can send through a care package and a little note.

PS-don’t forget to include the message when you order because it is the only thing in the box that says who it is from. There is no order information, packing list, or receipt in the box!

I’ve got a cracker problem! Some of our favorite products, Starr Ridge Crackers and Graham Crackers, are no longer available.  We’re having a heck of a hard time finding a good tasting, healthy cracker that comes in a reasonable sized package. Any ideas cracker lovers? If you have a favorite cracker that you think we should carry, please let us know!

Right now we are carrying Milton’s Crackers and Wisecrackers, and they are both delicious — but everyone needs a little variety! Thanks for your help!

All of us over here at From-mom are Mac people. We just LOVE us some Apple. If you are in the market for buying a laptop for your college student, check out this article in the Houston Chronicle. Bob Levitus writes 12 reasons why Macs are the best choice for college students. I felt it necessary to not only pass it on to you guys, but also give my own list…..of my 12 favorite apple flavored products! You can by an apple computer and a care package full of apple yummies and have the happiest kid in the world!

1. Apple Izze Soda

2. Sensible Foods Crunch Dried Organic Apples

3. Kar’s Yogurt Apple Snack Mix

4. Green Apple Jones Soda

5. Chunky Apple Muffin

6. Apple Cobbler Breakfast Cookie

7. Apple Cinnamon Pure Bar

8. Dr. McDougal’s Apple Cinnamon Oatmeal

9. Apple Bon Bons (I just LOVE these!)

10. Bear Naked Apple Cinnamon Granola

11. Caramel Apple Jelly Bellies…coming soon in our Halloween Package!

12. Crispy Green Crispy Apples

There you go…12 reasons to by an apple….and 12 delicious reasons to build your own care package.

I just wanted to wish everyone the best during Move In! It is such a crazy, busy, totally fun experience, so we wish you our best for a successful semester! One of our customers had a great idea and I thought it was worth sharing. She purchased a care package club for her child, and all of her family members put money towards it. Then, each package had a note signed from a different family member, Grandma, Aunts and Uncles, etc. I thought it was such a neat way to show that the whole family is thinking about your student and supporting them. Check out our 3 different club options if you’re interested!

Happy back to school to everyone, and don’t forget to order your Welcome Packages!

Greetings!

One of our favorite parts of being care package ladies is searching for awesome products. We’d love to hear feedback on products that you’ve tried, or products that you’d like us to carry. We recently returned from the All Candy Expo in Chicago and found a lot of great new products. Keep an eye out for many new delicious options from chips to beef jerky, and all things ENERGY! Two of our favorites happen to candy products, so get your sweet tooth ready…

Crackheads

“We are all addicted to something” is their slogan and I got a good chuckle out of it. They are chocolate and white chocolate covered espresso beans. I like these beans more than a lot of the others because they have just the right amount of chocolate-not too much and not too little. They are delicious and perfect for the coffee lover. Crackheads will be available in the BYO Care Package starting in August

Bon Bons

I trip back to high school for me, these candies were only availble as a school fundraiser until this year. We bought these every day from our spanish teacher! They are so tasty, and I guarantee if you ask your kids about them, they enjoyed them in high school as well. They come in five different flavors and they are featured in our Welcome Package and can be purchased in the BYO starting in August.

This is such an exciting and busy time - especially for those parents of high school seniors. We are ready to welcome you into the wonderful world of being a parent of a college students! All of us are wondering what to get these grads. I graduated awhile ago, but not too long ago to remember that I got money-lots of money, and I liked it. I was wondering if that was still the case today. Of course, I have to say that a care package club would be the best possible present a grad could ever have, but I thought there might be some other interesting ideas, so here is what I found..

On this top ten list, Money was still number 1, followed by “Oh the Places You’ll Go” by Dr. Seuss. I think this one is a little played out, but sentimental if that is what you are going for.

Number 3 on the list, and ipod….what? are there teenagers that still don’t have an ipod? I don’t believe it!

The rest were typical-computer, digital camera, except for #6, and idea I’ve never heard of and I’m pretty happy about it.

Commemorative Coins-I do not know an 18 year old kid who would be excited about commemorative coins. If you are going to give “money”, let’s just stick with money. As they say, Cash is King…Coins are just….Coins.

The funniest gift idea (at least to me) was highlighted in this news article I read in our local paper. Kids are asking for designer bags for graduation. I don’t care how hard my daughter works in school, honey, I have a hard time believing she deserves a $6000 Hermes bag for it!

So there you have it, a lot of ideas, but none better than $$$$$ (and a care package)!

Got a great idea for a graduation gift? Let us know!

Hello to all you moms ( and dads and everyone else) out there and welcome to our blog. We are so excited to be able to expand our website to include a community where we can connect with our customers. We’ll be talking about the joys and frustrations of having kids in college, our glamorous lives as care package ladies, and of course food (our favorite topic!) Please feel free to respond to our comments and contact us with ideas about things you’d like to discuss.