I got a piece of mail from the Art Institute today — actually, it was addressed to ‘the parents of ‘ me, but I figured it was just random financial aid information, or open house schedule or something, so, curious, I open it.
It took me a minute to figure out just what it was that I was looking at, but when I did, I felt a little squishy inside and longed to be a barely 20-something living in a dorm, funded by mom and dad, to whom this piece of mail would actually apply.
It was a ‘Finals Care Package Order Form’. Basically, finals are coming up, and the school sent these out to parents of the students (well, in theory…since I’m paying for school and am above a certain age, it just came to me) to let them know that it’s that time of year and their kids are going to be studying hard and might need a pick-me-up or a little extra energy to push through, plus warm thoughts of home to ease their stress, and that AIP would help them with that. They offer 4 choices of care packages that the parents can order and have delivered to their students during finals time (of course, along with a caring note from mom and dad to say how proud they are).
The Relax Pack, which includes a 1-month net flix subscribtion, pizza gift certificates and microwave popcorn
The Nutri-pack, which includes bottled water, granola bars, fresh apples and oranges, etc.
The Cafe pack, which includes cookies and bottled Starbucks frappachino drinks
The Snack pack, which includes Little Debbies, chips, candy, etc.
The letter just made me long to be 19 years old, and away from home for the first time, burning the midnight oil at a too-small desk in a dorm room, trying to tune out my roomate’s snores (I assume there would be a montage),
and opening the door to find a special package with a note from home reminding me that people love me somewhere. I’d get all misty-eyed, and clutch the note to my chest, while across the country, my parents would look at each other as they sat on the porch swing of a middle-class house in the suburbs and smile, knowing their daughter was making them proud.
Also, in this image, I would be leggy and naturally slender, on the petite side, with perfect glowing skin and naturally shiny hair. And a cute little curved nose. And perhaps, freckles.
Okay, so the ‘me’ I’m thinking of probably looks a little like:
Shut up–there’s nothing wrong with wanting to be Rory Gilmore. She’s adorable, super smart, nice, has a great relationship with her mom, lives where it snows…
Regardless, I just thought that this was a really sweet idea from AIP. Just, ‘Here — your child is going to be working hard and letting them know you care would be great for them right now!’ It’s just kind of cool.
and 
