I remembered from my first go-round to bring necessities not listed in the college dormitory's move-in guide: plastic hangers, scented drawer liners, tools to un-jam a balky closet door.
But what I didn't remember when my daughter and I arrived last week at San Francisco State is how difficult it can be to drop off your kid, leave campus and get on with your life.
I'd been through the drill in 2003 with my oldest daughter. Then, we wandered wide-eyed through every reception and information session that Stanford offered. Two days later, we said tearful goodbyes and I headed home, confident that my child would be well cared for.
This time, my youngest daughter and I joined an endless sea of families jostling for 20-minute parking spots to unload computers and microwaves and cases of water bottles. Then we hauled our stuff up four flights of stairs.
And it struck me that if Stanford was a village, this was a city. And I was about to leave behind an 18-year-old who was pawing through our carefully packed boxes for the teddy bear she'd had since she was a baby.
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A lot has changed in the six years since I left my first child at college -- before grown-ups were allowed on Facebook, laptops came with webcams, and parents knew how to send text messages.
Now it's easier to stay in touch -- even stalk our children if we want. But I found it's just as hard to say goodbye.
College officials have given up trying to rush the goodbyes. Instead, they're channeling the energy of hovering parents with longer, more elaborate orientation programs; some even include sessions for siblings and grandparents.
Surveys show that parents want information in three areas: wellness, safety and how to support their children from a distance.
That's what I got at the lone orientation session I attended last week. But it made me feel more worried, not more secure.
I learned that in random screenings, 30% of students at San Francisco State had sexually transmitted diseases. And that you could connect the dots from that to binge drinking.
I heard from the university police chief that students venturing off campus are easy targets for thieves, with their fancy iPods and "$600 phones."
He said "aggressive law enforcement" on campus might keep our children safe, but it might also get them sent home. On move-in day, the police chief told us, two students "lit up a little dope in their rooms" as soon as their parents hit the highway toward home. "They're done," kicked out of school before they'd even begun.
