by Rachel Mcclain

Created on: December 12, 2007

Your little girl isn't so little anymore. She's a full-fledged woman, living on her own in a dorm room now. But, with the holidays approaching you have full license to pretend she's a baby for a few brief moments, if only because it means you get to spoil her with a few things to help outfit her dorm room for the upcoming semesters. She'll definitely thank you for it as she rips into the packages and you'll appreciate the hugs.

GO ELECTRONIC
Boys are the only ones who like bells and whistles and things that go beep, blip and ding. The pretty blue glow that you see emitted from windows of dormitory windows comes from girls' rooms too. That's because they like televisions and need a computer as much as their male counterparts.

But, when you are shopping, think small. Dorm rooms are notoriously small and you'll want to keep that in mind as you go whizzing through the electronics department ready to buy your angel the big screen TV that she certainly deserves. Remember too that while flat screen is the greatest in new technology, dorm rooms shy away from letting you mount much on walls, short of thumbtacks and that weird gummy stuff that you can put on posters. So, stick with a small television she can put on her dresser or desk.

If she hasn't got a computer already, think about a laptop. She can carry it to class, work on her papers in the library and even use it to take notes instead of the old fashioned pen and paper route. And it will take up less precious space in her already cramped room than a desktop model.

ORGANIZAION
Girls have a lot of stuff, with clothes, accessories, shoes, makeup and toiletries; they don't get a reputation for being high-maintenance for nothing. Help her out by getting her a closet organization system. The organization gurus, The Container Store, has a whole section devoted to dorm rooms and there are really innovative and stylish options that you can buy for your daughter that will surely outfit her room to keep it both neat and trendy at the same time.

Keeping in that same vein, you can help her redo her desk or buy her some more accessories for it or for her room as a whole. Buy her a new comforter or bedding set that will brighten her dcor. Get her some matching, kicky accessories for her desk. Pick up some funky frames for her wall that she can showcase some memories that she's made with new friends in.

ENTERTAINMENT
Girls just want to have fun and it's never truer than at college. There is no shortage of television on DVD these days

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