"DORM-ROOM DÉCOR" used to mean some combination of those generic posters once sold during freshman-orientation (AI Pacino in Scarface, Bob Marley's head shrouded in weed smoke, maybe Audrey Hepburn looking gamine with her cigarette holder), overflowing laundry hampers, and never-dry shower caddies for the shared bathrooms. And while I'm sure versions of this can still be found at colleges and universities across the land, the confluence of Amazon, helicopter-parenting, and Instagram-oriented decorating has ushered in a new era: the dorm room custom-decorated-often with a unifying color scheme-by Mom.
Recently, I, like reporters at People and the New York Times, have been sucked into a corner of Facebook dedicated largely to mothers who decorate their adult children's college dorm rooms. Dorm Room Mamas, at over 246,000 members strong, is just one of many parent-run groups devoted to dorm décor. What makes Dorm Room Mamas so interesting to me isn't the creative storage solutions, the DIY upholstered headboards, or the bespoke neon signs (names like PEYTON or MARLEIGH, above each roomie's bed, or college cheers-HOTTY TODDY at Ole Miss, HOOK 'EM HORNS at UT). What has me scrolling (and scrolling) is the group's underlying purpose as a place where helicopter parents support one another as they endure the wrenching process of letting their kids go free.
Not all members of these groups are helicopter parents, of course. Many are simply excited for the opportunity to transform a room from a cinder-block cell into something adorably color-coordinated.
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