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Are your kids starting to leave for college?


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We have until September 11th until move-in day. All of my son's friends are leaving before him. They are leaving one at a time so ds feels compelled to join in the *Last Hurrahs* before they go off to college. The festivities are lasting until as late as 3 am. A few times per week wouldn't be so bad but lately it's been every single night. Because he is working full time at our pool now, he's tired and can't wait for all of them to be gone so he can sleep. LOL.

 

How are your kids doing?

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Drop-off for my last is Tuesday, but in order to be there at 8 a.m. we are leaving tomorrow.

 

I was watching her play in church today (she's an organist) unable to really understand that this was her last "performance" here -- going to hear her play at churches, performances, competitions, and accompaniment gigs has been my part-time job for years!

 

Dh is with his family because of a death in the family, so I'm doing this alone. GULP! I am choosing the post-drop-off music carefully and bringing lots of kleenex.

 

This past week Dd2 has been hanging out with friends almost non-stop. I think she may be preparing for dorm life!

 

Hugs to everyone about to do drop-off. I think this is one of the hardest moments in parenting.

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That's a lot of partying!  I don't blame him.  

 

We just dropped dd1 off yesterday for her freshman year.  I did so well and managed to say goodbye without crying.  And then I got home, cried myself to sleep, and woke up with a migraine.  I couldn't be more excited for her....but it still hurts.  Luckily our 3yo isn't missing a beat, so I don't have much time for wallowing in self-pity!

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My son is the only one among his close friend group who graduated and went off to college last summer. Everyone else is heading off for their freshman year now.

 

One of his close buddies left for an early kick-off by taking three classes during the summer session. So, he's already been gone for a couple of months.

 

Another is doing a summer music program based at the same college he'll be attending, and it didn't make sense for him to come home for just a week or two in between.

 

My son has his last weekend of performances for his second summer show and then needs to kick it into gear and get packed. He's due back on campus the last weekend of August.

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We dropped DD off a little over a week ago.  Note to self:  do NOT listen to country music on the way to drop-off. Country music can make me cry at the drop-of-a-hat--let alone on drop-off day!  I cried on the way up, but I did not cry any other time.  She has a great roommate.  The apartment-style dorm is awesome.  Her school is beautiful. The chancellor is awesome.  Her professors seem great. There was really no reason for me to cry after I saw how things would be for her.  God is good!  I am so excited to see her blossom into a self-confident and competent woman.  

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Middle son returned to school yesterday since he needs to be there early for his RA job, but he went straight there from CA, so we didn't get to see him.  We may try to get up to see him over his fall break in Oct, but that will depend on a few things like my job and how busy he is.

 

Youngest returns for his sophomore year next Tuesday (25th).  Had he been a freshmen or working with freshmen, he'd have been there already.  He ended his overnight job after last Friday night and is spending this next week re-landscaping the rental house we own that's between tenants and having his last hurrahs with friends (many of whom are also leaving).  We hardly see him at this point.  Once he leaves we won't see him again until Dec when he returns for Christmas break.

 

Time is flying by, but all our kids are doing well (even oldest who is finished with college).  There's a bit of satisfaction that comes from seeing our baby birds fly even as we're wistful about the nest being so empty.

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Ds is commuting, so we don't have drop off. But he is resigning from worship team and tech support at church due to his class schedule since he won't be able to make meetings or rehearsals. So he sang this morning for the last time in the foreseeable future, and I have to say I felt a little misty.

 

One of our previous couch surfers leaves Wednesday. She is in such a good place now, and we are so proud of her. I am certain I am going to be weepy after we say goodbye, but determined to keep it in until after she pulls away because I do not want to rain on her excitement.

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Move dd20b in on Friday. Dd22 has been going back and forth all summer (she has apartment). She went back Monday and now has gone to visit grandparents for a while before school starts Monday week. Dd20a found our sister was going to grandma's and decided to join them, so she left today since she doesn't work again until Friday. She commutes to college/no moving in required.

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DD#2 has move in day Friday 8/21, followed by 4 days of orientation.

DD#1 leaves for a year abroad on 8/24.

 

I have jury duty starting 8/24 - so there's a chance I will get called in for that. If not, I am going to make sure my son and I get outta here every single day and do SOMETHING. He's so very close to dd #2.... it will be weird for them to be apart. Probably a good thing, but still a hard adjustment. Definitely hard for me. :( I am happy for her, but it's bittersweet. She's a lovely person to be around, and I am not good at adieu.

 

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Drop off for our youngest is this Thursday.  We still have so much to do here like getting her a new cellphone, transferring medications to a local branch of CVS, buying a few more things, setting up her adhd coaching sessions, etc, etc.  She has a single room with a single bathroom (which she needed for medical purposes) and that means we bring it all- refrigerator, microwave, cleaning supplies, etc.  No sharing of responsibilities with a roommate. We also need to do power of attorney documents too.  Too much to do!

 

 

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Ds is also on quarters and doesn't return until September 17th. Having experienced being the very last one to go last year, he wisely chose a summer seminar abroad that lasts three weeks. He leaves for that Friday and then has one week at home (but that will include two nights spend out-of-town with grandparents. :/) before he returns to school.

 

Honeslty? I am ready to have some routine back in my life, and he is ready to go. The rest of his friends are trickling away this next week. So, yes, there will be many last hurrahs. One or two have already gone.

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We helped DS move back on Thursday.  We texted a bit an hour or so ago and he says everything is going well.

 

And I admit to being a bit happy to have the house a little more peaceful. ;)  What a difference a year makes -- last year I was sad and anxious about him leaving.  Then after he was back home for about a week I was ready for him to go back. ;)

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This will be the first time that I have not done the drop off.

 

I will be having a teacher in-service day on the day that my 19yo is supposed to move in, so this year my dh will be doing drop off. 

 

We did learn that you show up ON the day given and within an hour of the time given. That is the only way to get assistance with move-in.  If you show up at your move-in time, a crew comes to your car, unloads it into a laundry bin, and takes it up to the room and waits for the student while the student gets her key and mom parks the car. The entire process from the time you pull up in front of the school until everything is in the room and out of the laundry bins takes about 15 minutes.

 

 

 

 

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Yes, several of DS's friends have left and others will leave this week.

 

We have friends who did multiple drop-offs over the last week. Our piano teacher has three in college at three different colleges, so she wisely just took off all of this week to get them all situated.

 

Mine is commuting, but we've been gathering books and a few supplies. Saturday is his orientation (I'll be in my faculty meeting at the same time), and then we both begin Monday evening. I'll be teaching downstairs in the computer lab, and he'll be upstairs in the art room.

 

I still can't believe that it is nearly here.

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We did our drop off on Friday. It went well - he had good help unloading and it went very quickly. Parking the car was a pain - they had filled two remote lots that they told us to go to and I ended up at the visitors lot that was only about a block away from the dorm. This after spending nearly an hour driving around and waiting in parking lines. Oh, well, i guess we can't have everything! 

 

I don't think it has really hit me yet, though. We'll see what this week brings. 

 

 

 

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Dropped ds off in June to attend a summer language intensive, then he came home for a week, and went back last Sunday to start FROG week, which is like an intense boot camp. When I saw him at FROG graduation yesterday I cried like a baby.  Since then I've been fine, because it kind of feels like he's been gone all summer. 

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Dropped my son off yesterday. I cried the morning before we left and just on the hug goodbye and most of the way home. I blubbered in church in this morning. I almost cried because I wanted to go back to college too. 

 

I am so happy for him and am not really worried about him; just sad we are here so fast.  Good luck to all who still have to drop off. 

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We dropped off my junior this past Friday.  Then dh made a second trip to her school because she forgot things.

 

Then we dropped off my freshman yesterday.  That one was hard because she cried 3 times in 20 minutes driving down.  Then was fine for hours until we left.  We weren't planning to go back today for the medallion ceremony, but with the tears, we felt it best.  (an hour drive each way)  DH picked up boy from camp and I went to see dd.  I'm glad I went.  She is doing much better and I think she liked having me there after all.  DH and ds were actually done soon enough that they could have gotten there in time (squeaked in the door at starting time), but dd said she'd rather us come next week for lunch or dinner - as a reward for making it through the first week.  I need to keep remembering that she is not her older sister.  If it takes baby steps, so be it.

 

Actually dh was texting oldest dd (State girl) about her sister (Campbell girl) crying and State girl not.  State girl's answer was something like "not on the outside".  <sniff, sniff>

 

 

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Moved my daughter back into the dorm yesterday.  I was happy that she let me help this year . . . last year she moved into the dorm for the first time in the second semester and just loaded her little car by herself and moved without any help.  This year she let me take the van and help unload.    She actually has a roommate for the first time.  My daughter is very introverted but seems to have found a roommate that is even more introverted than she is . . . she's been put in the unusual situation (for her) of being the one starting conversations!  It'll be good for her, I hope!

 

Thinking of all of you who are saying long good-byes.   My dd is only 10 minutes away so, though it's a change, it's not that same as what most of you are facing.  I was able to meet up with a dear friend from my college days yesterday who was moving her son into the dorms also.   She was struggling mightily to keep the emotions at bay and I was tearing up with her.  Good times and tough times all mixed up together.

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My daughter moves in in about 10 days, but hopes to be able to sneak away from time to time to work at our family booth at the State Fair.  It's in the same city as her college.  (2.5 hours from our home)  She's transferring to a new college this year and without a sister nearby for the first time, ever.  So, she's a little apprehensive.  I'm hopeful it will be a good year for her.

 

 

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Dropped off oldest this afternoon. He's a transfer. So, he has orientation for a couple of days. Classes start wed. The school is an 8+hour drive. We drove down yesterday. Ds is 2E and does not handle stress well. This resulted in it being good to leave. He did call us while we were driving home to update us on what he'd seen and done and what his roommate was like.

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We moved ds into the dorm last Friday. They have orientation through tomorrow. School starts tuesday. 

 

Ds is 2E and I've been really worried about all the transitions, but I think he's doing just fine. He is only about an hour from home and today dd ran a care package to him with all the things he'd forgotten plus some cookies. Dd looks like a college freshman herself, so she doesn't embarrass him by being there.

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I almost cried because I wanted to go back to college too.  

 

Glad to see I'm not alone!  Every time we drop one of ours off or visit campus I find myself wistful for the higher level of knowledge/experiences around.  I'd love to sit in on many of their classes, but I think that might be taking helicopter parenting a wee bit too far (sigh).

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We dropped dd off Friday. She has had orientation activities all weekend, and she already registered because she did an early class selection. Her classes start on Wednesday. She seems to be doing well. We all talked to her last night for about 45 minutes combined, so that was nice. 

 

Her little brother lost it when it was time to leave. We all cried, but he was bawling. None of us expected quite that much, especially him. 

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Our daughter is moved in. Her roommate brought way more stuff than our dd did, and dd wondered where it would all fit, but they managed. My daughter was also kind of freaked out about the amount of Febreze they were spraying. We used Lysol wipes to clean, but we all have an aversion to heavy scents from air fresheners, candles, perfume, etc. We have a family orientation event later today, and the rest of this week is student orientation. Classes start next week. We sure do miss her! She cried a little at lunch the day we moved her in, and her younger sister cried when we were leaving. My daughter said the student orientation is very structured, which I think is good. Just talked to her, all's going well, and she and her roommate are getting along fine. :)

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Just drove 1500 miles to drop #2 son off at his SpaceX internship.  He is a "graduate intern" because he graduated with his BS in May.  He will start graduate school in Fall 16.  It was an exciting time driving into LA from Las Vegas..4-5 lanes of traffic moving at 80 mph tailgating one another down the curvy mountain.  We had a Bentley tailgating our Honda for goodness sake.  DS was driving, I was nagivating, we survived...but I think I aged a bit.  He kept drying his palms.  If he survives the traffic this fall, he'll be an awesome driver.

 

We flew back from LA on Sunday night, son #3 picked up car at the airport and headed to OSU (only an hour drive which was nice because we arrived around 9 pm) and started classes on Monday morning.

 

Son #4 is planning to move into his dorm room tomorrow.  His school starts a week after #3's...which is nice because it gives us a bit more time to move in an organized fashion.  Just have to finish getting some forms uploaded...immunizations and insurance verification.  *Sigh* it was so much easier enrolling in college back in the 80's.

 

At some point I will get some time to clean this house.  I've logged about 5000 miles in the car since mid July.  

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We're at my mom's getting her settled in right now (she's commuting from my mom's house). First day is Friday and we leave Sat. It's all a little surreal.

 

So far we've had one sort of accident (motorcycle took off her side mirror), one check engine light ($300 repair) and one very sick little brother (fever, congestion, very red throat). I'd say this is the usual way things go in our family. It's always something!

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Practically ours, honorary daughter, former couch surfer, left this morning, sniff, sniff. I'm excited for her, but will miss her too. We are acclimated though. She had been able to move in with aunt a while back so she wasn't "surfing" here anymore which was very good for her. This move forward is even better. So, I'm already planning the first care package and since elderly aunt won't be able to make trips to college, I told her that when there are family events, dh and I would come if it didn't coincide with ds's events. I think we are going to surprise her at homecoming this October. She had a ride to school today who could also take all of her things, but I think my mom, "almost grandma" will be fetching her at Thanksgiving.

 

Ds's first day of classes is Sept. 8th.

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Dropped dd2 off at college yesterday.

 

She is a transfer and is living in upper-class housing, so much to my surprise and amusement we didn't meet a single sole on campus in the 5 hours we were there! (Upperclassmen were helping freshmen move into the freshman dorms, but she doesn't live there!) There were three other lonely transfers moving into her 100-person apartment complex, but no one (including an RA) said more than hi. Her apartment-mates are all moving in tomorrow.

 

Dd2 left right after lunch for a mandatory meeting, and I managed to not cry too much! She has met a bunch of people and is enjoying herself.....

 

 

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Dropped our oldest off at his dorm today. It is only 15 min away but feels like 500. I am not sure who is struggling more, me or my dd.

 

On the plus side, his roommate is a Junior in his major and the roommate was homeschooled. It was funny to watch them discuss math curriculum.

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Setting up our freshman son today.

 

I will be out of the country for the official move in day and ds was disappointed that I wouldn't be around to set his room up.  It surprised me, as he is so incredibly independent.

 

I called the school and received permission to get into his room today, even if he is not staying.

 

In a half hour, four of the kids and I will head to Susquehanna!  

 

I realized that we were about to send him off to school without too much fanfare.  He isn't the first.  He is so independent, we forget that he needs us just as much.  This a huge deal - going to college.  I am thrilled for him, but with so much going on lately, it was becoming one more thing to do.  I really needed to reframe things.

 

He is very excited his siblings are going today!  He'll be able to show off his beautiful school!

 

Best wishes to all of your kids!

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So many sweet stories!

 

I might have to skip the Kiss N Bye ceremony because if I see everyone else crying, I will lose it! We will be seeing ds every weekend for brunch anyway, and I can easily get over to his dorm, even on my bike. It's not like he's going too far away. LOL

 

Good luck to everyone's kids!

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My son is using the living room as his staging area, forcing me to deal with it every time I walk by. I noticed that he had my favorite travel mug amongst his things. It had gone missing a year ago apparently because he took it to college last year. I took it back but then felt so guilty that I bought him a new  and better  travel mug plus some personal supplies, Ramen and even some Dino-Egg oatmeal. The leaving for school thing sure messes with this Mom's emotions. 

 

We will be driving him down tomorrow for his second year.  I'm sure going to miss him.  :crying:

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My son is using the living room as his staging area, forcing me to deal with it every time I walk by. I noticed that he had my favorite travel mug amongst his things. It had gone missing a year ago apparently because he took it to college last year. I took it back but then felt so guilty that I bought him a new  and better  travel mug plus some personal supplies, Ramen and even some Dino-Egg oatmeal. The leaving for school thing sure messes with this Mom's emotions. 

 

We will be driving him down tomorrow for his second year.  I'm sure going to miss him.  :crying:

 

LOL!  I can relate to the travel mug thing.  I've "lost" so many things over the years...just to find them again when the kids come back for the summer :)

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Dd's second year starts on Oct 19.  Move in day is Oct 16 (and ends mid-February).  She's in a dorm in NYC.  It's such a pleasure driving her in because we pull up right in front and about 8 students unload my whole car into 2 huge, wheeled bins.  It makes everything so quick and easy.  Dd can't wait to get back there.  

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Ds starts his second year on the 31st. He spent nearly all summer up at school- took core classes during the first half, just took one PE class during the second half (PE is a graduation requirement). He came home last week for about two weeks and will go back at the end of next week.

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Dropped ds off at the airport this morning after his 2 weeks of rest and relaxation.  I shed 1 tear.  Ds has 3 basketball games before/after Thanksgiving, so we've decided to fly out then.  I can't make myself visit in Dec/Jan/Feb for games, though dh will go again.  I'm excited because I've wanted an excuse to change our latest Thanksgiving tradition.  Sneaky.  :001_cool:

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Dropped Dd#2 Friday for four days of orientation.... kinda feeling like she was coming down with something. Well, it has turned into a full blown something, including headache and fever. She has been doing all the absolutely mandatory activities, but skipping most of the rest. TBH, I can't say I am upset about it. The 'O' week stuff is kinda nuts!, (says the introvert). Dd#2 feels the same way. She is really looking forward to classes starting on Tuesday and shaking off this virus. One good thing, I think she may have found her 'peeps' - at least to start - in the materials science dept. She was thinking that might be the place for her, met a bunch of the profs and ugrads yesterday at a 'major explorations' event, and they hit it off right away academically and otherwise. (Yay!)

 

We are going down today with the family to have a birthday (dd#2)/bon voyage (dd#1) dinner together. Very bittersweet for me. I wish I could be the Pooh type, but deep down I am more of an Eeyore. Boo. I keep working on it. :oD

 

I am sending good vibes to all the hive kids - hope they are having a glorious first few weeks and have landed in good spaces!

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I skipped orientation. Dd2 is child #4.I think both she and I knew that I wasn't going to learn much by attending. She is put-together and can figure everything out on her own.

 

We never talked about my bugging out after lunch before all the lectures and talks. Parents were invited to stay until 7:30. But after lunch, she stood up, gave me a hug, and left.

 

Quick, sweet, and done. I'm still reeling 5 days later, but she is launched and I didn't cry (much).

 

Safe sailing to all of our "little ones" who are now setting their own sails!

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One thing I'm thankful for is that each one of them were excited to be going back to school, starting around 2 days before departure from home.  It's bittersweet.  I know that's how it's supposed to be, and I'm so happy that they've each found a place they love.  At the same time, a twinge of sadness that they have learned to love someplace other than "home".

 

Yes, now that my son knows he actually has a place to live on campus and, therefore, will be going back to his school, he's been nearly bubbling over with thoughts and plans and enthusiasms. I'm so happy for him that he loves his school, although I will confess to just a little, secret wish that maybe he might at least pretend to be a tiny bit conflicted about leaving home.

 

He hasn't yet firmly decided when he'll head back. We're less than two hours from his campus, and he doesn't have any pre-semester activities, since he's a returning student. Dorms open for continuing students on Friday, but there are a couple of local things he may want to stick around for on Friday evening and/or Saturday afternoon. So, he's thinking it'll probably be late Saturday afternoon or early that evening, but he wants to check in with his on-campus friends to see when they are arriving and whether anyone would be available for dinner or anything that day.

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Breathing deep & responding to this post....

 

We moved our first dd in this weekend.  It was a whirlwind of activity, her room is set up & uses her space efficiently.  Her roommate was upset that she didn't loft her bed all the way up, because it limits floor space.  But, the day after we left, the roommate decided she also wanted her bed at chest height.  The first thing they'll have to work out together.  

It was so hard to see her walk away from the car after saying goodbye, but we made it short & sweet.  We all saved our tears for after we drove away.  Her eyes were glassy, but she held it together so well.  My car ride home was the time for me to let my emotions flow.  Then I was good.  I'm sad for myself, not for her....she is so busy with welcome activities that she is going non-stop.  

 

Our new normal will take awhile to get used to.  

 

I hope you are all hanging in there & that your kids are having a great start to their year!!

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