Last summer before college

[TammyS]

So, this is my son's last summer before he goes away to college.  I know a number of you have already been through this before, and some of you are going through it now.  What I want to know is: Do you do anything special this summer?  Special experience?  Work on special skills (learning to live on your own skills)?  Is there any way in which you are deliberate about how you use this time?

[AK_Mom4]

We did some special family trips because we knew time together would be more difficult. Camping together, Disney World, that sort of thing. It's much harder to work around school schedules and summer jobs once they head off to college.

[Mom22ns]

Well, my dd is having hip surgery next week. Oh, and of course getting her wisdom teeth pulled. 

 

I don't think this summer is shaping up at all the way she had hoped and I'm afraid the memories won't be great ones.

[DebbS]

For many kids, the summer before their freshman year is pretty stressful as they look forward to a new chapter of their lives. Whether this describes your child or not, things are going to change and next summer the parent-child relationship will be different. So, I would suggest spending extra time with your soon-to-be college student this summer. That probably looks different for each family, but for ours it means opening many opportunities for long about-life discussions, filling them with extra love and encouragement and a few short trips/fun activities. 

 

My son, who has been in college for several years now, won't come home next summer if he gets an internship. And my daughter begins college in the fall. So, this summer will be the last that our family is together as a unit. I am sad about this, but I know that the raising children chapter of my life has to come to a conclusion.

 

We're making this summer count.

[bettyandbob]

Oldest ds had had such turmoil through his last year of high school that just surviving until he got on the plane in August was all we could do.

 

Dd goes this August. We aren't doing anything special. She is doing some ordinary things for the last time--swim team and attending nature camp. Sort of goodbye to childhood. She is teaching swimming. We will spend a few days camping at the beach. I'm going to suggest she volunteer at the ballet studio she's been part of for so long.

[Carol in Cal.]

I kind of mentally reviewed life skills stuff and also asked DD for input about things she did and didn't know how to do.  We spent a little time on how to do laundry, which I had thought she knew but usually did myself, and on how to think about a larder/menu planning, since she was placed into a dorm apartment without a meal contract, instead of the standard dorm room that we had requested. 

 

And in general we did more vacationing than usual, revisiting our family favorites that were in driving distance. 

 

It was nice.

 

PS  I also planned very tight shopping lists for the apartment and for groceries, so that we could shop quickly when we got into the area.  That was really crucial.  DD is studying in Chicago and we have relatives in Milwaukee, an easy drive away, so we flew in a couple of days before her move in date, and shopped for non-perishables at Target in Milwaukee, then drove her and them down to Chicago on move in day, put them all away with her, and walked her to two grocery stores there to buy perishables and familiarize her with the route and the stores.  Without really tight planning we never could have pulled this off.  Incidentally, in advance of this we ordered bedding, towels, and very warm outerwear to be shipped to the relatives in Milwaukee so it was waiting for us when we got there.  PSA for those living in warm climates--if your child is going to need the warmest winter outerwear where she is going to school order it no later than July; because companies who make the really good stuff, like LL Bean, sell out long before it gets cold outside and don't necessarily restock.  If you shop for it in early Fall, it is iffy, and by November it's definitely gone.

Edited May 30, 2016 by Carol in Cal.

[Melissa B]

Dd is spending the summer sleeping in and studying for the GRE. She's taking it in August and really wants this exam to be a one and done.

[Pegasus]

We focused on driver training, practice, and licensing for DD the summer before she started college.  She was an unenthusiastic driving student so we had waited until she was 18.

 

She also did a couple online (free) courses to prepare for her first semester courses, including calculus and computer science.  This did seem to smooth her first semester.

[teachermom2834]

I wish we were taking some last family trips and making memories. Truth is my ds is working hard and long socking away every penny to pay for school. I feel like he is learning valuable lessons and will have that skin in the game and will be truly appreciative of his opportunity come fall. So, it feels like the right way to spend the summer but it is making me kind of sad.

[swimmermom3]

Sailor Dude is teaching sailing most of the summer.  In three weeks, our Spaniard returns for his third summer. His month-long stay overlaps with a month-long visit with a French exchange student. We've gotten over some of our cultural shock from having boys who didn't like to do anything outside (last summer) and are looking forward to our last round of exchange students. Our Spaniard is meeting up with our French student from last year in Paris this summer, so that is pretty cool.

 

We'll camp and hike and enjoy as much of the PNW before our boy heads off across the country in August.  Unfortunately, one of our older children who seriously struggles with depression is living at home and that colors our summer. For nine years our youngest has lived in the shadow of his older siblings' struggles and is really ready to get out from under them. We'll miss him terribly, but are so happy for him on many levels.