Freshman and sophomore year we managed to work it out so that 6 weeks was the max amount of time that would pass without seeing D. The longest stretch - the 6 weeks, was between drop off and fall break freshman year… that was at her request, to give her time to acclimate. Junior year threw a happy wrench in the works as she did a study abroad in London… which meant we didn’t see her for the full semester (118 days, not that I counted).
I can’t even imagine her being 10-12 hours away. I know eventually that will happen but very glad it isn’t right now. 2 1/2 is doable. Of course she thinks we are way too close. I think she thinks I will be there camping out on the grounds or something. LOL
Haha I hear you @momtojoss . My oldest is attending a school 20 minutes away, and we still only see her about once a month (barring holidays and that week between apartment leases). It is nice to be able to meet her for lunch or dinner without too much planning ahead… this will be a different beast entirely with D#2. And D#3 is already talking about moving to London… baby steps 
If it happens, I will need to hit @toowonderful up for tips.
I posted this in the theater forum too. Although drama, it applies to MT. Everyone gets rejected. Yet in the end you just need one. Don’t give up.
Getting sad around here. We leave Tuesday afternoon, I seem to be crying a lot. D is very far away, and is very upset leaving boyfriend and all her friends. I know she will love it and she wouldn’t even consider another school, I kept asking her to consider other school closer.
The next few days will be hard. Packing is not going that well as every few minutes some other friend stops by. It will be a late night tomorrow !
She seems to have a whole lot of stuff. Any suggestions on packing?
@musicmama123 - my d had a lot of success with plastic compression packing bags for clothes, bedspread, etc. So much so, in fact, that her rolling duffles were almost overweight because she was able to cram so much into them using the compression bags.
We are big fans of the plastic compression bags, too, @EmsDad. Just used them again moving DD into her off-campus apartment this past weekend.
My theatre son’s twin sister leaves on Sunday - emotions are hard indeed. Thank goodness I have my son around until September!
Just finished packing up seven boxes of clothes, bedding, shoes and dorm items and will be heading to UPS this afternoon to get them sent off. One more week and then we fly off to get her settled in her home away from home for the next four years. It’s getting real!
Wow! I wondered about what you would do about all the stuff…driving it there? flying? etc. And yes. Getting terribly real.
To get d and all her stuff across country, we flew on Southwest which allows 2 free bags. We each rolled two large duffles and checked them plus we each had a carry-on bag and d also had a student backpack which fit under her seat totally which was completely stuffed. We were going to ship some stuff via UPS but since it all fit in the duffles, we just carried it on the plane. Each duffle was pushing pretty close to the 50 lb weight limit. I think we did end up sending an additional box after d settled in.
We did buy a bunch of bulky stuff once we got there, like a pillow, some storage containers for under her bed, mattress cover, a lamp for her desk, a shoe rack, etc.
@sopranomtmom best of luck! I brought a 43 pound box to the post office yesterday, planning to ship it out, and was quoted $94 to ship slow-boat style!!! Yikes! I price checked UPS and FedEx, as well, and it was all about the same. SO, like @EmsDad we are wrapping that sucker in plastic and checking it on the plane. So much cheaper! I don’t know about all of the rest of you, but we seem to be bleeding money right about now! Getting them off to college is expensive!!!
@dramasopranomom Yes the money feels like it is flying out in all directions at the moment. Just craziness!! And I thought auditions were expensive. The shipping wasn’t cheap for sure but we have a FedEx business account which helped considerably so we paid about $45 per box. Still pricey but not outrageous. So far the best deal I’ve encountered is the Uhaul van I’ve rented for $20 for move in day!
I spent 3 times what I thought I was going to spend on dorm room supplies. I never even calculated for shipping, which is over 200 so far. Plus the winter clothing and the new laptop. Bleeding out is my new favorite phrase. Perfectly timed was the quarterly school bill, last week.
wow we spent about 400 best news is that my D is paying for her own books made lots of money over the summer!
Any MT kids there yet and loving it? My D can’t wait to get started she has auditions the day after she moves in and has already found an accompanist who is also a freshman.
We leave next Friday was just looking at her production schedule we plan on seeing her shows every month if possible (6 hour drive yuck!)
Assuming that MOST of you have gotten your MT kids settled for Freshman Year, I want to wish them (and you) much health, happiness, and success!
Playbills new Big 10: The 10 Most Represented Colleges on Broadway in the 2017-2018 Season is out on their website now. I know this isn’t a predictor of anyone’s future success, but still it’s nice to see my D’s program ranked right up there.
@daughtersdreams makes paying the invoices easier… ; ) ha!
Oh my goodness you guys we’re leaving in ONE week to take our daughter to school a whole day’s drive away. Oh that’s gonna be one looong drive home. But, it’s my birthday weekend so we’ll be spending a day in the city and a day on the beach. Will be a madhouse since its labor day weekend but we’re going for it.
We’ve been settling in our daughter this week after 12 hours’ flight time and a journey of over 4,800 miles. We’ll have lots of time to reflect on the way back home.