<p>I hardly ever cry now, and I am adjusting to the idea .My husband has this idea that we should become foster parents ,but it would be mostly MY responsibility .Not sure, but said I would attend a meeting .How are all you doing ? Thanksgiving is coming, so we will have them back for a few days .Yay!!</p>
<p>We are doing OK with the separation but it sure is quiet around the house. Daughter is in Masachusetts at WPI, we live in SoCal. She had a week break mid-Oct. She came home, which was great, but it was sad to see her go again. </p>
<p>She is doing very well (better than I hoped for) and we use Skype to video conference with her about once a week. That helps a lot. </p>
<p>Thanksgiving is going to be tough as she is not coming home. You waste a day traveling each way and the break is too short. </p>
<p>Counting the days to Christmas break.</p>
<p>Gosh, I can’t wait until mine leaves next fall.</p>
<p>emilybee- Wow,are you sure you won’t miss him?</p>
<p>I cried for a solid month last year. Then it just went away. What does rile me is that he seems to feel my calls are disturbances. HMMMPHH! Now I feel like I am paying a bundle so that my best friend won’t want to have anything to do with me. I suspended his cell service for a day last week, and now he answers the phone… a little.</p>
<p>I’m kind of dreading this day, next August. I am actually thinking of quitting my job in March, so that we can go somewhere over spring break, take an April trip for last-minute college decision visits, and an after-graduation vacation, plus just spend time with my daughter before she leaves. Not to mention the trek across the country for move-in. Is that crazy? I hardly have any vacation time built up, and I was planning to completely change careers anyway next fall.</p>
<p>Yes, I am sure. We sent him to sleep-away camp for 7 weeks every summer since he was 7. He loved being away and we loved him being away.</p>
<p>Wow, you might want to find something beyond your kids. What happens when they graduate and move out? Isn’t that what we want? Don’t get me wrong. I love my kids, and all our memories of those days when they were little (and I was younger). But, I don’t think it’s healthy to spend your days crying because they’ve left. I’m glad it’s lessened, but there’s so much more to do.</p>
<p>Fauxmaven, how’s your volunteering going? Are you still working as a nurse?</p>
<p>Sent my first away in August - he’s now in DC and I’m in Texas. But it’s been easier than I thought - thought I’d cry more, etc. But he seems so happy and I know he was ready - he was always very independent. Of course, I still have one at home (a junior), who’s much more of a homebody. My answer may be very different in 2 years!</p>
<p>I had a fairly easy time when our older son went off to college in 2008, but it was hard on my husband, because they were very close.</p>
<p>It’s going to be strange to have an empty nest. I’m excited for my kids to grow up and be adults, but at the same time, it takes away my identity a little bit. For many years I was “just” a stay-at-home mom. Then I went back to school and got into a career, which as it turns out, I do not love. I feel like I’m floundering a bit, and it would be really nice to have something exciting to look forward to next fall.</p>
<p>I do not think I will cry a lot, but I might flounder a little, for a while.</p>
<p>I sent my daughter to college in '08 and because I still had 2 at home and she was incredibly high maintenance, it was pretty easy. Sent my son to college in September. The day after we dropped him off my 10 year old black lab(faithful friend and running companion) was diagnosed with an aggressive cancer and died a couple weeks later. So it was kind of a double-whammy. We still have one at home but at first I just felt really “off”. Six weeks later we have settled into a new rhythm. That and I have bought a new puppy who will be coming home in 4 weeks (when everyone is home for Thanksgiving) so we have something to look forward to.</p>
<p>It was rough at first but now I’m pretty much completely adjusted. I have been job hunting and plan to switch from my part-time position to something full-time. Have re-connected with some friends, and enjoy my house staying neat. Also enjoying a little space from the daily dramas that come with a teenage daughter. Also I can cook whatever H and I want to eat, without worrying about what the kids like, and if we decide to eat out or order in it’s a lot cheaper with only 2 of us! The weekend evenings are kind of quiet and boring, I need to ramp up the social networking to fix that.</p>
<p>It’s been easier than I expected, given how close we all were (he’s an only child). The first weekend after we came back from dropping him off was very spooky around the house, and there have been occasional returns of that feeling, but mostly, the peace and quiet (and relative cleanliness) have been nice. It may sound funny, but more than anything I miss his piano playing, which was a constant soundtrack to life for the past 10 years. I miss his company too, but he’s been amazingly good about keeping in touch, which makes that easier.</p>
<p>So all in all, it’s been a really good, healthy transition. He’s happy. We’re happy. We miss each other, but not to the point where it makes us sad.</p>
<p>I’ve stopped reflexively wondering when he’ll be home, where he is, etc. He’s not here! My brain has adjusted!</p>
<p>Maybe it’s been easier because we’ve seen him about every other weekend for something or other, at least for a few hours. Nice.</p>
<p>And I’ve taken on all the musical projects I can handle, so I’m not sitting on my backside moping. :)</p>
<p>I was happy to see mine go. I want her to have her own life! It was definitely time. My husband is a different story. To fill the empty nest quite literally, he decided to start hatching wild turkey eggs (which he buys on eBay, of all places). Now we have a pet wild turkey, Jenny, who is everything to him that his independent daughter is not- cuddly, needy, and contrary to her nomenclature, not wild in the slightest.
So get a hobby.</p>
<p>I’m just starting to get my head around the fact that this is the new normal. I still want to do everything in fours - set four places at the table, cook four chicken breasts, etc. But he’s doing great at school and we see him fairly often, since he’s only 50 miles away and we have season tickets for football games. It’s still wierd, though for him to go back to his dorm afterward instead of home with us. And I wish he’d bring some of his friends to our tailgate!</p>
<p>tptshorty–LOL! how does your D feel to have been replaced by a…turkey?</p>
<p>D is so into her college life, she is glad my husband has someone (something) else to lavish attention on. There were also the wood ducks that he hatched, but they flew away, so he goes around the neighborhood looking for them instead of bothering her. I tell you, husbands are strange. Why couldn’t he just take up golf, like me?</p>
<p>maybe she’s not really super busy… the real reason she won’t come home to visit is…we’re crazy!</p>
<p>tptshorty, Does your DH plan on “inviting” Jenny to your Thanksgiving table? Of all things, why did he choose to raise a turkey? I can understand a cuddly puppy or a fluffy kitty, but a turkey?!! Your daughter must love telling that one.</p>
<p>Been nice!!!</p>
<p>Cleaner house; food stuff still there in the refrigerator; more time for going out and a lot more time for getting closer to wifely.</p>
<p>Skype ~ once a week . . . irks wifely that we initiate the contact but I think that’s the way of the world</p>
<p>saw DS last week for Fall break . . . will see DS for Parents’ Weekend in a few weeks . . then Thanksgiving . . the Christmas, so we have a lot of contact coming up</p>
<p>Yes, we miss the kid, but as Dan Hicks sang: “How can I miss you if you don’t go away”</p>