<p>Hey all-just wondering about you and your newly emptied nest-are you getting much feed-back about how your child is doing?I get the barely acceptable minimum-3 or 4 minutes ,on a Sunday.So far I have heard a bit about roommates,classes,basic health.I guess this is pretty much what I expected.I envy those of you who get more frequent calls,like 2 or 3 calls a week.I guess no news is good news.Still feeling the first stages of empty nest,and yes I am volunteering at the local ER 3 nights a week (I love this) going to the gym 4 or 5 days a week,and look forward to being called as a sub as the school year advances .Thank God I have 3 sons as well,and one calls every few days to see how I am doing .</p>
<p>Getting my info via phone calls that last no longer than yours, and a few texts (in response to my sending one). I would love to have a half hour chat, but have not had one so far. I think that I am aware of the most important things going on in son’s life, so I can be happy with that.</p>
<p>My daughter calls or texts fairly often. We had a nice long chat this Saturday. We are very close so I’m happy she is in touch. I am leaving the calls to her. When I initiated calls it seemed as though I was always calling at the wrong time. Better when she initiates it. Of course, I’m not sure how good sons are at keeping in touch. One of my girlfriends never hears from her son unless she calls him.
Hope you start to hear more. Maybe send a small care package? That must be good for a call!</p>
<p>First one out of the nest is out of the country. She skypes weekly, answers my e-mails 1 or 2x week. We know she LOVES it, loves all her classmates, loves (most of) the professors, and the city, and, and, and…</p>
<p>We would love to hear from her more, although we are enjoying the quiet without her.</p>
<p>Yes, I sent a magnificent care package the second week of school,and did get extra phone call.Sent a cute Guatemalan carry-bag on Friday,so should hear when she gets it.I also have 20 year old son at college and he is the best ever when it comes to staying in touch- often e-mails me funny pictures and calls every few days.23 year old son calls about 1 time a week,and 30 year old son rarely calls ,but always answers if I call him.</p>
<p>fauxmaven - Good for you, doing volunteer work and getting to the gym! That is inspirational.</p>
<p>DS has minimal communication. At this point I assume that it’s a good thing, allowing him to set up his new independent life. But we did have to track him down on skype today (text msg ignored, unusual… uh oh, there I go starting with my worrying, wondeirng if that nice new phone is ok). Needed to discuss scheduling before purchasing airline tkts for Parent Weekend.</p>
<p>We get minimal communication from DS, but he seems very happy (I’m pretty sure I’d hear a bit more if he wasn’t.) But I have noticed from my very un-scientific sampling of friends and acquaintances that daughters seem to communicate more with their parents than sons. YMMV.</p>
<p>My son is not much of a talker, so we weren’t expecting much. But he has called every weekend so far, and we talk for five or ten minutes, which has us thrilled. He sounds really happy, which is the important thing.</p>
<p>DS calls about 2x/week for 10-15 minutes (answering my questions, not running on with his own info) and sends me intermittent texts (sometimes during class, I’m less than thrilled to see). Texts have been about laundry color sorting (week 2), identifying/bank info for college job, and some details re his college sport. Also, questions related to the logistics of having his late-summer girlfriend, still in HS, visit him (sigh). I’d like to be hearing more about his courses as his school is quite tough and during HS, he talked a lot with his dad and me about the substance of his courses. Still, I’m glad he’s not e-mailing me papers to edit at the last minute at work as a colleague’s daughter does! Even though his summer of working, sleeping, partying made his departure less traumatic for me, it’s very strange not to have him here. And even though I miss all his sports events that took up all our weekend time, I’m pleased that we have time now for long-overdue home projects.</p>
<p>VERY minimal texts from DS1 and only in response to mine. He was home for the weekend a while ago (not to see us of course - had a social event to attend), but if felt so good hearing him talk again. I know I can call him, but how would I possibly find a time when he’s not immersed in something important (ie watching football in a friend’s room or on his way to intramural soccer)? </p>
<p>I’m thrilled that he’s having a great time. I guess this is the price we pay. He did send me a picture message of his first Calc quiz (he got a 100 :-). That definitely made me smile!</p>
<p>My son usually calls once a day. Talks for a couple of minutes. Wants to know what’s up at home, what his kid brother is doing, how the rest of the family is. He also likes to let me know how he is doing in his classes or what plans he and his girlfriend have for an evening. Nice that we hear from him, since we live in the middle of nowhere and do not have cell service, so he cannot text.</p>
<p>Not much communication from S. From his Facebook posts and the occasional call, he seems to be doing great. Loves college.</p>
<p>He is not a big texter or emailer, so I leave the calls up to him so as not to call at a bad time. I will text on occasion, just something random, and he’ll text back.</p>
<p>He did call once in a panic while doing his laundry. He had the washers going and didn’t know if there was enough on his campus debit card to put his wash through the dryer ;)</p>
<p>My youngest D got a texting phone for her birthday, she probably texts him every day. I don’t think he minds, she’s his favorite.</p>
<p>geek_son has called me three times already! Once when I was out of cell phone range :(, once for just a few minutes :), and once for a good long time this week :D. This is very different so far from last year, when he fought his way through the first half of a very tough first semester (and then some) with almost no contact. As he’s come to understand that I’m here to support him but not to try to run his life, I think he’s become more comfortable reaching back to home. And I’ve gained some experience and balance as well. So far, it’s shaping up to be a good year. :)</p>
<p>I call my mom 2-3x a day and we usually chat for about 10 minutes or so. We also usually skype everyday for anywhere from 30 minutes to an hour and a half.</p>
<p>This may seem excessive, but I’ve always been really close to my mom and love to just chat to her about everything. It makes me feel like just because I’ve moved away doesn’t mean my mom isn’t my mom anymore. :)</p>
<p>We never hear from D…
She has never called us once and has only spoken to us when we have phoned her.
Otherwise its been Silence…Nothing but silence.</p>
<p>Mind you we did change the house phone number and our cell numbers the week she left, and when we call her we ‘hide’ our numbers using the privacy setting.</p>
<p>Will have to change our online addresses too if she doesn’t quit sending so many emails.</p>
<p>^^^^</p>
<p>Did the hospital call you when she was being treated for her extreme road rash injuries, or did you block their number as well? :)</p>
<p>I talked with a neighbor who also sent her oldest ( a son) to college this year. She was sad because she’s heard from him a lot less than she expected. I was happy because I’ve heard form my son a lot more than expected. Turns out we’ve had about the same amount of contact - LOL. I didn’t really expect to hear from my S much at all, and she expected detailed phone calls every couple days. </p>
<p>S has been there four weeks, and we’ve had a handful of brief texts, a couple hour-long text “conversations,” a few VERY short phone calls, and one long chatty phone call.</p>
<p>Once again, CC is helping me keep things in perspective. S and I were very close and had a lot of talk time his last two years of high school when I had to drive him to school every day because of inadequate bus service. Knowing his personality, I should have expected few phone calls. He is not a chatty person and would casually mention things more than discuss them. When he was out of the country for several trips, he emailed me but looking back, that was because I was a safe person to “talk” with at the time. Looking back over the past 3 weeks, he has called or texted or emailed a sufficient number of times for me to know that he is really busy and involved in activities which makes me happy. I miss our conversations but when I really think about it, things are probably going the way that they should. I want him to be independent. As he is away longer, I hope that he will feel more comfortable calling to tell us how things are going without him thinking that he is setting a pattern that he will have to maintain. We will be seeing him in a couple of weeks for Family Weekend.</p>
<p>Our older son is still driving us crazy. He’d be happy talking to us only once or twice a month. We call him every weekend, but he frequently doesn’t answer the phone. He also isn’t very good about answering emails and doesn’t text ever that I know of. </p>
<p>After that anything more from my younger son has been wonderful. Mostly we’ve gotten quick logistics messages and calls. Indignant calls about the price of blueberries, requests for us to buy text books on our credit card, requests to mail things he forgot, a quick refresher tutorial on laundry. He’s been calling us for the weekend call, which I think works better. He still doesn’t tell me as much as I want about friends, classes, etc., but I am not complaining at all!</p>
<p>This may seem excessive, but I’ve always been really close to my mom and love to just chat to her about everything. It makes me feel like just because I’ve moved away doesn’t mean my mom isn’t my mom Why can’t my D be like this? If you only know how many moms out here would love to hear their Ds say that!!!My D got the top award in Junior and Senior year for best all-around popular and academic honors.Everyone loves her,and she is so sweet with others,but I see a side that is barely pleasant and has perpetual PMS .She got into Harvard but she barely wants anything to do with me.For the last few years,I have dad ask any important questions,to avoid the acid in her responses.My 3 boys are great,and one is super close like the girl I quoted.Is it just a separation thing?And what is wrong with the type skipping?</p>