<p>Soo, yea Im worried about how my parents will take my leaving since they are already getting bummed out! we are really close and they will have an empty house after me</p>
<p>My ideas so far are, setting my parents up with skype and setting up an area for my mom to paint. I also kinda want to be able to give them like a small present or something that will thank them for raising me!</p>
<p>do your very best and live up to your potential and your parents will be just fine. Call occasionally and come home holidays. Take care of yourself. If you are very happy, your parents will be happy.</p>
<p>Setting up skype for them and, if they don’t know how, giving them some training on using it with web cam etc. It is hard for them but they are adults and will learn to cope. Be their loving and considerate child who keeps in touch.</p>
<p>Or you could do what my son did and generally be so obnoxious the summer before college that we were actively counting down the days until we could drop him off. :)</p>
<p>Seriously, your folks will be fine, you are sweet to be concerned. Yes, you do miss your kids but then you realize that in as much as it is an exciting time for your kid, it’s an exciting time for you too because you can refocus your energies on yourself, your career, your marriage, develop new hobbies, travel, etc.</p>
<p>My son and I stay in touch with daily text messages. I think we have actually become closer since he went off to college.</p>
<p>If they don’t know how to text, help them learn. I always enjoy unexpected texts from my college kids, and I find it a great way to keep in touch without being too intrusive. </p>
<p>I’m sure your mom will be glad to talk to you when you are stressed, upset, a little homesick etc, but also please remember to call her when things are going great just to say “I had a good day; the funniest thing happened, etc.” Those calls will be a wonderful gift to her.</p>
<p>You are a really kind and mature person to want to help your parents with the transition to an “empty nest.” What has helped me as a mom is that my D has called me (or texted me more recently) almost every day in college and now in graduate school. Sometimes it’s very brief, but sometimes she wants to talk and we chat for a longer time. I have always been informed about her classes, tests, friends, and so on. If you can do that for your parents, they will feel better because they won’t have to worry that you are OK. </p>
<p>Re a gift for them to show your appreciation for raising you, you could write them a nice letter with your sincere thoughts and leave it at home for them to find after you have gone to college. That would be a lovely keepsake–better than anything you could buy for them.</p>
<p>I think that the OP is an amazing, sensitive person. I think that your basic instincts on what will help your parents cope with your leaving are excellent. Yes, you’ll all be fine. Yes, there will be moments of sadness for all of you. But as long as you are still in the family, and all of you share bits of your life, you’ll all be fine.</p>
<p>I agree with all of the answer to the OP. You are a terrific kid to be thinking of your parents, but at the same time, don’t promise them daily calls or texts! You will get so busy with college and events and doing your thing, that you really want to wean them from daily contact. If you don’t, the second you forget because you’re tied up in the lab or library or just with the excitement of so much to do with new people, your parents may call the campus police in a panic. It’s good for both of you to not be so dependent on each other. The first week or so daily may be fine, but as time goes on, sometimes weekly is plenty. Your parents need to let go as much as you will need your space. Good luck!</p>
<p>Just communicate from time to time. They’re interested in what’s happening with you. </p>
<p>In fact, you’ll find that you can tell them things you can’t tell anyone else. They’ll be thrilled with you when you get an A on a test where most people got a C, and they will sympathize with you over a B+. Your friends won’t do that.</p>
<p>Your parents may also be a useful source of information from time to time. They know about things like laundry, checking accounts, and travel reservations. And they have decades of experience in answering the question “Is it worth the trouble to see a doctor about [fill in description of relatively minor medical problem]?” Don’t be hesitant to pick their brains about things like this. Sometimes, parents are more useful than Google.</p>
<p>Parents also know what’s going on in your home community, and most first-year college students are still interested in those kinds of things. </p>
<p>You may find, though, that you need to communicate on their terms (technologically). I have to admit that I never learned how to text or use Skype. When my kids want to communicate with me, they have to use primitive means such as e-mail or the telephone.</p>
<p>You are such a sweet kid! I hope your parents appreciate you! One thing would be to sit down with your parents and ask THEM what they think they will need to be comfortable when you’re gone. Let them express the important of communication with you…and come up with a plan. It may change after you leave, but they will know you are thinking about them and concerned for them. </p>
<p>The skyping and texting were lifesavers for me when my D left last August. At first your parents may need to hear from you a LOT (even daily) but you can wean them gradually. Even if you only talk/skype every couple of weeks, a few quick texts will be great. It may help on the skypes/phone calls to make appointments with them…let them know when your schedule allows for a half hour or so. Skype is WONDERFUL! Use your laptop to show them your dorm room, the campus, introduce friends, etc. They will feel like part of your experience. Share little interesting tidbits from class or your social life, just as you would at home (I hope). My D has told me about pretty much every essay, every project, every date…but that was her choice because it was how she was here at home. This whole year, I have felt included in my D’s class assignments, friendships, and problems. She still knows I am her best supporter, friend, and advice-giver. This semester, we have backed off a bit, but I have not felt excluded at all. </p>
<p>And when you go home for breaks, spend some time with your family…not just your friends. </p>
<p>Good luck to you. Your parents will survive, promise!!!</p>
<p>Darkestred15:</p>
<p>You are a lovely person to be concerned about your parents. They are lucky to have you. I will have to make the same transition with my son this fall, and I am going to ask him for a once a week appointment for a 15-minute phone call, something to look forward to and that provides some stability and predictability to when I hear from him. I would love to hear from him more often, but if we have a regular appointment, I will know that no matter how busy life gets, at least we will have that.</p>
<p>I agree- make no promises to call/text/write, etc. It is a good idea to set up a weekly time to talk- via Skype or phone- but do not let them expect you to call just because you both are online at the same time. Nor should you have a rigid time for a call- you may have other plans some weeks at time X on Sunday, for example. Also, you need to be busy with your own life while at college- you should not be concerned about your parents. They had a life before you came along and need to have one without you again.</p>
<p>Parents want to share in your life but you also need to draw some boundaries (some kids- my own- have no trouble with this, darn). You need to be the separate adult you have been growing up to become. Wean them from your daily life.</p>
<p>It is a great idea to give them a written letter they can cherish. Keep your future plans flexible, you will change a lot as you adjust to your new life. Your parents will too. Ages and stages. From being with them all of the time to elementary school to high school, now to college. Your relationship is still evolving as you become more independent. Never sacrifice a college experience to keep in touch with your parents- the phone call can be made the next day, but missing something can’t be.</p>
<p>MomLive, my kid seems to be following in your S’s footsteps, only it started well before summer.</p>
<p>OP, seriously, it’s sweet, but don’t worry about the folks. They’ll be fine, really.</p>
<p>If you are going to leave your mom a note, then I suggest putting it on your bed or your pillow. I can 100% guarantee that she will go into your room, hug your pillow and cry her eyes out. What she would really love is a pix of just the two of you.</p>
<p>Your parents will be happy knowing that you are adjusting well to college life - just call or text every few days. For the two weeks preceding my son’s departure, I cried many times each day. For the two weeks following his departure, I carried around both the house phone and my cell phone. And then…I was fine. </p>
<p>You are a sweet kid!</p>
<p>Please, please, please just clean your room and bathroom very thoroughly before you leave.
And how about some Yours+Mine 
(12 more years before our nest is empty. . .sigh)</p>
<p>If they aren’t really that in to Skype, one idea is to set up a Circle Journal project. This would be a journal that you would send back and forth on a schedule (maybe once a month) and each person does a page, then sends it to the other person. It can be a journal entry, a drawing, life advice, photos, whatever they want to put on the page. All you need is a journal and some envelopes with stamps on them. You take half the envelopes to college, and leave half with your parents. </p>
<p>You can buy a circle journal kit from a bookstore or craft store, or just make your own.</p>
<p>But I agree with others who said your parents, ultimately, will be fine. They’ll miss you and you’ll miss them, but in the end, you boht adjust.</p>
<p>OP - You are so thoughtful.</p>
<p>Wow what an amazing kid you are. No wonder your parents are so sad. See if you were a stereotypical teen it might be easier for them, lol (I often joke this is how nature makes it easier to part, even though most of the teens I know aren’t those difficult ones you see in movies). </p>
<p>I am not sure I would want a thank you gift or card…it would seem to entrench this sort of ‘finality’ mindset, like it’s all over, big good bye, all done. I think that is exactly the kind of thinking that bums parents out so much (but probably excites kids!). It sure does bum me out if I stat to think that way. Yet the reality is it seems most evident that it is not at all like it’s all over at all, black and white…it’s just different (and that kind of thinking makes me feel all better). Kids continue being kids, and parents parents, and it’s just a new phase that you morph into with time. Most kids are coming and going, growing, connected in different ways, and most parents end up ‘parenting’ in lots of different ways for very long, and very many kids end up moving back home after college too. </p>
<p>Every parent is different but just this one at least I would feel so much worse if my kid made it more melodramatic and ‘end of childhood’ sounding than it has to be.</p>
<p>I think you showing your excitement will help a lot. They are really happy for you and can rejoice in your excitement! And if talk in terms of when you will be back and such (as if you are just going away to camp for stretches at a time but your home is your home) that might ease them into it too.</p>