<p>I drove my S to the airport today to go to an accepted students two-day thing in some torrential pouring rain at 4:30am. I dropped him off at 6:15am and left. He's 18, time to go by himself. This is so hard. When I got home I googled around to a site that showed me exactly where his flight was on a US map at that time. I kept checking back and saw when it landed. A bit later he called me from baggage claim, but his bag came and he said, got to go, and hung up. I doubt I will hear from him until I am parked in the cell phone lot at the airport tomorrow night. </p>
<p>I feel like a mother robin. How does she decide it is time to push them out of the nest? Here is the lttle bird hopping up and and down and fluttering his wings to go. So go.</p>
<p>I can relate. It helped me when he started driving himself to things (though I was scared) because I started getting weaned away from his activities a little bit.</p>
<p>ASAP is correct.
Some hawks have been building nests behind us the past three years. They have been here about a month now. Husband likes to watch the parents hunt. The babies learn to fly during the summer and leave after the son goes back to college. It really helps me watch the parents stand by while the babies try to fly. I am so grateful they don't leave till after the son leaves. After son packed up in Aug, I went outside to watch the hawks.</p>
<p>I just dropped my husband and daughter off at the airport ... bound for an accepted students weekend. I admit it never occurred to me to send daughter alone, mostly because parental comfort level with the school environment is an element in this decision. But I am regretting our choice. She could have handled it alone, and would likely have had a more beneficial experience. I would have worried, but it was time. Lessons for the next go-round.</p>
<p>Mine is in college now five years, and, it took two to three years before I ever got used to the concept of seeing her off at various airports. It just didn't feel "normal" at all to me - not the first time or the second time or even the 12th time. Finally now it is starting to feel "o.k.", and that's mostly because more and more, she's so endlessly interesting with each progressive new hello. </p>
<p>The happy news is that they DO come home, and the interactions with them get more and more interesting and stimulating as time goes on. These years end up being a LOT of fun, once you get past those first several times of seeing them off at airports.</p>
<p>I still have concerns when he wants to drive by himself somewhere even though he has had his license over a year, especially when it is important that he actually get to the place on time, like for an upcoming scholarship interview. I know I'll volunteer to drive him, and then see what kind of resistance I get.</p>
<p>Or else insist he make a "trial run" ahead of time there to make sure he can find the place. My son did that for an alumni interview held in the interviewer's residence in a town which is difficult to navigate, and found the addre. But when he went up to the door for the actual interview, he saw that the address given was a dentist's office or something. Luckily, he had a cell phone (it was in 2001) and called the interviewer. It turned out he was a rather recent grad who was renting an apartment above the dentist office, but he had neglected to tell my son that when they set up the interview.</p>
<p>You're kidding me, right? We're talking about 17-18 year olds for heavens sake! They're intelligent, able-bodied kids, I assume? I know as parents we feel some growing pains but please don't cripple them.</p>