<p>OWM, Mommylaw, minnymom: Congrats on your successful launches! </p>
<p>holliesue: Thinking of you today as you send her off. You can do this!</p>
<p>mathmomvt: Good luck as you launch your son today.</p>
<p>Holliesue~Happy and safe Launch to your Daughter
Matmomvt~ Safe travels and Happy Launch to your Son.</p>
<p>Stay 
Everyone</p>
<p>Sending peaceful, easy vibes to Holliesue & Matmomvt. Hope it all goes well. No snafus. And plenty of smiles, and only very few tears.</p>
<p>We are on the plane in 24 hours here and 48 hours from MI.</p>
<p>Gosh it is really, really happening. I love checking in to see who is where on this journey.<br>
Peace to all.</p>
<p>Best wishes to everyone this weekend! I love the stories, too. </p>
<p>I realized I haven’t completely processed what is happening - last night I made D’s favorite dinner and told myself, no, this isn’t the last time, just make it again next week. </p>
<p>She registered herself to vote and is going to make sure she has all in order for any absentee ballots that could be needed. Our town clerk (very rural town) isn’t the quickest about these things and the voting process in WI right now is … um … unpredictable.</p>
<p>D said she’d forgotten a stapler on her list. I guess they’re all realizing there will be MANY long papers to turn in!</p>
<p>**The next new student move-in is University of Virginia, University of Illinois, Cornell, WPI (field hockey), and University of Texas - Austin move-ins on August 19th - today! Best wishes for a successful launch!
Move-in day is TODAY! Where did the summer go? :eek:
[ul][<em>]Juniata College, University of Alabama, Pomona College, University of Puget Sound, and University of Virginia move-ins on August 20th are just 1 days to go.
[</em>]Case Western Reserve University and MIT (pre-orientation) move-ins on August 21st are just 2 days to go.
[<em>]Wellesley College move-in on August 22nd is just 3 days to go.
[</em>]Pitt, Midwestern State, and Duke move-ins on August 23rd are just 4 days to go.
[<em>]Marquette University and Bryn Mawr move-ins on August 24th are just 5 days to go.
[</em>]Willamette move-in on August 25th is just 6 days to go.
[li]Georgetown University, Champlain College, Elon University and SUNY Potsdam move-ins on August 26th are just 7 days to go (1 week).[/ul][/li]The last new student move-in is the University of Southern Oregon on September 22nd<br>
Move-in day in 34 days. The last move-in is just over a month away. It was 75 days when this countdown started.</p>
<p>The link to the Move-in Date Thread is <a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parents-forum/1141579-hs-class-2011-college-class-2015-move-dates-5.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parents-forum/1141579-hs-class-2011-college-class-2015-move-dates-5.html</a></p>
<p>If you son’s or daughter’s move-in dates and schools are not listed please add them to the list.**</p>
<p>Congrats to Minnymom on the successful launch.</p>
<p>Best wishes to Hollie, Mathmomvt and 2education as you head off today.</p>
<p>Move in day is here!</p>
<p>The car is all packed, and we are having a nice breakfast. The field hockey coach called D1 at 8AM to tell her that the team is stuck in Miami, since they were supposed to help the girls move in. They went to Barbados for a pre-season tournament, and were scheduled to return last night at midnight to Boston, but go delayed. There are 3 girls who didn’t go on the trip, so they will help us with the whole move in and run practice and a team dinner for the freshman today.</p>
<p>A blank sheet of paper. A quiet morning. Coffee. Cat. My only child upstairs asleep. A morning not unlike so many mornings over the past 18 years.</p>
<p>But it’s the last one.</p>
<p>This is the last morning my son wakes up in our home as a permanent resident. In 24 hours we will be on a plane to California for his freshman year in college.</p>
<p>I don’t dare even type the phrase “where did the time go?” Beyond the fact its an incredibly trite, overused, and just plain inadequate offering. The time went ……in crayons and glue. In big alphabet letters, the time went. The time went in hamsters. It went in band concerts, Spanish classes, and US History classes. The time went in special projects, track practices. Journalism. The time went in Harry Potter movies. The time went in dirty socks. Hugs. Ramen noodles. Anime. Japanese symbols. The time went into Facebook. And then it went in SAT and ACT tests. It went in college visits. Yet still it seemed plentiful. There was so much yet to do!! And then it went….in experiencing all “the last ones.” The last football game. The last Christmas convocation. The last band concert. The last Awards Day. The last prom. Graduation. </p>
<p>The last summer.</p>
<p>And now, the last morning.</p>
<p>But maybe……maybe I have it wrong. Tomorrow is the first day of his new adventure! So many firsts are right here in front of us. Our future is in front of us. Theirs and ours.</p>
<p>Tomorrow is the first of many firsts. </p>
<p>What a wonderful time of life.</p>
<p>Now, I am crying and my D is almost 2 weeks launched.</p>
<p>Best wishes today proudmom!</p>
<p>Proudmomofs: You made me cry! Good luck to you tomorrow. Enjoy today.</p>
<p>Great post proudmom- Always look forward, that’s where all the excitement is :)</p>
<p>Making me cry too, ProudMomofS!
Will be thinking of you…</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Couldn’t have said it any better. Thank you for a great post and a wonderful reflection on the childhood and growth of your son…</p>
<p>^ Love it. Thanks for the reminder about the firsts!
How we looked forward to those…
their first steps,
their first tooth,
their first words,
their first day of school,
their first date,
their first prom</p>
<p>so many exciting firsts.</p>
<p>Great post, Proudmom. I’ve done this once before, and I assure you all that you are not losing your children. Loosen the strings, let them fly, and they’ll still need you for support and coaching. Between parent’s weekend, Thanksgiving, Winter breakistmas and other visits, you’ll still see them a lot. Be thankful that your children are mature and healthy enough to take this step.</p>
<p>Thank you Proudmom…for the reminders and the tears. Yes, there are many happy things to look forward to, but we are all also ending something and grieving has to be part of that.</p>
<p>When we launched DD 15 years ago (no cell phones, imagine!), we felt bereft but, as momjr pointed out, she came home several times each year (a flight away) and was with us the first two summers. Like many college kids, she adopted her new city and is now happily married and living that flight away. Wonder if DS will do the same…</p>
<p>Proudmom-beautifully written…pass the kleenex (again!)</p>
<p>Proudmom, how eloquent.</p>
<p>I’ve downloaded a Don’t Panic (from Hitchhiker’s Guide) screensaver for my work computer. I did leave work early yesterday, went out to the pool (declining H’s “offer” to let me finish cooking the dinner he had started)…I felt better after a few laps and a little doze on a raft.</p>
<p>I had my first full night’s sleep in a couple of weeks. I feel much better except…on the way to work I remembered a stack of reports that are due Monday…and I had forgotten that with younger D starting school on Monday, there will be all those forms and school meetings to attend next week.</p>
<p>Don’t Panic.</p>
<p>One good thing is that the (second) duvet cover we ordered is lovely (cost more than I wanted to spend, but lovely), so I can stop obsessing over that and return the “Plan B” bedding that I bought at Target.</p>
<p>Don’t Panic.</p>
<p>Don’t Panic.</p>
<p>Off to find an associate to start on those reports.</p>
<p>Oh yeah, and it’s Tax Free Weekend, so the stores we’ll need to go to for last minute stuff will be PACKED.</p>
<p>Don’t Panic. Put younger D’s isseus in a box for a day. Put older Son’s issues in a box for a day. Do work at work. Don’t panic.</p>
<p>Congratulations to all those with successful launches. </p>
<p>Proudmom, lovely post. It is the next stage and it could be a great time to fill it with things that one has always wished to do or that could help one grow.</p>
<p>In our case, our kids have had or have some significant issues (this certainly doesn’t make them unique) and so I’ve had trepidation at a number of firsts (Would she be able to see well enough to read the Torah at her Bat Mitzvah or take the ACT? Would he ask anyone for a date? Would he be able to have enough stamina for reading/writing to do well on standardized tests?). So, I find myself proud and relieved that they are taking these steps. So, I am always thinking about the next and not the last. ShawWife may feel otherwise. </p>
<p>ShawD was very sad yesterday. Transitions have always been tough for her, so I wonder if this is anticipatory or is hormonal (or both). </p>
<p>I’m not worried in this case about the launch. She has social skills out the wazoo. If we left her (or her mother) in the forest, the trees would end up talking. I’m not worried about her capacity to do the work (except perhaps physics, which is not her strength). I am worried that she’ll have difficulty with something academically and not take the initiative to recognize and solve the problem until too late. I’m trying to arm her with help – I’ve asked her to find tutors in chemistry and math even though she probably won’t need them so that she has someone to go to if she is encountering problems. She’s doing a bit of a stint with our cousin, who can be an organizational coach and has done mucho wonders for ShawSon, and am going to encourage her to go into the office of the university where they give study skills help and get to know the people (even though graduates of her prep school tend to say that they worked significantly in high school than they have to work at university).</p>