S18 left for Steubenville this morning. He and his dad flew out and should arrive later today. I’m expecting lots of handwritten letters. He’s ready to do great things and I’m excited for him!
D already broke her phone. 8-|
@suzy100 I’m so sorry! Do you have coverage for a replacement?
D just bought a new phone with money she earned after her old one went kept malfunctioning. I’m hoping disaster won’t strike because that would be especially painful knowing all the hours she worked to be able to buy it.
Yes, I did have coverage for a replacement but what a pain!
@suzy100 third day in S has already lost his school ID card, despite the fact that he had it on a lanyard around his neck. Also gone is the money I had loaded onto the card, which thankfully was not that much!
They’re just ahead of the curve getting all of this out of the way, @vistajay. 
@MACmiracle DD got a new phone a few weeks back, I coughed up the first $500 and she had to cough up the rest for the upgrade she wanted. As the Apple nerd was getting her all sorted out, I was on my phone filling out the Squaretrade warranty documents, I handed her my phone and said “put in your debit card before you even touch the new phone” she did LOL and walked out of the Apple store with the drop/damage coverage in place.
@vistajay Well that sucks - poor kid, so many new things to remember and keep track of. We too did a lanyard for DD and there is a hook right next to her door that she can hang it on. You made a point that I hadn’t thought of - its probably not a good idea to load a lot of flexible dollars to their student cards just in case they are lost and someone uses the funds.
@suzy100 UGH, UGH, UGH…
Just returned from dropping my daughter off at University of Richmond. She attended the pre-orientation program and I must say that everything about the school far exceeded my already high expectations.
The president’s speech was wise and inspirational and the over-all vibe was positive and student centered.
We are so happy she will be attending such a fabulous school-it is such a good fit for her!
I forget how fortunate I am to have an Apple Store within walking distance.
Last night D and her friends tried to take her new mattress topper to the park before I stopped them. 8-|
D has stopped working and has more free time than she’s had in years. Our house has become the gathering place. I’m getting a little tired since I like to go to bed early, but H keeps reminding me to be grateful that the kids like to come here and we know what they’re up to…like running off with the mattress topper to use on the slide. (No more concussions, please, with less than a week to go. [-O< )
S18 is settling in at college during orientation. He’s got his dorm arranged (no roommate yet) and he attended a bunch of registration stuff today. Tonight will be his first night sleeping in his dorm, after dorm meetings. The college staff and orientation people had each freshman walk into campus tonight, while orientation staff cheered for them. It was pretty neat. Husband ‘s been really good about sending me pictures and videos. And he’s posted more this week on FB than he ever has.
I can’t begin to tell you guys how much I enjoy reading CC and hearing about everyone’s journeys. For the most part, it’s such happy news, and our kids are on their way to an incredible journey.
For us, we’ve still got a little more than a week until move-in. My D is finished with all her family travel, so she’s back in the nest. Yesterday was the first day that we went shopping for dorm stuff together, and it was a fabulous day. It is super helpful that her school posted a floor plan for the dorm so we could see the dimensions of her room, and the school parents’ facebook page posted some actual pictures. Hopefully we didn’t buy too much stuff, as in a couple of those plastic pull out drawers. I convinced her to hold off on an ikea microwave cart until she and her roommate are in the room with all their stuff because I think space is going to get filled up a lot quicker than they think.
Empty nest report - 10 days in
We dropped S off a week ago Wednesday. The first few days were filled with exhaustion, and a sense of disorientation and strangeness.
After that, though, we’ve slowly been settling into the new normal. We get regular contact from S, mostly in the form of random texts or emails, little tidbits about his day. He initiates most of those, so that’s nice.
We both still work, but we don’t have to use an alarm clock anymore because there’s no school departure to plan around. The hubs is a natural lark and is up before 6. I tend to wake around 7. We both work from home without set hours, so if one of us sleeps in, it’s no big deal.
We have a lot more time in the day. Some of it is from obvious sources, like not losing two hours a day going back and forth from school. Some of it is from losing the slow trickle of time to other tasks. We load the dishwasher less often, less laundry, less time spent on school forms or Mom-I-Need-.
We’re both more relaxed. We were never big stress puppies to begin with, but there’s an ease in the house now that’s subtly different. Part of it is an unguardedness about not having to watch what we say, do (or wear!) like we would with another person in the house.
We’re also feeling closer to each other, and there’s more casual affection.
In short, things are good.
We moved our D18 into her dorm yesterday. It’s not a bad sized room, but it was still a challenge arranging three beds, closets, desks and drawers so they each had room to move. They have tons of orientation activities to keep busy. She was up at 5AM and on a “ghost tour” at 11:15PM last night.
Last week, we moved in one D15 at her school and tomorrow we go back to D18’s school to move in the second D15. It made saying goodbye yesterday no big deal because we knew we’d see her Saturday. By tomorrow night we’ll just have D23 at home. That will be quite strange after having a “full house” summer.
S18 moves into his dorm 29 hours from now. He’s usually an easygoing kid, has never said anything to us like “I hate you”, but lately has moved into “soiling the nest” mode with talking back and complaining, and had an argument with us earlier today. DH was kind of upset until I told him what was going on, and he spent some time looking up the phenomenon online.
D15 still has another week with us; we’re probably moving her in on Labor Day.
Nice to read about all the kids and their new beginnings.
Youngest DD had to go to early orientation due to scholarship she received. Got a call that first night and she was down, down, down. Only 2 on her floor and the other girl was not being very open to communicating. I was “oh, no” but told her things would change in a day or two and to spend time getting herself situated before her roommate moved in on Friday.
Today she called and wanted more money on her school card for books; late add by professor. I told hear she went with cash and just use that, it was under $30. She said but she would have to spend her own money!
We then had a discussion about the school loans were to pay for books and supplies and does not come from the bank of mom & dad. I outfitted her w/ every possible thing she could want or need to start college, but those loans are to be used, not to sit in her bank account.
She starts classes on Monday, so crossing fingers she will be happy with them.
S moved in yesterday. Everything went very smoothly and he and his roommates have a nice room with plenty of space.
I managed not to cry but I know it will hit me when I least expect it.
They went to get lunch together and then there were activities planned.
I haven’t heard too much from him, but I know he’s busy.
Dropped D off on Friday. Spent most of the day unpacking and left at 430ish. Was able to hold it together until 830 when I sobbed like a baby. D is my one and only. Hubby and I went to a casino on Saturday and made it home today. I am trying not to call and let her take the lead but it is tough…
So happy reading all of the move in stories. Daughter does not start until the 30th. We took a 5 day trip a favorite spot in Maine. We let her chose somewhere within a long road trip and she chose a spot we had been to quite a lot when the girls were young. We had a really nice and relaxing trip. Now doing all of the organizing before move in. Luckily it is only a 90 minute ride. Will report more next week.
I admit I am enjoying the empty nest thus far. Don’t hate me.
Don’t forget about sending pet pictures for those of you waiting to hear word from your kids!
We had a fun time moving D into Cornell. We got in a day early and were very surprised that we found 99% of the stuff (toiletries/storage containers/fan/etc.) she needed readily available on the shelves of BBB & Target & we got all of the shopping out of the way before the big crowds came in the next day.
Move-in day went very smoothly & we were in the first time slot (8am) to move her into the dorm. There were plenty of student volunteers to help unload her stuff & plenty of complementary ice-cold water available to grab out of huge, ice-filled containers. It was a very well organized event!
After moving into the dorm, D had a full schedule of orientation events, so we parted ways for the day & we did our parent portion of the orientation which included a very nice parents’ reception with the dean of the Charles H. Dyson School in the evening. The next day, we attended the new student convocation (in the rain of course!) and then attended another Dyson event after which D used a couple of her dining plan guest swipes and treated us to lunch in one of the dining halls. After lunch, we said our goodbyes and D continued with her orientation schedule.
We (parents) stayed in Ithaca for a couple more days (part of the plan) and took our own tour of the campus (breathtakingly beautiful), visited the renowned Dairy Bar for ice cream (so good we went back for more the next day), drove up to Seneca Falls and visited the It’s a Wonderful Life Museum, took pictures on the Bedford Falls Blvd. bridge, and hiked up a waterfall in one of the state parks.
All in all, a very relaxing little vacation! On the way home, we checked off a bucket list item by having Philly cheesesteak in Philly! We had our first video chat (she called us!!) with D the other day & we could see that she was just glowing. She seems right at home on campus, has already made connections with several of her classmates, and it seems like we did a good job of helping her identify the school that was the right fit for her.
I hope everyone that has moved their loved one in already enjoyed the adventure & best wishes to those families & students who will be moving in soon!!
It’s been such a fun ride with all of you class of 2018 parents over the past couple of years & I really appreciate getting to share my highs & lows with you all over that time. I learned so much on the journey this time around & am so appreciative for all of the sage advice and encouragement I’ve gotten from this parent group. D is our last to head out to college, so I’ll just be a lurker in the future popping in now & again to say hello.
Best of luck to those with younger kids as you help them along their journeys!!