@hopewhite25 “kinda a big deal” ahahahaha, Ya think!?! My Bro is a die hard Duke Basketball fan, like the man cave has a Duke rug (courtesy of his favorite sister, ME!)
UAH does not have football, they have Div I Mens Hockey and Parent weekend is also homecoming week.
Hummmm (wonders out-loud) are Mums a thing in College and in Alabama like they are here in Texas?
For those of you who have not had the hideous pleasure, google Texas Homecoming Mums!
@laralei you are not alone. My D is also very homesick and wishes to come home. But we knew long before she left she would have this issue, and we talked about it and agreed she would not come home for at least the first month. She happens to have a long weekend in early October so I may let her come home for that, we haven’t talked about it. Parent’s weekend isn’t until the end of October, so to give her a lifeline at drop off 2 weeks ago, we agreed to visit during Labor Day weekend. We’re just going for a day, not the whole weekend.
My D also calls daily, and I can tell from the calls that she is transitioning, but, like we suspected, it isn’t a smooth transition for her. She has good times, and not so good times. The important thing is she is not isolating herself, she does go out, engage with others, etc. It’s just very hard for her because she is a homebody and would rather be doing all these things from the comforts of home.
I would remind your D of a couple of things: 1) she is not alone, many, many students feel just like she does, they just keep it under wraps. I told my daughter this and she did not believe me, but I kid you not within 2 days of drop off there were parent on the school’s parent fb group asking how they could help their very homesick kids. All students go through this in varying degrees. 2) Encourage her to seek out and use the school’s counseling center as a resource, it’s what they are there for and they specialize in this! They can really help, but she should not wait because they will get busy! 3) Make sure she is not isolating herself, as that can make things worse. I think my D is thoroughly tired of me asking her what she did and who she saw/hung out with each day! Doesn’t stop her from calling tho! :))
Good luck!
@SnowflakeDogMom I think Mums are only a thing in Texas. We are new to Texas, know nothing about it, am I a bad mom for leaving the country, and letting H and D22 figure it out this year? b-(
@SnowflakeDogMom So am I 
I will never be able to afford to go to an actual game, so the four of us are excited for the opportunity to go to the official “introduction” of the team. My oldest daughter us ready to laugh at the football game though, since she goes to an SEC school and is used to having well over 70,000 people in attendance at games. Lol.
@hopewhite25 We are HUGE Nevada Wolfpack fans! Hoping to see more of the “Dance” this year!
When friends ask where DD is going to school and I start with Alabama…before I get to the Huntsville part, their eyes light up and they can smell football LOL they get all giddy, and then I say “no, NOT Bama!” and they shrivel before my eyes! All except my son, he doesn’t like Bama and so when he asked where she had decided and we said Alabama…he shouted “NO” before we could get in the Huntsville part.
Funny tho, when we visited Tuscaloosa a couple of weeks ago just to walk around, son was impressed by the stadium although he was still grumbling about last years championship game (I don’t follow close enough so I’m clueless)
@1822mom I was clueless on the mum culture, we moved here when DD was in 8th grade - WOW…I’m at a loss beyond WOW
I was in HEB the other day and noticed the local high school mums are starting to make an appearance in the floral dept.
As for homecoming, it was a tradition out west as well, just not the mums, those are certainly a Texas thing and perhaps a southern thing.
@Lauralei - You could do whatever you want Parent’s Weekend - be involved in the scheduled activities or not. Sounds like the visit would give your daughter something to look forward to. And she could give you a tour of her favorite things/places on campus, and between now and then she can develop a list of those places! I hope it gets better for her very soon.
On our recent parent orientation for S18, they talked about the first 6 weeks of school as a major adjustment period. S18 seems to be adjusting well so far. He is about an hour away. We were SO WORRIED, as I posted before, that he would leave often to see his GF. I think he did last Saturday, but I also heard about a party with his sports team, playing frisbee and basketball with new friends, late night visit to IHOP, and a few other things that help temper the worry. Keeping mouth shut about it now.
So the Atlanta Braves may be in the playoffs Homecoming Weekend. First playoffs since 1995. Decisions, decisions… Just kidding.
My son, definitely! 
Two college move-ins: complete!
S is at Ok State. He is doing surprisingly well. The transition has been relatively easy, as he is only 1.5 hours from home. He’s making friends and staying ahead in his classes. #:-S
D is the tougher one, going across the border (from Oklahoma!) to McGill. It was a very busy week in Montreal for H and me, getting logistical things set up and furnishing D’s apartment. (She’s officially in a Mcgill dorm, but it’s a three bedroom off-campus apartment with completely empty kitchen and questionable cleanliness.) The goodbye was way harder than I expected, for all of us. D has had three full days without us now. I Skyped with her today and I’ve never seen her so confident and mature. It’s like she’s aged five years in the last three days! She is tackling this new life head-on, being pro-active about making friends and finding her way around the city independently. She’s been doing orientation activities this week, and classes start Tuesday. She can’t wait.
@ShrimpBurrito, we have two friends with kids in Montreal; one is at McGill, the other is at Concordia. Is it as hot there now as it is in Ithaca? It’s been in the nineties for 2-3 days.
S had his first classes today. We’re supposed to talk with him in a bit. I think he’s communicated more with his brother more, but it’s mostly been of the dog/cat picture variety.
Yes, it’s been around 90 the last couple of days, and very humid. D’s building does not have AC. She knows not to complain too loudly, as it will be cold soon enough!
S18 is in his first week of classes and seems to like his professors and managed to get his textbooks ordered on Amazon by himself. Cost was much less than anticipated. He has been gone for almost 2 weeks now and we miss him like crazy. The first week we didn’t hear from him much. When we finally talked, we let him know that he needs to text or call every few days so that we know he is alive and well. He has done much better since. We have cherished the phone calls. Funny how we have really never talked to him on the phone before now! Always in person or text.
He has several HS friends at his college and seems to mostly be hanging out with them, though he has met a few new people and when DH asked about any cute girls, he did say there was one in his Math class 
Tomorrow is the first SEC football experience at Kyle Field. First Thursday night game there ever too. He is excited about that.
It’s great to hear about everyone’s experiences. It’s much harder than I thought to not see him or talk to him every day or know what he is up to. DH has especially been feeling like we’ve lost the relationship we had and it won’t ever be quite the same 
D20 has started her classes and has a busy junior year with lots of ECs and working part-time as well. We are planning out her ACT/SAT dates and some college visits…soooo here I go again
Good luck to all your kids and to all of you.
The cat texts a photo and says “Yo human…Proof of life requested”
She will usually reply - usually one word.
My co-worker has the same thing going with her Freshman son - she texts a laundry list of questions and gets one word response per sentence.
8-|
Yes, @SnowflakeDogMom, my son is like that. Talking to him has me rambling on w/ his one or two word responses… If I text him something, I usually get the “thumbs up.”
This is why it has been so strange w/ DD. Last night I hadn’t heard from her and started getting worried!
Then got a message from DH that she had called the house while I was out.
She does seem better, doesn’t like the food. I know there are a few places on campus, so told her to get out and explore them, because she IS going to use that meal plan!
My D was able to rent some books or buy them used and save money.
But I found out that S needs his music theory books for all 4 semesters so there is no sense in renting them.
He also has some HS friends there and making new ones.
He is not really a big talker, and has been very busy. But he actually called yesterday and it was so nice.
He had auditioned for an ensemble and was excited to get in.
He asked if he should come home for the weekend, otherwise he said he would just hang out with the roommate who is staying and practice piano.
The plan is for us to visit him one day this weekend.
D’s school really doesn’t have a parent weekend but I’m going up mid-September for a football weekend. I get to see both of my Ds!
S is using his meal plan but skipping breakfast. He likes all his classes, especially German. He’s involved in workstudy (for spending money). He promises me a letter soon. I’ve already sent a letter and a requested care package with the books and clothes that wouldn’t fit on the plane. I’m going up in October, and renting a car so that we can shop, spend time together, and get anything he needs for the dorm.
@SnowflakeDogMom In desperation I have resorted to asking D to please let me know if she is still alive.
For all those who are anxious to hear from your far away student…
Change the Netflix password!
You’ll no doubt hear from them within 24 hours.
I have spoken with D 4 out of 6 days so I count that as a win. We even FaceTimed tonight. She looks good and seems to be adjusting fine. I am the one with the issues, but I am getting better. That might be why parents weekend is 4 weeks into the semester…
@dragonmom3 For all those who are anxious to hear from your far away student…
Change the Netflix password! You’ll no doubt hear from them within 24 hours.
This made me LOL! Best advice yet!!!
S18 was also giving me one word texts. I had proof of life but not much else. He thought I was texting too much. Finally, he had to call me about buying another textbook and we had a good conversation. I agreed to back off but he had to actually call me at least once a week and try to give me more info. He seemed clueless about why the one word texts were no good. Boys!!!
He has gotten better and even texted to ask if we were coming for Parents Weekend - the kids must be talking about it.