We drove to drop son off at Alabama with DD21. It is along drive and we think about breaking it up every time we do it into 2. When we dropped him off, we arrived at the hotel the night before and moved him in the next day. Will likely do the same next year when we pick him up.
Daughter is home every weekend for Sunday dinner, sometimes more. Her BF came over last evening for dinner as well. Nice kid. That’s the benefit of going to school 30 min away.
Son is home for Thanksgiving. It is so nice to have him home. I want him to move closer but understand opportunities given to him at Bama are too good atm. He flew at a cost of $+++ but it is so worth it.
D23 is in San Antonio, we live in Portland, OR. We flew down, ordered a lot on Amazon before we got there, and bought a lot more at Target when we arrived. She’s home for the first time this week!
We flew in the night before move-in day. We told the offspring we planned to check 4 bags so he had 1 carry-on sized suitcase, 3 IKEA Frakta bags, and 2 backpacks to pack what he wanted. We rented a car and bought a few things from Target and he ordered the rest from Amazon. The school gave great guidance….move your kid in, attend events, and plan to say goodbye by 6 PM with your kid expected to have dinner with his dorm. Additionally, they said do not plan to spend time with your child the following days since the student will be in orientation and busy. After we said goodbye, we spent a few days vacationing and drowning our empty nest sorrows in adult beverages.
I took D19 by myself and we flew (AK to CO). Did a lot of shopping once we arrived but I tried to have as much planned/pre-ordered as I could in an attempt to make it quick. It was in a relatively small town and I didn’t relish a lot of running around because the stores didn’t have what we needed—and she was moving in early! I think I left the day after she moved in, mainly because the cost of airfare and hotels went up so much once the regular move in dates hit.
For S23, he was moving into Purdue—a much bigger school! We didn’t know his exact move in date until a few weeks beforehand so we booked airline tickets and a hotel months in advance and figured we would either have time to kill beforehand or after. This time DH and my D24 came along. We flew into Chicago and did some IKEA shopping and some touristy things for a day or so before heading to West Lafayette. He ended up being able to move in the morning of the first day and it was quick. So once he was fairly settled, we actually took D24 to visit a college she was interested in that was 3 hours away. We spent the night at a hotel about half way there since it was an early morning tour and then we returned to Purdue at the end of the day, had dinner with S23, said goodbye, and left early the next morning for O’Hare.
If D24’s move in doesn’t conflict with S23’s, she’ll probably have the benefit of both parents going to drop off since she’s the last one! We’ll probably make a vacation/celebration out of it .
D23 comes home tomorrow on the train! We got to see her this weekend (briefly) due to her dance club putting on a beautiful 2 hour sold-out show! It was really impressive that a student -run organization could put that together in 2 months. Penn facilities put in the marley floor on the stage and got the theater prepped/provided security and ushers , but the rest (cast, choreo, costumes, lighting design, marketing) was all students, on a small Club budget. There were parents who came from across the country to see it! These seniors couldn’t perform the traditional shows in 2020 into 2021 so they really missed out. D had many new friends come to support her and they even got her flowers!
D had a program-arranged Thanksgiving meal last night, then had some time with friends to relax now that the show is done and a pause between academic stuff. She has classes to attend before break, and an ongoing project that I do not understand, and then she will be home.
D17 met her boyfriend the first week when she arrived at school. They are both 3rd year PhD students and are living together technically for the first time this year. These things happen.
My freshman year roommate met her boyfriend the first week of school and they dated all through college are now married with three kids a million years later.
I am the parent of a D24 so I usually just lurk in here to get a glimpse of the future. In the spirit of (American) Thanksgiving, I just wanted to say how thankful I am for all the insights, tips, etc. that you all have shared over the past year.
How lovely that you were able to attend her show! I’m envious of you and others that live close enough to their kids’ college to just pop by. It would be so nice if S23 could take the train instead of having to deal with airports during holiday breaks. Spouse would move back to the East Coast in a heartbeat but I could never leave the mountain west. I do enjoy dreaming about it while browsing Zillow though.
I’m tempering expectations - he was in an away tournament over the weekend (sleeping on the floor as a freshman) and then crashed on the floor of a friend’s dorm at their Uni for two more nights, so I know he will be beyond exhausted and probably a bit cranky and crashing when I pick him up.
I also know that he’ll want to see all the high school friends that are coming home and that “spending time with Mom” is going to be an afterthought
But I get to hug him! It will be great to have him home
Just picked up D23 from the city. She took the train down from Boston. First time navigating traveling by herself so proud moment. Did get a little nervous though when less than 45 minutes before the train’s departure she sent me a picture from her dorm room. Not a care in the world.
Good she got out yesterday (and bonus she could take the train)- weather is AWFUL here today. Wind, rain, etc. Tons of delays and cancellations at Logan - I feel for all the kids trying to get out of Boston and home from Thanksgiving.
It was hard to have DS leave to head back to school 9 hours away this morning. Partly because he was sad to leave. He’s doing really great academically, and it seems like a great fit in that regards. However, he is still somewhat searching for where he fits socially and he has a serious girlfriend in our hometown who will be starting college in-state in September. He has friends, but all of them are varsity athletes or have other groups they belong to, which he doesn’t. He played high-level sports his whole life and isn’t playing any right now (just working out independently), as there are no club teams for his sport on campus and getting involved with inter murals has been harder than he expected. Ugh. I’m trying to be supportive and offer suggestions but let him take the lead. I think for freshman guys who aren’t big joiners/extroverts, this year is tough.
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