<p>MaineLonghorn, Sorry to hear about your son’s issues, but back in “the day” I (and many of my friends) commuted to the local university. We never thought we missed anything. We’ve all gone on to have successful careers and families. I moved 8 hours away from home after graduation, but am a little closer these days. I’m not sure when the “you must live on campus or you’re missing out” mentality took over. I was totally happy with my commute and the corresponding “lack-of-debt” that followed. Best of luck to your son!</p>
<p>OP…I cried a lot during DS1’s freshman year, but this year I just hugged him…and then went shopping :-).</p>
<p>My son is a sophomore and spent 2 days with us for T-G. We get along great, but what I hadn’t anticipated when he went off to college is that when we ARE together, especially this year, we tend to run out of things to say to each other and there are a lot more awkward silences. We’re each making our own new life without the other, and so we no longer have shared experiences to talk about. It’s occurring to me that as the years go by, the gulf will probably widen even more. I hadn’t seen this coming for some reason!</p>
<p>My son is a college senior, and I still feel that way when he goes back to school. I try to console myself by remembering that I do almost always have several lengthy phone conversations with him every week – we still seem to be as close as we ever were – but I’ll very much miss just being able to look over at him when I want to, and give him hugs when he permits it! (When I was a teenager, I used to complain to my mother that she was always looking at me. Her response was, “I like to look at you!” After I became a parent, I understood what she meant.)</p>
<p>D1 is working now, as the newest person on her desk she had to work Fri after Thanksgiving. We decided to fly up to see her. We all met at my parents place. We killed 2 birds with one stone. It was us who left D1 this time. I was sad to leave her nevertheless.</p>
<p>D1 has a good friend at work, in the same position, with parents in Chicago. He didn’t want to ask for time off and by the time he was told he had Fri off the ticket had become very expensive. On Fri, he got a call at work from his parents that they were in NY. He said to his dad that he didn’t know if he could get off work then. His dad said, “Don’t worry about it. We didn’t come to see you, we came to see OWS.” (which was literally outside of his lobby)</p>
<p>All parents are the same when it comes to their kids.</p>
<p>D1 wasn’t home this year for Thanksgiving; she was with her in-laws; and we now count ourselves lucky when we get even a few days here or there with her. D2 was home for a long week at Thanksgiving, and it was wonderful. She’ll be home in 3 weeks for a month, but told us that research plans for the summer will probably mean she won’t be home for more than a week or so.</p>
<p>We understand and completely support her; but the new norm is hard for all of us.</p>
<p>I read this thread last night and thought it was very sweet. I feel like I should out myself and say that I haven’t shed a tear or gotten anywhere close to crying since our S started college in August. We are close and we talk once a week and text several times a week. He was home for Fall Break and Thanksgiving and we had a wonderful visit. Can’t explain it.</p>