<p>So Pizzagirl, you’re going to have both of the kids go at the same time. How are you getting ready for that? Speaking of momentous.</p>
<p>To the OP: I have a friend who gets a new puppy every time she sends a kid off to college.</p>
<p>Just sayin’. . .</p>
<p>Congrats on your D making a happy, practical choice! She’ll be living on campus so she is in essence going away. How you both treat it can make a big difference in how it feels. Will she come home on weekends or will you pick her up frequently? Will she do laundry on campus or come home to do it? Or will you do it? </p>
<p>I agree with Mom2424, you can be the mom that gets to invite friends for breaks. I stayed with a different friend for many breaks and loved it. My D will be 2000 miles away and may get one airline ticket home if she wants it. I hope she finds good friends with good moms to invite her and I won’t mind if they drink out of jelly jars.</p>
<p>btw, does anyone’s mom cut up old rubber gloves to use as rubber bands?
Thanks for starting a fun thread to read compared to so many stressful ones.</p>
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<p>Beware the inevitable “thud.” I’m the voice of experience on this. After all the angst of the college search, the thick and thin envelopes, and the tough decisions, there’s a great crescendo of activity leading up to move-in day and it’s all terribly exciting. Then your student will go off on the greatest adventure of his or her life and you will go to the car or the airport and back to a quiet house. End of all the energy; end of all the excitement . . . thud! My advice would be for you to plan to do something really fun on the weekend after fall move-in and have something exciting to look forward to during the fall - a trip or a kitchen remodeling project or whatever.</p>
<p>When D1 accepted her EA from our state school in early November, it felt anti-climatical. None of her friends had even completed an application and she had already put her deposit down. It did take the pressure off the holidays not having to work on aps and made my Christmas shopping easier (college sweatshirt/pants, car magnet, etc). </p>
<p>I do still laugh at people that ask “is she going to live on campus”? Duh…it’s a 35 minute ride without traffic and why would we want to her at home? IMO, college is as much about living independently in a dorm and making new friends, as going to classes. </p>
<p>While many friends have decided on schools, there are still many sweating it out until the April deadlines and waiting for financial aid packages, I am happy she is enjoying her last year of high school. Now one of our more interesting conversations is about prospective prom dates or should she just go with a group of friends or girl friends.</p>
<p>While I know we will drop her off at the end of August, I suspect we will see her again on Labor Day weekend, as we have a beach house that’s actually closer to campus than our house. She’s already told us that we will need to swing by to pick her & any interested friends up for the weekend.</p>
<p>Lol, I don’t do her laundry now! Will she come home every weekend? Not if I can get out of my office before she shows up at the door with her bag packed (we said no car, regardless of where she goes to school). Oh yeah, reason for the great financial deal? Enrolling at my employer.</p>
<p>Sounds like classic Buyer’s Remorse ( [Buyer’s</a> remorse - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia](<a href=“http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buyer’s_remorse]Buyer’s”>Buyer's remorse - Wikipedia) ).</p>
<p>In a month you’ll be excited about it.</p>
<p>OP - I think it will work out great. Am I glad that my son is finding some independence at his college 2000 miles away?.. sure. But I reallllllly miss him. And worse I worry that he will get a job someday far from home. </p>
<p>IF your daughter wants to come home the first month, just say no. She needs to mingle with the other students. Those first few weeks are the best time for that. (You could meet her on campus if she wants to see you.)</p>
<p>OP, I totally get it. Your brain knows that you’ll be fine very soon, and your brain knows it’s the smart choice, financially, logistically, yada yada yada. But feelings don’t always line up with the brain right away. I would be feeling a little left out of the “moving away” crowd too. <em>Hugs</em></p>
<p>Yea, it was really weird for D. She put in ONE transfer app & after not hearing from the U for a very long time, she despaired. Then she got a request for her spring grades and despaired further because she was slacking off a bit. She didn’t hear again for a very long time & went on a trip for a month with S. While they were gone, she got the thick envelope (tho she had figured no chance). She was already thinking about how many more apps to send out in the fall so she’d get into at least ONE school. It really felt like a relief but somewhat anti-climatic when she realized that was the ONLY college app she needed and she was indeed going to her 1st choice as a transfer.</p>
<p>We are glad that even tho both kids ended up 2500 miles away, they are within 30 minutes of our very good family friends, who have hosted them a few times, as well as near a cousin. I always loved being able to spend time with families of friends who lived near school, since my schools were 2500 miles from home as well (the apples don’t fall far from the tree).</p>