College "Countdown"

Three weeks from tomorrow, Lauren will be moving into her dorm. She has signed up for her first year of classes, has had an orientation and met her roommate. She is extremely organized and has made a "master" list of what she needs and every time I get a coupon in the mail or on-line, we go and get it. On our last two trips to Kohl's, we saved more than we spent. I think even the salesclerk was impressed :) I have been asked how I feel about my middle "baby" bird leaving our comfy "nest." I am so blessed that Lauren and I have an awesome relationship and I know that I will miss her a lot.

I am also realistic and know that for her to keep growing and maturing, I have to let her go. The other day, her cell phone received a text. I said, "aren't you going to see who that is?" Lauren said, "you told me I couldn't text at the dinner table!" It's definitely a learning experience when you have an adult child living in the house. I lived with my parents until my late 20's. I did pay rent and was expected to help with the meals and let them know what I was doing. I didn't really have a "curfew" but still did have to respect that I was living under their roof. Lauren at one time wanted to go to college in California.  As she went through high school, she narrowed down her "search" to the Midwest area. She ultimately picked a college in-state. It is a little less than two hours from our house, so it will be easy to make the trip there and back in one day. Lauren put a "countdown" app on her phone, so she can see with a touch on the screen how many days, hours, minutes and seconds she has to go.  It is very cool to see her anticipation grow as the day gets closer. Lauren leaving for college is going to be particularly difficult on Dominic.

Since he is so visual, telling him that she will be going to college will not make a lot of sense to him. I am so glad that his new speech therapist has made it a top priority to teach Dominic how to express his feelings better through "social stories" and a "feeling" journal.  I know that all of us will be experiencing many different emotions, but I can take comfort in the fact that we have prepared our middle baby "bird" well for this next phase of her life.