bountifulplate

With Lauren starting her first day of college classes today, I can't help but think back to when she was four and just starting preschool.  Since my whole life up until that time had revolved around taking care of her, I was at a loss as to what to do with myself. To say it was a hard "adjustment" would be an understatement! Yesterday afternoon about 4:00 or so, Lauren said she had some free time and asked if we could Skype. I was hoping we could chat later after dinner (when the hubby would be here), but Lauren said she was going to church, then eating dinner, playing tennis, hanging out with her new friends, etc. One thing I've already discovered about having a kid in college, you have to be available when they are to chat, not the other way around!! To me, it feels like Lauren is on a long sleepover. To her, she told me it feels like "camp." Well, she is sleeping in a bunk bed! I was concerned (and so was Lauren) as to how Dominic would handle all of...

Well, it's been 24 hours since we dropped our one and only daughter off at college. When I was touching base with her this morning and was asking Dominic if he wanted to tell her anything, his response was, "tell Lauren to get up!" He was her "back-up" alarm clock when she would oversleep :)  I have asked him a handful of times throughout the day where she is and he keeps telling me, "Lauren's room!"  When we were eating lunch with Lauren yesterday, I pulled out a piece of paper and a pen and helped Dominic compose a note to her. Somehow, I forgot to give it to her before we left. When we were saying good-bye to Lauren in her room, the hubby said, "group hug!'  He has asked me a handful of times since yesterday, "I wonder how she is doing?" Today, after lunch, I fell asleep and took a nap. I think it was a delayed reaction to all the moving yesterday. Lauren lives on the fourth floor of her dorm and there is no ele...

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 i...

Yesterday, we could actually be outside in a sweatshirt and not be cold!  I had a light jacket on Dominic and he told me the sun was too "hot." The temperature in the shade was 43 degrees :) Yes, it's been such a long winter that even 43 feels "toasty."  Anyways, the kids and I spent a few hours outside soaking up the rays and they started playing on the swing set in our backyard.  There is a set of rings and Lauren started doing back flips.  She looked at Dominic and said something like, "do you want me to teach you how to do that?" He of course said yes!  It warmed my heart to see her be so patient, but more importantly, encouraging with him, even when he fell. It took him a handful of times, but he mastered it!! When he did it by himself the first time, he said proudly, "I did it!" Each time he did it after that, Lauren and I clapped for him.  The two questions Lauren has heard since her senior year began has been, "where d...

When Lauren was a baby, the questions I got the most often were - are you breastfeeding or bottlefeeding? are you using cloth or plastic diapers? These days, the questions are - which college is Lauren thinking of going to? and, what is she interested in studying?? I think the questions were easier to answer when she was a baby :)  I had someone as recently as last night ask me the college question.  It feels like it was just yesterday that the hubby was giving her a bottle. Gone are the days of diapers, pacifiers and taking naps together: Since starting her junior year, Lauren has had loads of homework almost every night and stays up late getting it all done. I have told her having all that homework while balancing other activities, friends and sports is a preview of college :)  Lauren's choices of colleges and courses of study have changed a handful of times. At one time, she wanted to go to college in California because it's much warmer than here whe...

A few weeks ago my daughter got a pamphlet in the mail for a summer camp at an Ivy League college.  It was almost $5,400 for a 3-week camp.  Good grief!  If it costs that much for a camp how much would it cost to send her there???  The hubby and I helped my stepson through undergraduate and graduate school, so we have some idea how much it costs to send a kid to college.  My daughter will be going into her junior year of high school in the Fall of 2012.  She is in the process now of picking her classes.  I have heard from more than one person that the junior year is the hardest year of high school.   Decisions, decisions.  She has been getting e-mails from colleges for months wanting her to sign up for tours.  Wasn't it just yesterday I was changing her diapers??   I was reading an article in the Wall Street Journal recently that listed the five most expensive colleges in the United States.  The most expensive one was over $59,...