Today is a big day for us

Today is the day that our little girl goes to University.

In an hour we will be loading up the car and heading off to the Halls of Residence to settle her into her room.

Now, as some here know, the Uni is not very far from us (about half an hour's drive) but it's the fact that our little girl is leaving home. Although she'll be coming home at vacation time, she will not be the same and she won't be coming home every night. This is fantastic and I'm so excited for her - but it's a momentous day none the less and I know I will be shedding a tear.

She has a little surprise wrapped up for every night until next Sunday night, so if she gets a little sad or lonely, she will have something to look forward to each day.

I know she will be fine and this is a tremendous opportunity . We have encouraged her to live away even though she could have commuted from home.

Perhaps you could spare a thought for us today and hope that it all goes smoothly (I'm sure it will). Thank you for listening to me ramble

Originally Posted by flisssweetpea

Perhaps you could spare a thought for us today and hope that it all goes smoothly (I'm sure it will). Thank you for listening to me ramble

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That´s why are the Friends Beth! ....

Hang on! ...your beautiful lovely girl are fine! ....Sending tons of Good luck to Her and a big hug to you! .


your friend rigel!

How exciting! Congratulations to her!
Of course you will shed a few tears....maybe even more...and that is OK, and to be expected. It can take some time for us to be able to put into words and rational thought what we are feeling when life changes ...esp when it involves our children.
You will adjust to the changes...probably more rapidly than you might think...especially when you see that she is doing the same.
It sounds to me like you have a really good relationship with your daughter...you have even thought ahead ...of the fact that she might be lonely this first week and provided little "I LOVE YOU & I`M THINKING OF YOU "packages for her. That is so sweet. (And I`ll bet she`ll open every one of them too!!!)
True she may not be "the same" in some ways...she is growing up....but I believe your relationship will simply evolve into something a little different that will be just as wonderful in it`self....trust me, I know....mine are all grown now. :-)
Best to you all, Linda

its hard when the baby leaves home,but at least shes close enough for her to visit (normally when the laundry needs doing LOL)
but u will adjust to her being away,it makes your relationship with her even better when she comes home,i havent had any kids at home now for 5 years,and u do get to enjoy your extra freedom.
hope she gets on well at uni,and makes loads of new friends

I remember well the same thing with my daughter - though she had to go 2 hours away, from London to Bristol. I was incredibly lonely without her for awhile, but looking back I see that that time marked the transition between her becoming not just my child but my friend. Good luck to you both - I am sure she will enjoy her time at Uni and you will have even more reason to be proud of her.

How exciting for you all! It'll make the times she comes home to visit very special! That was sweet of you to give her little surprises each day!

Originally Posted by flisssweetpea

I know she will be fine and this is a tremendous opportunity

. We have encouraged her to live away even though she could have commuted from home.

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You are truly giving her the opportunity to spread her wings but still have your support. Good luck and I know she will find this one of her more challenging but rewarding events in her life.

You will be in my thoughts today.
Bravo to you, for helping your daughter receive a higher education.
Lei

I wish your daughter the best of luck with this new chapter in her life Beth!

Rigel, Linda, Boysmum, Jenny, Chris, Candie, Katachtig, Lei and Tracy thank you so much for your kind thoughts. I am sure they made such a difference today.

We arrived at the Halls at lunchtime and she checked in. She has a lovely room with a beautiful view of the mature gardens in the grounds of an Edwardian House. We stayed until about 4.30 helping her to set up her room and making the arrangements she wanted to make.

She left her door propped open while we set the room up and a couple of the other girls popped in and said Hello. They were all worried about not meeting anybody and were relieved to make friends straight away. They have already arranged to go to dinner together tonight and into the University together tomorrow. The warden has arranged all sorts of welcoming activities tonight - much of it centering around the bar in their Junior Common Room .

Daughter was so happy with her room and comfortable with the other girls that we came away early. The pace was always going to be driven by what she wanted anyway. There were no tears because it was such a happy and exciting atmosphere. In fact we're both so envious of the University experience she's having

Hubby and I are going out to dinner tonight. The house feels very quiet at the moment.

Another positive note - the kitties were practically climbing all over us with joy when we returned. They thought the suitcases leaving the house meant bad news............

Again thank you so much for all your kind thoughts - this really is the most wonderful, warm-hearted community we have here .

Beth, I wish your daughter all the best in this new segment of her life, and you as little trouble as possible dealing with "empty nest syndrome"! It's such an exciting time for her, and you're close enough that you'll probably see each other often (especially when she craves home cooking).

I am sure she will do fine - esp so close - but it will be harder for you. I think it always is. I found it difficult when my brother went to univ about 4 hrs from me (I am much older) - and that was before video conferencing!!! I also remember leaving home the first time - and I was sooo excited!!!!

Awwwwww Beth She'll be fine you see, and your only a phone call away if ever you need to speak to each other, which i imagine will happen often, but hey!, she'll be hitting the students union bar in no time!!

Thank you so much Stephanie, Tricia, Cyberkitten and Susan.

We've heard from daughter and she's having a wonderful time. Her words were "it's great here" in her text message. We couldn't have wished for a better message

They had been to dinner and - yes Susan, they were in the bar . We went out to dinner ourselves to make sure we didn't sit in the house thinking how quiet it was.

Beth, I'm so glad to hear her first day is going wonderfully!

to you as you get used to her not being home. I'm sure it will be hard at first, but you'll get through. What an exciting time for you all though, especially your daughter; starting this new chapter in her life. I wish her all the best!

I'm glad to hear she is settling in so well. It a very special time in her life right now, but obviously bittersweet for you. It's wonderful she is so close and you will be able to see and speak to her often. I wish you all nothing but the best!

Linda and Karen - thank you so much. I think I got through all of my stress about her going away before she went. I worked through it by shopping for her presents to make her feel better in her first week; shopping with her for things to decorate her room and preparing her album of photographs to take away. It was all amazingly therapeutic.

I'm feeling very calm about this, she is so happy and excited that I am too. It probably also helps that I'm surrounded by newbie students at work right now, so know how to advise her through the process.

Hubby is finding it a lot harder. As he is retired he has been home with her when she got home from school and cooked her evening meal. Has been home with her during the summer and is now finding the house very empty and quiet.

As for daughter, she is having a wonderful time and everything about her course is going smoothly.

Thank you all so much for your lovely thoughts and kind words

Awww!! Congrats to all of you!! That's an amazing step in all your lives! We hope and pray for the best for her in her new-found independance, and in all her new life experiences. She sounds like a great person, I'm sure she'll do wonderfully...heck, she can't be anything less with such a wonderful mom.

Take heart...you've done awesome, Mom...now relax a little and bask in the light of your daughter being all grown up and on her way. What an amazing thing...