<p>All these stories are so sweet.</p>
<p>Ds and I shopped shopped shopped this morning. He is the daughter I never had – too many clothes!!!</p>
<p>Hi all, I’m an occasional lurker and posted here once. I just want to say how comforting it is to read that I am not alone in the sadness and occasional tears over the college launch. We sent our only daughter off to college last weekend already, as she is participating in a program that runs 2 weeks before new student week. The quiet house has been so strange, and everything constantly reminds me of her, like how grocery shopping has changed! It will definitely take a while to get used to this “new normal”. But I’m so excited for her, she officially finished her first week of college and everything seems to be going well. And we get to see her again this coming weekend to move her from her temporary dorm to her permanent one.</p>
<p>stb, I’m hoping not to be so sad because when we put him on the plane I know I’ll get to see him in five days when I fly up to join him for the “real” move-in.</p>
<p>Such sweet stories! I really can’t imagine how hard it must be to have multiples going off to school. I have a rising high school senior and am beginning the process all over again, but at least I go from three to two to one a bit gradually. </p>
<p>I like to see all the different levels of “preparedness” by the kids for the moves, from piles weeks ahead, to nothing packed til the night before. I’m wondering if we took a survey, would we find that the application process last fall and winter was the same way. There are “I have to have it all done ahead of time and not forget anything or it will stress me out” kids (my niece was one of those) and there are the, “What do you mean contact my roommate? I’m not leaving for month?” type of kids (my DS!). For him, graduation was the time that it hit him how life would change, even the summers. He plans to be back next summer for his camp counselor job that he loves, but then there are internships and/or summer jobs in his field… it’s like childhood is over. So for now, the bedroom at home stays as is, planes/trucks/cars wallpaper border and all! </p>
<p>Kelowna - will you be seeing your son on campus during the regular move-in time? If so, just think of it right now as a short time away. </p>
<p>Sometimes I think of how we made it through the toddler years, or the elementary years, and how those little kids we all loved so much are no longer here. There are now teenagers and young men and women in their places. they are the same people, but still different. Life is completely different with a high schooler than a first grader. So we are now onto the next phase of their lives. By this time next year, we will be much more used to the feeling of our kids being away, whether it was 2 at once, three at once, or the last one of the family heading off. We will change just as much as they will. But we can’t stop it, so I try to accept it. (my “launcher” is my most difficult child, so perhaps it is easier for me to accept… 
)</p>
<p>The good news? The best news of all? Even though they are going away, they are still alive and healthy and only a text away. :)</p>
<p>I have spent the whole summer trying to get my D to get organized for leaving. I have done most of the basic shopping myself, I wanted so bad for it to be something we would do together but she’s always “busy” during the rare times I have available. Just last week she just wanted me to hand her a wad of money so she and BF could go shopping for stuff.!! No way, not fair, I want to go with you. I wouldn’t give her the money.</p>
<p>So, I was utterly surprised yesterday when we were on a long plane ride together going for our family vacation and she wanted to spend time brainstorming and making a list if everything she is going to need.</p>
<p>Ditto the milk and yogurt saga! Who would’ve imagined it comes to this!</p>
<p>Spent 3.5 hours shopping in Ikea today… Next Saturday I leave.</p>
<p>Great advice for drop off:
[Starting</a> College: A Guide for Parents: 2013 | Marshall P. Duke](<a href=“HuffPost - Breaking News, U.S. and World News | HuffPost”>Starting College: A Guide for Parents: 2013 | HuffPost Life)</p>
<p>We move S3 in 2 weeks. He will be about 6 hours away. We are up here this weekend on our way to a weeklong vacation in Lake Tahoe. We stopped by the local Target and Costco and made a big dent in his list. We will leave our loot at my aunts house until move-in. </p>
<p>Dairy aisle: S2 is my milk drinker. When he is away we get the smallest carton of milk, but more often than not it spoils. </p>
<p>Good luck to all with post-launch blues. I found with the older two that having a project helps.</p>
<p>OK, I got a little choked up tonight when I realized that this was our last Saturday night movie night together. I didn’t really want to watch a movie, but he said, C’mon, it’s the last time before I leave. <em>sniff, sniff</em> We watched two. :)</p>
<p>When my S started college 3 years ago, I was surprised by getting hit by missing him when grocery shopping, and realizing that I shouldn’t buy something that he ate. </p>
<p>We would frequently go to a restaurant on Sundays, and for the longest time I would automatically tell the hostess 4 people, instead of 3. It took me a long time to break that. We also had a hard time going to S’s favorite restaurants without him.</p>
<p>Morning everyone! For all who’ve launched already and those this weekend…hang in there. Remember last year at this time when the Common App had just opened up?! See the kids all made it through that experience, and our households stayed sort of intact, right?! Hoping this will all feel the same a year from now…</p>
<p>If it helps at all, I’ve been skimming the parent threads of older children and it’s kind of nice to peek into the future…see that everyone survives and has other issue to still yap about…and get to duck right back here to the starting line of the adventure again.</p>
<p>Sending comfort vibes to all who are sort of sad. Bright side…something right if they’re headed to adulthood with excitement, yes?</p>
<p>Gosh - it has been 24 hours since a post…everyone must be in “packing hell” with us!!! Will be leaving tomorrow morning for move-in on Wednesday morning! DD has been out the last two night over night with friends - I told her she better be productive today!! Most everything is packed with the exception of shoes!!! For parents of girls - how many pairs of shoes are your daughters taking??? My dd was on a facebook page and she said that a girl wrote that between the two roommates that they will have 80 pairs of shoes!!! Goodluck finding a place to store those!!!</p>
<p>80 pairs wow. If they have that many shoes I wonder how many clothes they are bringing…
I don’t have any girls but my DS took 4 pair plus his boots.:)</p>
<p>HA MichiganGeorgia - my dd has 4 pairs of boots!!! She will probably take two pairs of athletic shoes (one to run in and one to just wear) and many pairs of sandals! At least the sandals don’t take much room. I would guess she will end up with about 10-15 pairs.</p>
<p>I just had the shoe conversation yesterday with DS13b. He is taking four pairs. I guess five if you count the flip flops for the shower. I suggested boots but he declined. I suggested dress shoes and he says he can make his better athletic-ish shoes work for dress occasions. Who am I to judge his sense of style?</p>
<p>Shoes- because S2 has to dress up so much he has to have black and cordovan(?) dress shoes, running shoes, sperry’s, and flip flops. I’m trying to convince him to get something to replace the sperry’s when the weather gets too cold to go sockless. He’s never lived in a cold climate before. Oh well, he can decide later. </p>
<p>My D1, however, probably has about 20 pairs. But living in a city and walking everywhere, she wears them out quickly.</p>
<p>Just got a new phone so I hope this is coherent. I just dropped my little boys off for their first day of school.I have a 1st and 4th grader.I was watching the kindergarten parents knowing that will be me in 2weeks.Life is so strange that way.The feelings are so identical. We have a small dorm mountain going on.Since we are flying,some will go in suitcases,most will be shipped.D13 has admitted that she is scared.She like most of these kids wants to do well.She joked that she was so overwhelmed with all the stuff she needs,if someone suggested she needed a small monkey she’d buy one.I’m living a surreal life with an infant and a kid headed to college.D13 has been cooking a lot for us.She made cinnamon roll pancakes for the boys first day of school.She also gave each brother their own special day with her to do whatever they wanted.To say we will miss her is an understatement! On the other hand I’m so excited for her I can’t stand it.Every time we see the N.Y.skyline we go nuts!We’re off to do more shopping. Now that the boys are in school we have a little more freedom.I’m so glad to have this group.Just reading others experiences has helped me cope tremendously!</p>
<p>I think my ds will be the boy with the most shoes.</p>
<p>He doesn’t seem nervous at all. He’s wanted this so long and is excited it’s finally within his grasp. The hardest part will be leaving the gf.</p>
<p>Ahsmuoh…S has black oxfords (a dress-up event on day 3), tan sperrys, running shoes (that he will never run in), black flops, brown flops, and shower flops. So 6. I would expect girls to take more, but 40??? Maybe the will decorate their walls with over the door shoe hangers hung from command hooks!</p>