@Stuffedquahog I totally get it. S19 is acting like it’s just his world changing. Poor D21 is looking for attention from him and he’s more interested in all of the “lasts” with his friends. She finally told him that she’s sad she won’t see him until Thanksgiving. I hope he will spend more time with her this last week before he leaves. I’m just feeling unsettled. It’s like I know I’m sad but don’t want to face it. I’m nothing but excited for him and not nervous about how he will do. I’m just sad that those 18 years of him living here full time are over. I tried to explain to him that it’s a big change for us but he thinks he’ll be calling and texting all of the time and that we shouldn’t be sad. I’m curious how my husband and I will feel a few months from now. Hopefully, we will acclimate. 
My newly 18 year old D19 is getting a tattoo tomorrow and a second ear piercing on Tuesday- she has a single ear piercing and a nose ring already. I’m not into either of these new things but she is 18 and she worked double shifts to pay for them, so I’m all about letting her do as she wants without h grumbling. She has been taking about the tattoo for three years, and drew the design herself, so I know it’s had a lot of thought. My D20 will be the one harder to keep in touch with. She enjoys her own company most of the time. When she was away for a few weeks at a dance thing she called me exactly zero times. D19 was in Italy during that same time and called me daily. Different personalities for sure.
Just back from our family vacation in Maine. Then had a day to finish packing, and will head out in an hour to make the drive to Binghamton (move in is actually tomorrow but with a 5 hours drive we decided to leave a day early).
Can’t believe this is really it! I’ll be an empty nester come next week when my S16 heads back to Ohio University for his senior year :neutral:
Best wishes to all in this group as our kids head off to their first semester! 
An old song sometimes replays through my head (leavin’ on a jet plane…), adding needlessly to the drama. Make it stop. Having to repeat to myself, this is an adventure, people!
I haven’t done any of the medical/health/POA forms for S19. He’s still 17 for another 5 weeks. Actually, I never got around to it for D16 now that I think about it.
I have started consolidating Dorm Mountain into something that could theoretically be moved into a minivan two days from now. I probably bought him too much over the course of the summer - D16 went to school far away and we just did a single shopping trip when we got there. With S19, I just keep picking things up!
He has finally become a willing participant in the packing process and made a pile of clothes to bring. Today’s project is to get him to buy his books online so he can just pick them up before the upperclassmen return to school and the book store gets crazy. His move-in is Tuesday, but others move in Wednesday and the official orientation doesn’t start until Wednesday afternoon. I’m happy he has that extra day to get settled.
S finally received his dorm and roommate assignment this week. Seems like a good fit on the roommate - similar major, similar sports background, the guy even interned at Microsoft developing artwork for the game that my S hosts a server for. Now that we can see what the room will look like (we think), we can knock out a few final purchases. Waiting until 2 and a half weeks before school starts to get these assignments was super nerve-racking on the parents, but S never flinched. I swear, you’d never know that he’s leaving soon if you just watch or listen to him: no packing, no urgency, no to-do list. Just floating along. It is nice having him around, though. Since we all work from home, we are getting a lot of face time - if he’s not sleeping or playing video games. His move-in is over Labor Day weekend.
@homerdog It’s comforting to know that many of us parents are going down the same road at the moment. So many mixed emotions. I hope your son remembers to spend some time with his sister before he leaves. I know my D missed her brother a lot when he left for school. I reminded my son on several occasions to text his sister and ask how she is doing the year he was a freshman. It takes time but we all get used to a new normal (eventually).
@milgymfam I give you a lot of credit for handling a tattoo well. My H and I would not handle that well at all. In fact after Miss “I’m 18” got her upper ears pierced last week we did tell her pretty clearly that a tattoo would not go over well in our house. (She actually has no interest - she doesn’t want any ink in her skin or anything permanent. Phew! )
@professionaldad Wow, that is a long time to wait to find out about a roommate and dorm assignment. Glad it sounds like a good match!
Just said goodbye to D19. It was a good day, started with huge nerves, but all went well - lovely dorm room, bonded with suitemates, and the parent reception was good. It hasn’t really hit either of us properly I don’t think - right now it feels kinda like she just went to a new camp. Siiiiiiiigh. I’ll probably start crying over some totally innocuous thing tomorrow!
@Stuffedquahog I mean… it’s no longer up to me. Her money, her body, right? My husband has many tattoos so I’m kind of inured to them. When he took the stance that girls shouldn’t have tattoos it kind of flipped my switch. Ha.
I got my son moved into college Thursday, classes start Wednesday. He is only an hour away so he will probably be home fairly often, his roommate is also not far from home and will probably be gone on the weekends a good bit as well. My other kids have been back in school since August 6th and are getting used to the routine. I had a funeral today for the sister of one of my close friends from years back. We went to school together from preschool until high school graduation and I spent a lot of time at their house. She was in an accident and was ejected from her jeep, suffering a severe head injury. After a few days in a coma she passed away at 43 years of age.
@milgymfam, the person who makes medical decisions for an incapacitated adult varies by state—and in many states, it’s the attending physician who gets to decide, absent a medical power of attorney stating otherwise.
S19 flew off to the US this morning. I will fly over in a few days for move-in and convocation (he is doing a pre-orientation trip this week), so it’s not like I’m never going to see him again, but it still felt like a big thing watching him head off through the security line. He was a good sport and even waved as he went down the escalator, rather than looking mortally embarrassed that we were all lined up taking photos. I originally had it mapped out where we would divide his stuff into three piles - what he would take today, what I would bring next week and what we will bring when we go for parent’s weekend in the fall - but in the end he shoved almost everything he owns into three bags, so all we’ve got are the winter coat and the heavy blanket (plus whatever he inevitably forgot). The airline was very kind and did not charge him for the extra bags. Now D21 needs to figure out how she feels about being an only child for a while.
@HeartofDixie I’m sorry for the loss of your friend’s sister - losing someone so unexpectedly in the prime of life makes us feel so…mortal. Everyone else, glad those goodbyes are going well.
Today is S19’s last day at home - move-in is tomorrow. It is hitting me hard - he has always been such a presence in our home, playing piano at all hours, hitting the house with the soccer ball, proposing that we binge watch old Star Trek episodes. This will always be his home, and yet after today, he will always be a visitor, not a resident.
@dfbdfb does that also go for one’s spouse? Is that something that married couples typically have for each other? Honestly, I’d never heard of a medical POA before this forum. I have had a general POA for my husband in the past, when he was deployed, but that’s expired.
ETA: it looks like under PA law (where D19 will be in school) they go to your spouse and/or adult children first, then your parents, to make medical decisions for you if you’re incapacitated. There is a whole hierarchy legislated already. This is what I’d always assumed anyway, but maybe that is just because I grew up in PA.
@milgymfam SC has a similar law, so I am a bit confused when people located here talk about needing a health care consent.
@SammoJ What is that law called? Trying to search and see if there’s a law like that in Maine but not getting anywhere.
@milgymfam, as far as I understand it, in every jurisdiction in the US one’s spouse gets to make medical decisions when one is incapacitated (absent a power of attorney or such stating otherwise). The complications come with unmarried adults.
@homerdog In SC it is called the “Adult Health Care Consent Act”. It delineates who can make medical decisions in the event that someone is unable too (e.g., unconscious). Priority is to someone designated in a legal document, but then it quickly goes to spouse, then adult child, then parents.
D got her tattoo today. I have to admit, I don’t hate it. She’s been doing the exact design as a hand-drawn temp tattoo there for years, so I’m likely just used to it. She was unprepared for the no swimming, no sunbathing, no form fitting clothes for two weeks rule. Since it on her hips and jeans are a standard for her, we actually stopped on the way home to buy a float dress. Ha. Otherwise, she handled it all well.
My D19 has three already and has a 4th one scheduled. Seems to be very common nowadays.