Mine sent me a screenshot so I could schedule a call for them..(yes they could have done that themselves, but right now are so overwhelmed that I volunteered to take something simple off their plate).
that is SO coool.
I wish my kids orietnation had hands on stuff like that, they would have loved it!
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When D22 went to college, she created her own Google Calendar to keep up with classes and stuff. I think S25 did the same.
But our shared family Google Calendar might as well be gospel in our household ā if itās not in there, it doesnāt exist, LOL. Both my college kids still know to go in there and put in their flights home or events that we need to know about. 
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My kid showed me the schedule, and I noted down the name of classes, but not which day of the week. I remember that some are MWF, and others are T/Th, but I donāt remember which ones are which. I mostly wanted to be able to ask semi-intelligent questions about the āunmentionedā classes to make sure they were just āboringā, not ābehind and didnāt know how to say itāā¦
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My kid is doing a biochem/premed major and dual music performance major, and he is in marching band. Figuring out how to squeeze that all in was a challenge and I had to help him figure it out. Plus, the parent portal where I go to pay tuition and add spending dollars for meal plans, etc., has his schedule listed.
We had a decent first empty nest weekend. Went to dinner on Friday night and again on Saturday and spent Sunday morning lazing about in bed reading together. It was a nice reminder of how much fun we had together pre-S25.
Speaking of, I think S25 had an awesome weekend. He went to an Anime Club movie night on Friday followed by a midnight burrito run with some of his hallmates. Saturday night he went off campus for dinner with his entire floor, which is a tradition every Saturday night when the dining hall is closed. He followed that up by attending the football game, where Rose-Hulman got skunked by DePauw. (Rose-Hulman is not exactly an athletic powerhouse!) He seems really happy and engaged. And while I could not be happier for him, Iām struggling right now. I miss him so much and am trying not to text all the time. He texted me non-stop on Thursday and Friday about his first two days of school, but itās been limited since then. I know I need to chill out, but I just miss interacting with him so much.
This will get easier, right? RIGHT?!?
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My account to pay bills also has the schedule available to view.
We consider ourselves 75% empty nesters, because our D27 is never home and S25 was always home! We are both cyclists, so more time = more and longer rides!!
So far S25 is loving college. The community there is definitely his ātribeā.
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ditto here!
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Haha, by that formula I guess weāre 80% empty nesters, since two of our three kids have been launched, and our senior does marching band 24/7 it seems, LOL.
We just had lunch with some friends today who asked us what weāll do in a year. Will we downsize our house? Move? I have no idea!
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Would definitely like to downsize, but wanted to at least wait until after freshman year. Also waiting to see what my father is doing with his house. Was expecting a little more time between taking care of my kid and taking care of a parent.
Heard from S25 a few times, seems to be settling in pretty well. Was concerned since there were a lot of issues being reported on the Parent/Family group, but he has been able to work through what he needed and thinks his classes are good too. He didnāt have a great senior year and was probably thinking the worst about college classes, but seems to like them and the schedule more.
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I canāt wait to downsize my house. Realistically, weāre probably holding non for another 6-7 years until I retire. Then weāll downsize and likely move out of the area. But I hate the cleaning and upkeep and donāt enjoy yard work and would be perfectly happy in a condo once my guys are settled on their own.
But thatās a ways off. S25 seems to be doing well. He went to the Clemson football game and we found him in the crowd on tv, so that was fun for me. He hasnāt called in the last week, so not a whole lot of info - we only texted about football this week. I havenāt heard much about classes and Iām really curious about two of them in particular - what he thinks of them because they are so different from anything heās done before. So hopefully I can ask that eventually. Heās got a summer internship / job fair on Thursday. In his program (construction management) you need to get in at least 800 hours of internship work with an approved company. Everyone coming to the job fair is on the approved list, and I think at least a few are in my area. Iād really like him to come home next summer, so Iām crossing my fingers he finds something that checks those boxes.
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We already know thereās no way weāre going to be able to stay in Alaska once we retire (cost of living is way high, mobility issues what with ice covering things 5 months of the year, all our kids are almost certainly going to be in the lower 48), so weāll be selling our house then anyway, so it makes no sense for us to downsize anytime between now and then.
But once we retire, oh yes, a place where someone else cuts the grass? Sign me up!
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Weāve talked some about downsizing/relocating too. We live in a suburban /lightly rural area and would prefer to move back to our old neighborhood in the city, where we rarely needed a car. Though I love our current house, Iāve really missed walking everywhere! We have about 6 years until our last leaves the nest, and Iāll be eligible for retirement that year too (assuming we can shovel enough money into the 529 to make that math work). We also have dreams of moving overseas for a while, since weāll both be far short of Medicare age. Aging parents may put a damper on that but what a great adventure it would be! We all need dreams (plus a little House Hunters International) to get us through the cold and dark winter days coming 
.
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Oh my goodness House Hunters International is such a guilty pleasure for me! The kids and I always get a good laugh when they pick the āwrongā house/apartment in our book. Or when they havenāt done the research and donāt understand that everything is smaller in Europe - especially fridges, kitchens, and bathrooms.
I talk about downsizing or changing things up, but the reality is we arenāt going anywhere until my husband retires because he canāt relocate his work easily. The kids have also made it pretty clear they donāt want us to sell anytime soon, so thereās that. But at a certain point, the property management part will be too much. I sometimes wish we lived a bit closer to some perks of civilization, but Iām working on embracing where we are now better. It was a stunningly gorgeous summer this year, so weāve all stocked up on the sunshine and are recharged for what is hopefully a snowy winter and not a wet/icy one.
Updates from the 25: so far so good? Classes started last week. He says most of them will be challenging, which is great. He seems to have a solid group of buddies and is having fun. Details beyond that are slim at best. He did give us access to his schedule (and grades!) on the payment portal. That being said, I donāt really pay attention to it, mainly because weāve figured out thereās a good time once a week for us to check in. I donāt hear from him much during the week otherwise.
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Oh, and one other term that we picked up from some friends of ours whose kids have fledged. They call themselves āfree birdsā instead of empty nesters. To me, that makes it sound more like thereās a new adventure waiting for all of us.
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Love āFree Birdsā! I also like āopen nestā.
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Nest with many fewer dirty feathers in the laundry.
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This child is terrible about calling. Heās been gone nearly a month now and weāve talked twice (and once was basically just for me to give him a password he needed). But he sends random photos sometimes. This morning I got this one, with the caption āDeath Valley in the sunriseā. He sent it at 7:15 this morning, so I guess he was up and about to the gym early, like I know he wanted to be in the routine of doing. Iām so glad he seems to be settling in.
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Ok, folks that have gone before me, now that your child has been at school for 1-4 weeks, is there any advice youād give for those of us who are still prepping to take our kids? I take all words of wisdomā¦itās T-9 to driving D25 to school. I am so glad sheās had more time at home with us and some friends who are still around, but Iām starting to feel like this is a very long goodbye (for now). Sheās so mentally ready to go, and started packing this week.
Today, though, Iām just grateful both kids are here. I got a text from S27 saying his school was on āsecure campusā (which I translated to ālockdownā. Apparently thatās a more secure campus. I am so sad we have to have gradations of any of this.). It ended up being fine, but then I came home to read about shootings elsewhere. My heart is a lot in my throat this afternoon. I want to wave my magic wand and make our society different than it is right now.
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