I am laughing at the thought of a mom with her own shower caddie sleeping in the dorm!! :))
I cried for 3 weeks when we dropped off my older D. I am hoping to have it together this time around. We shall see. Today her roommate became teary eyed which made me a little teary eyed. We leave Monday- not sure what to expect. I am trying to stay positive- looking forward to a new first day of school and hearing what her classes are like. And I have to remind myself that I still have a teenager!
There was a mom from overseas that I sat with at a luncheon for students and parents on D2’s dropoff day. The mom wondered when I was going home, and I told her I was flying out the next day (the college encouraged split from our wee ones wasn’t until 4-ish, too late to catch a flight that day). Of course, I stayed in a hotel, not the dorm! She looked shocked – she had rented an apartment right next to campus, and intended to stay for months.
My dad and I came in early so that we could work out some things like bank accounts and to do orientation, he came as a guest for that. He and I stayed together at night - but not in the dorm, lol. I stayed with him at a hotel until today, when he went home.
This is normal, and this will pass. It doesn’t ever end, really, but it passes into another stage that you come to see as “new normal”. My D had a regular seat at our family table. When she left for college, I would not allow that seat to be empty because I felt it would make me sadder to stare at HER empty seat. I switched my H and my S and I around that table in different ways every meal to make sure someone else was sitting in D’s seat. It drove my S crazy, but I insisted and my family kindly played along. I can’t remember how long I played that game before it finally didn’t matter anymore.
Same thing with passing an empty bedroom. I closed D’s bedroom door and it made it easier to handle. Some folks I know cried when the dirty laundry no longer overflowed with their child’s clothes. That hole may appear in some form in your life, and you will figure out ways to ease the pain of that emptiness.
I stalked my D on Facebook and saw she kept posting happy pics of her with some other girls doing fun stuff. That made my heart happy. And when she called and I asked her who she was hanging out with, she immediately rattled off 5 names, and I was comforted that she was not sitting alone in her dorm room. Knowing she was moving on and making a new life made it easier for me.
Don’t allow anyone to discount your emotions. They are what they are. It will take some time, and after a bit of time you may have to start making an effort to move on past the sadness, if it takes over your entire life. But for these first couple of weeks, just roll with it and don’t beat yourself up for being emotional.
Wishing you happy thoughts and warm memories!
It makes me feel better to keep my kids bedroom doors open. That’s my reminder that at least for now, this is still their permanent home. Powercropper I like your seat strategy!
When I was cleaning up a while back I went through all the saved back New Yorkers page by page and cut out cartoons that I thought would get a laugh out of one or both of the kids. I have a full envelope of them and think I will mail them at intervals as a fun little surprise.
What about seeing their favorite food when going to grocery store?
@saintfan I send comics to my D as well. At first, it is all about putting an envelope in that mail box. Doesn’t matter as much what you say, but when a freshman opens their mail box, they hope it is not empty. Maybe it’s not as important to this generation as it was when I was in college, but it’s important to me as a parent to fill that mail box!
I send D funny letters from “our dog.” It’s a tradition I started when she first went to sleep away summer camp in 2nd grade. She loves those letters.
Oh my God. This woman needs to get a life.
Maybe I should have the cat and dog write. They already got him little token going away gifts that I will pack. The animals do their own Christmas shopping so letters from home now and again wouldn’t be that far out of bounds. 
When my D was in college (she’s now 28), I bought 8x10 bubble envelopes and sent one every now and then. I had fun shopping for stuff that would fit in it like her favorite chewing gum, colored markers, gift cards, small note cards, packets of hot chocolate mix, hair clips, etc. Once, I put in a pair of underwear (new of course). Everything was totally random and she had fun opening it. Everything was useful and small, since it had to fit in the flat, padded envelope.
Underwear is a good non-joke item in a care package! Allows a longer time between having to do laundry. 
I have also sent socks in care packages.
@santfan - the letters are apparently a big hit with her friends too. The dog is always getting into mischief behind Mommy’s back. He also keeps D apprised of news from our neighborhood from his perch on the back of the sunroom sofa. He doesn’t quite understand why he can’t go to college with D. He’s been crafting his schedule and making his case. He thinks he’ll be especially useful on squirrel patrol.
I occasionally post pictures on Facebook of my dog, with her commentary attached. The dog is fond of telling the “truth” about her owner, me.
Lol. I just warned my son I was packing my shower caddy. Ha ha. I’m sure his roommate would love that.
Ha.
Okay, I will confess, it wasn’t at move-in time, but I did stay with my D in her dorm room (a single) and I was a mom in the shower. At the time H was unemployed and $ was really tight, but my friends gave me a plane ticket and told me they wanted me to visit D (1500 miles away). So I did, but I didn’t have $ for a hotel room or a rental car, so I used public transportation and stayed in her dorm room. So don’t be too hard on the mom in the shower. There may be a back story.
@college_query But at least your daughter’s dorm was a single.
We are leaving our daughter in school in Massachusetts this weekend then flying back to Asia where we work the next day. I feel like I am handling things okay right now, but reading some of these posts is provoking that choked up tears under the surface feeling. I think it will really hit me when we are on that annual crazy long plane ride and she isn’t with us on it for the first time in 18 years. I have the box of tissues in my carry on bag already.