<p>Facebook is fine, I have quite a few “older” friends that I kinda lost touch with thru the years. Some as far away as Montana & Alaska. As far as friending any of the kids, I leave that to them, if they friend me…fine. DO NOT ask to be their friends! There’s fun games on there to play & it’s a nice way to keep people updated by uploading recent photos. I can definitely see it growing for our age group more and more.
PS, I would love to be friended by some familiar logins here at CC! PM me when you get an account 
And to stay on topic, yes gosh we miss them…every day and in so many little (and big) ways. <3</p>
<p>Hey, MichaelNkat, my kid is the one who suggested I create a facebook account and once I did, she and a half dozen of her high school friends quickly “friended me,” so I guess this is one of those “different strokes for different folks” situations! :)</p>
<p>My wife has a Facebook account and my daughter friended her and that’s ok apparently. But for me, nah, forbidden territory. Must be a gender thing - for her mom, it’s cute, for me it would be “weird”. ;)</p>
<p>For me, what would be weird if my kids were friends with me on facebook is that they may see it as my “listening in” on their conversations with peers, sort of like listening in on the phone. They are in college and that part of their life is independent even though they share a real lot with us. They can communicate with us in email, IM, cell, etc. and don’t need to on facebook too. I do not feel they’d be hiding anything but it is more like private peer conversations that normally your parent doesn’t listen to. When my kids have come home, they have shared facebook photo albums with me or stuff like that.</p>
<p>My daughter put me on her friends list. I have always avoided things like Facebook and MySpace but I am glad I set up my account. I have reconnected with some amazing people that I had lost contact with . It’s been great. I’m glad I did it.</p>
<p>You can have a facebook account and not be “friends” with your kids. :D</p>
<p>Soozievt,
I’m with you on this one. It’s their private space/face ;). They may share pictures or certain comments with us once in a blue moon, but we as parents should not become voyeurs. My D’s friends have wanted me to join first MySpace then Facebook against my D’s wishes. I would never do that to her nor invade her friends privacies. We as parents should learn to let go of some things. I know it’s hard as I’ve tried to ween myself from CC (as I’m sure many parents, as I, have had their kids tease them about this site).
As for the original topic, you WILL get over it. Just knowing that you have visits coming up will keep you going. Enjoy your spouses, significant others or just life. ;)</p>
<p>OK no fair! I’m sitting here at work reading all this and getting teary, burbly, etc… </p>
<p>I sent my first off 4 years ago and felt like my arm had been torn off. I missed her terribly, and she missed me. She’s now a full adult, and actually loves to come home and “hang out” with me!</p>
<p>I am sending my last off in August, and I am half the time absolutely pathetic, and the other half wishing I could just park him at the curb a month early! </p>
<p>My S assures me that it will be no different than now, since I never see him. He comes through with his friends (mostly fellow lacrosse players) and they eat everything in the house, and then he is gone again, at work, the theatre, the lacrosse field (they’ve got a summer league going) or out partying until 2 am. </p>
<p>The biggest sad challenge for me will be buying 1/4 of the groceries I buy now, until he comes home for Christmas. I can see myself weeping in Safeway as I walk past the jumbo-packs and super-buys!</p>
<p>I agree, the supermarket is going to be a tough place to go…lots of reminders of what you don’t need to buy. </p>
<p>And, my kids’ rooms are soooo messy; I hate it. I know when they move I will go in and do a thorough cleaning. Then there won’t be any more reason to keep their doors shut…BUT, I think that walking by and seeing that clean room that stays that way, day after day, will be another huge reminder that they are gone! </p>
<p>It’s actually helpful to have a place to get these feelings out…I know so many of you are feeling just as I am. And, I know we WILL get through it, and find things about it that we really enjoy. Of course, over the years I’ve heard other moms talk about the empty nest; but I never TRULY understood their emotions…until now.</p>
<p>Motherbear…you’re a good mom. My kids’ rooms are messy (particularly D2’s!!) and are just as they left them. I don’t clean that up. I did ask D2 to pick things off the floor before she went each time she stops here, which is only a couple times per year. Everything else is as it was when they lived in the room. I would have liked D2 in particular to have to clean it while home (or dig through it, I should say) but she is home too briefly to make that a focus. And so it remains.</p>
<p>For my son’s graduation open house, we made a big poster with a Top Ten List of things we will miss about him when he is gone (like David Letterman which we all like to watch together). They were all things that make us crazy: tripping over his MANY pairs of shoes, socks tossed wherever, way too long showers, etc. but the last one was a “for real” thing we will miss; all the music in the house, all his friends, going to all his performances/concerts and his sense of humor.</p>
<p>Does anyone else feel sad about not only their kid going off to school but missing all their friends, as well? Thank goodness we still have two more musicians here at home plus my husband is a musician so I will always have “live” music in my home!!</p>
<p>Yes, yes, and YES to missing my son’s friends. My husband I drove a few of them to a thespian event last spring that was several hours away. As I looked at the kids in my rear view mirror I realized that was likely the last time I would have that view, EVER. (My son drives so I rarely have a chance to drive the kids around any more).</p>
<p>The thing that really made me “lose” it was closing night of son’s spring musical at the final curtain call. Knowing that it would be the very last time I would see these kids perform together on that stage prompted some major tears.</p>
<p>Right now I’m doing whatever I can NOT to get too sentimental. We’re moving next week and the packing and organizing is keeping me very occupied. However yesterday I wrapped up a photo of my son that was taken when he was just shy of 4 years old that made me very melancholy. Of course I couldn’t help but to give him a big hug. Gosh darn it, where DID the time go?!?</p>
<p>Another quick “jog” off topic but, just because you are friends with someone on facebook, doesn’t enable you to listen in on all their friends’ conversations etc. You can only see “your friend’s” profile, pictures they themselves or others post (and tag) of them and that’s it. They can also choose for certain “friends” not to see photo albums, so it’s very private still.
Not at all a biggie for one of my kids, the other prefers his privacy, and I respect that! Plus I post pix of stuff going on around here that they (and my other friend that have moved away) may get a kick out of seeing, the latest being the local town fireworks last weekend, seen with various nephews & neices, aunts, uncles the grandparents. I have to say it’s nice to keep in touch that way, as well as daily (usually) phone calls. We’re close but don’t worry, she’s gettin along fine on her own.
Now, the other kid…what’s he hiding anyway??</p>
<p>Melsmom, if I am not mistaken, if you are “friends” with someone on facebook, you are privy to the posts on their “wall” which are like conversations. You are not privy to their private messages. I think the convos on the wall are a bit like viewing all their text messages on a cell or their emails.</p>
<p>About hearing their music…you could play CDs of them in the car. Now I just have to get my hands on some. Sometimes we listen to CDs my husband has made of D’s a capella concerts. But she has recently recorded on several CDs (on top of her group recording a CD in a recording studio too). She recorded the original cast of her mainstage musical. I still need a copy. She recently recorded on a new musical along with some Broadway actors and has her own solos. But I still need a copy. She just called and tonight is her opening night of a new musical and apparently a live recording was made at the dress last night. I hope to get a copy. She went into a recording studio and recorded a theater concert piece that she musically directed and was pianist for, but again, I don’t have a copy. See a pattern? LOL. I need these to listen to in my car. She used to sing and try out songs for me in the car but those days are over. A CD copy would be nice at this point. They exist but are in her hands!</p>
<p>You are right that the wall is public, but then too if I didn’t like something on my wall I would just delete it. The stuff there is understood to be seen by many. Facebook has a private messaging center for private stuff. I thing the wall is mostly nonsensical stuff, to me anyway!
BTW…I searched for groups on facebook of which there are a few for CC. I looked at them, but they are all set up by kids, kind of boring. It would be fun to have an adult CC group on facebook, we could see who we’re talking to for one.
This is cute, on one of the CC kid’s sites it asked what they thought would improve CC. One person wrote in that they should get rid of the parent forum, because CC is for kids. Imagine!? LOL!
Also, some of my oldest son’s friends have contacted me on facebook. They are in their mid 20’s now, with families of their own! One keeps challenging me to some kind of a car race online. A couple of my d’s friends have as well, they call me mom anyway.</p>
<p>SeniorMom08 I know exactly what you mean about the last high school musical. Ours was Les Miserable and my son was Javert and his very good friend (who also posts here and is heading off to another MT BFA program) was Eponine. The 2 of them have been in many shows together over the years and have sung together for years. I just sobbed at the end of the show. The show’s ending is emotional as it is but knowing that was in all likelihood the last time to see them together on stage was very sad for me. </p>
<p>soozievt, I do have numerous DVD’s of his shows and some vocal performances. He is also in a Christian rock band so I can listen to some of those recordings as well. I am smiling at the picture of her trying out songs for you while driving. My son used to practice monologues or run lines while on our hour drive in to Milwaukee for rehearsals or shows.</p>
<p>For those of you who do have recordings of your son or daughter consider yourselves very lucky, I wish we did!!! While we do have copies of the high school’s spring musicals, that is it 
Our son is very uncomfortable being recorded, so we have nothing else. He was in a production of Sweeney Todd last summer that I know my husband would give his eye-teeth to have a copy of, but we couldn’t record it. Son is doing a cabaret this weekend, I should see if maybe someone can videotape it for us…</p>
<p>The food thing. No more yogurt. Always bought tons of it when it went on sale. Also, no more maple and brown sugar oatmeal (also bought many many boxes of it when on sale). My son has been mixing it half and half with plain oatmeal for breakfast since he was probably 2 or 3 years old. It’s going to be weird.</p>
<p>SeniorMom, one drawback in college is that we no longer are permitted to video the productions and same with her professional work. I miss not having videos as we have TONS of them from her time prior to college. But I was referring above to professional cast recordings she has been in recently where she recorded in recording studios. I don’t have them in my possession but then I could listen to more recent material and in the car. </p>
<p>AZKMom…In HS, my D’s voice lessons, as well as final year acting coaching, as well as some productions she was in, were 50 miles away. Our dance studio was 25 miles away. So, lots of long car rides. Often, she’d be considering various songs for auditions and what not and would try them out in the car and get my feedback. Those days are gone, kinda. They are replaced by now she sometimes calls from college in a practice room and tries songs out over the phone to get my opinion! This happened very recently as she wrote many original MT songs for a show she is musically directing and rehearsing right now and right after she composed each one and wrote the lyrics, she excitedly called up as she wanted someone to hear it and the someone was me and she put the cell on the piano and played and sang the songs over the phone. So…it sorta still continues on…:D</p>
<p>SeniorMom</p>
<p>The oatmeal will be great in care packages, not so much the yogurt though!!</p>