Tuesday, September 27, 2011

They Grow Up So Quickly

As appeared in the Albuquerque Journal Rio Rancho section 8/13/11

This week my eldest daughter and three nieces all go off to college and the rite of passage synergy has put a vapor lock on my house that only Dr. Bombay from Bewitched can remove.

I’ve been discussing this with my sister and brother for the past few weeks as they try to prepare their daughters for college as well, making sure the clothing, bedding, and all the essentials have been purchased, packed and labeled.

As parents we may be guilty of over-preparing our kids and then they end up with dorm rooms full of stuff they don’t need, but hasn’t that always been our job? Who is going to remind them to take a sweater, eat something for breakfast, study everyday and don’t talk to strangers?

Through all of this I have found websites with helpful tips to prepare kids for college. There are articles like the top 20 things you forget to bring to college, how to construct a loft bed, and how to get along with a roommate. I’ve also learned that it is cheaper to buy text books online now than in the bookstores. Times sure have changed since the best advice for buying books was ‘buy used.”

While discussing the topic of “they grow up so quickly’ with a friend back in the spring after my graduation column, I was able to commiserate with her since she went through it with her son. And although he has long graduated, her feelings of when he left the nest and headed to college were still fresh in her mind.

I told her I thought shopping for the dorm bedding would be when it would hit me. But I was wrong because we did that last week at Target and no tears were shed, other than from my youngest daughter who wanted a pillow pet for her bed too.

“Oh no,” said Cheryl my friend. “The shopping isn’t what’s emotional. Its not when you take them to campus, and get them unloaded in their dorms. It’s later when you return home and see their empty bedroom in your house. That is when it will hit you that your child has grown up and flown the nest.”

My 7 lb. 11 oz. baby girl leaves on Monday morning to pursue her nursing degree at UNM, starting bright and early at band camp. The UNM Spirit Marching band is getting a great tenor sax player from Rio Rancho and I know where I am going to be for every Lobos home football game this year.

College is the most exciting time of your life. My dad gave me that advice when I went off to school. He was right. Enjoy your college years you crazy co-eds. It really is the best time of your life.

Is it too early to pack the electric blanket?

Quote of the Week: “However painful the process of leaving home, for parents and for children, the really frightening thing for both would be the prospect of the child never leaving home.” – Robert Neelly Bellah, American Sociologist.

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