High School Class of 2016/College Class 2020

[Monykalyn]

So DD called her sister today (that has never happened before)-College DD seemed a bit down today, said she is just tired but I think maybe just a touch of homesickness too. With a 3 day weekend coming up I think she is glad to be coming home for a few days.
She is getting along with her roommate really well, and classes are engaging her and she seems to be really enjoying her classes. So more likely this is the adjustment period...

 

[punkin]

So we were supposed to leave tomorrow morning, but my air conditioner is not working tonight. I have to call the repair guys and see if they can come tomorrow early. We will just have to leave after they do.

 

[jetskigrl]

So DD called her sister today (that has never happened before)-College DD seemed a bit down today, said she is just tired but I think maybe just a touch of homesickness too. With a 3 day weekend coming up I think she is glad to be coming home for a few days.
She is getting along with her roommate really well, and classes are engaging her and she seems to be really enjoying her classes. So more likely this is the adjustment period...

My DD has definitely been texting and calling more than usual too. I do think it is just an adjustment period for them (plus a little homesick). DD was in no hurry to go back on Sunday and was content to hang out with us a little longer I think she is looking forward to some time at home this weekend too.

So we were supposed to leave tomorrow morning, but my air conditioner is not working tonight. I have to call the repair guys and see if they can come tomorrow early. We will just have to leave after they do.

I hope you are able to get it fixed quickly.

 

[luvsJack]

So DD called her sister today (that has never happened before)-College DD seemed a bit down today, said she is just tired but I think maybe just a touch of homesickness too. With a 3 day weekend coming up I think she is glad to be coming home for a few days.
She is getting along with her roommate really well, and classes are engaging her and she seems to be really enjoying her classes. So more likely this is the adjustment period...

Dd is in her third week and she seems a bit down too. First week she was excited. Last week she was happy and busy. Now, not so much. She says she is tired and I think she may have let some work pile up in one of her classes. Once she got everything finished last night, she was better.

I think I am actually going to suggest that she go back earlier on Sundays so she can settle back in, put away her groceries and double check anything due for the coming week and have some quiet time to get anything done that she hasn't completed.

One of friends had a bit of a meltdown yesterday during lunch. I think they have been having a lot of fun the past couple of weeks and now the reality of classes has set in.

 

[mjkacmom]

I'm surprised at how many come home for the weekend. Are they mostly commuting schools? I went an hour away, and came home maybe once or twice before thanksgiving. Dd20 is 40 minutes away, same thing, and I don't expect to see ds18 until a long weekend in October (he has an orthodontist appointment). He's less than 1 1/2 hours away. I was under the impression that it's harder to acclimate to college life if you come home frequently (or maybe that's just what my parents told me...).

I enjoyed coming home, but always looked forward to getting back to my dorm, and my friends. The college bond can be so strong - I still consider my college friends to be some of my best friends (30 years later).

 

[jetskigrl]

I'm surprised at how many come home for the weekend. Are they mostly commuting schools? I went an hour away, and came home maybe once or twice before thanksgiving. Dd20 is 40 minutes away, same thing, and I don't expect to see ds18 until a long weekend in October (he has an orthodontist appointment). He's less than 1 1/2 hours away. I was under the impression that it's harder to acclimate to college life if you come home frequently (or maybe that's just what my parents told me...).

I enjoyed coming home, but always looked forward to getting back to my dorm, and my friends. The college bond can be so strong - I still consider my college friends to be some of my best friends (30 years later).

DD is only about 15 miles from home but living on campus her freshman year for the away-from-home experience. After this weekend, I don't think she will be coming home as often (and I am encouraging her to stay at school to enjoy the weekends with her friends since that is probably the only time she will have for socializing). Classes just started this week so I'm sure once they get into the homework, she will need that extra time at school for access to the studios, etc.

She is coming home this weekend since it is a long weekend. And she was only home last weekend because they spent the day at Disneyland on a school trip (part of Orientation Week) and we were there too, meeting friends. So rather than have to leave and go back to school at 7, she stayed and met up with us and closed down Disneyland. In this case though, we encouraged her to stay with us instead of going back to school since our friends gifted us the opportunity to have drinks and dessert in the lounge of Club 33 and we didn't want her to miss that. She didn't have any idea about the invitation and was so surprised when our friends took us to the door of Club 33 and they actually let us in

 

[mom2rtk]

I'm surprised at how many come home for the weekend. Are they mostly commuting schools? I went an hour away, and came home maybe once or twice before thanksgiving. Dd20 is 40 minutes away, same thing, and I don't expect to see ds18 until a long weekend in October (he has an orthodontist appointment). He's less than 1 1/2 hours away. I was under the impression that it's harder to acclimate to college life if you come home frequently (or maybe that's just what my parents told me...).

I enjoyed coming home, but always looked forward to getting back to my dorm, and my friends. The college bond can be so strong - I still consider my college friends to be some of my best friends (30 years later).

Everyone adjust differently, especially if this is the first time they've been away from home for long.

My son goes to school 3 1/2 hours away and would have come home more often his freshman year if he had a car. He's a senior now and doing great. He'll be home this weekend, but has been gone 3 weeks already and this is the only long weekend of the school year outside of St. Patrick's Day (Thanksgiving and Christmas are longer). Plus his friend with a car is coming home.

I know when I was away at school (8 hour drive from home) that first stretch from school starting until Thanksgiving was really long. And I really never thought I'd be homesick. If I could have had a couple quick trips home, I probably would have done it.

 

[luvsJack]

I'm surprised at how many come home for the weekend. Are they mostly commuting schools? I went an hour away, and came home maybe once or twice before thanksgiving. Dd20 is 40 minutes away, same thing, and I don't expect to see ds18 until a long weekend in October (he has an orthodontist appointment). He's less than 1 1/2 hours away. I was under the impression that it's harder to acclimate to college life if you come home frequently (or maybe that's just what my parents told me...).

I enjoyed coming home, but always looked forward to getting back to my dorm, and my friends. The college bond can be so strong - I still consider my college friends to be some of my best friends (30 years later).

Most of the kids on dd's campus leave on the weekends. She is only about 45 minutes away. Honestly, I think it helps her that she knows she is coming home for the weekend and seeing high school friends and her family. As time goes on, I expect that she will start spending more and more time with her college friends and less with the ones from high school. But all of them live within a 150 mile radius so don't really have to stay at school to spend time together on the weekends.

 

[zoemurr]

My dd is only 30 minutes away but she hasn't looked back. We had it out on the phone last night because she isn't checking in at all. I know I should be glad she's having a great time but boy is it tough not hearing anything.

 

[ski_mom]

My DD is not coming home this weekend. She moved in on the 13th, so this will be her 3rd weekend gone. She is a little over 6 hours away, so it's a long drive. She said all along that she wouldn't be home over Labor Day, but I thought when the time came, she might, but it appears she was right. She and a couple of friends are planning on going into Memphis (a little over an hour away) to do some shopping, so I'm sure she'll have a fun time.

Her older sister is a sophomore this year. She is about 3.5 hours away and is also not coming home this weekend. Last year, she came home every 3 day or longer weekend, but she says this year, she's just going to stay there and get some stuff done. She's hoping to get a job, so she's planning on applying to a few places. I think this year, she's just more comfortable being there.

 

[Kimberlyann11]

DD is not coming home for labor day, but she will be home for part of the next weekend (docs appt on Monday) and the weekend after that (her ankle surgery on Friday). Then in October her good friend will be competing in Detroit in his sport. She hasn't seen him in person since January so she might come home and we'll pop into the city to watch his competition.

She just sent me a text about how much she loves the library. It's open until two am!! That's just kind of funny. I loved the library too when I was in college, but I didn't think she was quite as geeky as me. In one of her classes, their assignment is to watch "The Matrix" by Wednesday. There's a short writing assignment and a discussion. I wish I had a class where I could watch Keanu Reeves and talk about a movie.

She's dropping marching band because it looks like she won't be able to march all season after all. I'm trying to talk her into picking up a small three-credit class that she will need for her major - but I don't know if she's going to do it. I think she'll have problems squeezing in all the classes she will need for this major/minor combo she picked out. The school doesn't even require a minor for this major because of the coursework and requirements. Maybe if she calls tonight I'll fly the helicopter some more and see if I can get her to sign up for the intro class. They have a spot open on Wednesday nights (I checked - lol).

 

[mjkacmom]

My dd is only 30 minutes away but she hasn't looked back. We had it out on the phone last night because she isn't checking in at all. I know I should be glad she's having a great time but boy is it tough not hearing anything.

I'm curious how often other kids check in. When dd20 left for college 2 years ago, we would go a month without talking, with a couple of texts each week. Granted, she started soiling the best around age 11 (just the nest - great student, never got in trouble, teachers and other parents loved her). Therefore, I welcomed the break (and for parents with similar kids, she is SO much more enjoyable now!)

I haven't spoken to ds18 in close to a week, I usually text him about once a day with a question, and he answers back at some point. All I know is that things are good. I think I called my mom 2 or 3 times a month when I was in college (after graduation, talked to her several times a day for the next 30 years).

I'm just wondering what others expect. I know I miss ds more than I missed dd when she was a freshman, now it's about the same.

 

[indimom]

I expected that I wouldn't hear from DD as often, but was surprised by the initial COMPLETE radio silence... I tried to remind myself that she's busy and starting classes and making friends, but it was still surprising because we typically text throughout the day.
Now, that she's a week in, she's texting a bit more. So, I'm feeling a little better.

 

[mom2rtk]

From his freshman year, my son has called about once a week or so. I wait to hear from him so I don't catch him at a bad time. If I need to talk, I send him a text to call me when it's convenient. We answer other questions by text as they come up, or send taunts about sports teams or other silly stuff as needed, maybe every couple of days?

 

[jetskigrl]

I'm curious how often other kids check in. When dd20 left for college 2 years ago, we would go a month without talking, with a couple of texts each week. Granted, she started soiling the best around age 11 (just the nest - great student, never got in trouble, teachers and other parents loved her). Therefore, I welcomed the break (and for parents with similar kids, she is SO much more enjoyable now!)

I haven't spoken to ds18 in close to a week, I usually text him about once a day with a question, and he answers back at some point. All I know is that things are good. I think I called my mom 2 or 3 times a month when I was in college (after graduation, talked to her several times a day for the next 30 years).

I'm just wondering what others expect. I know I miss ds more than I missed dd when she was a freshman, now it's about the same.

Right now we have been talking or texting at least every other day. But that is because she wants to share with me how the classes are (this is her first week of classes so she is just meeting teachers, etc). I don't expect to hear from her as often once she gets into the routine more.

 

[Riles_and_Gabe]

My DS is a little over 1200 miles away! So definitely no weekend trips home for him. In fact I don't think he will be able to come back for Thanksgiving. The school doesn't give them much time off and the costs of flights are already astronomical. So unless I catch some amazing deal, we won't see him until Christmas (well that's not quite true, I am flying back to his campus in a couple of weeks to attend the Family Weekend).

He has been pretty good about calling me which is a pleasant surprise because he is usually a horrible phone person. He has been excellent about returning text messages and phone calls within a reasonable time frame (I was afraid I wouldn't hear from him for months at a time).

DS called on Monday night to let us know that his roommate was leaving the college and had moved out that day! It looks like he may end up with the room to himself. I have mixed feelings on that. On one hand it is nice to have the room to yourself but I was hoping he would have a great college experience with his roommate. The other bad thing is that the refrigerator belonged to the roommate (we provided the microwave), so now we are on the hunt for one that we can hopefully ship to him (fingers crossed for free shipping).

 

[zoemurr]

I'm curious how often other kids check in. When dd20 left for college 2 years ago, we would go a month without talking, with a couple of texts each week. Granted, she started soiling the best around age 11 (just the nest - great student, never got in trouble, teachers and other parents loved her). Therefore, I welcomed the break (and for parents with similar kids, she is SO much more enjoyable now!)

I haven't spoken to ds18 in close to a week, I usually text him about once a day with a question, and he answers back at some point. All I know is that things are good. I think I called my mom 2 or 3 times a month when I was in college (after graduation, talked to her several times a day for the next 30 years).

I'm just wondering what others expect. I know I miss ds more than I missed dd when she was a freshman, now it's about the same.

My expectation was that she would call once a week and text a few times in between. Our blow up was because she sent a text on Saturday that said she was busy and would call tomorrow. This was unsolicited from us, and we were excited to hear from her. Well, at 10pm on Sunday she hadn't called and we started to get worried. We texted and called but got no reply. Monday morning she answered our texts and just said she got busy and fell asleep early. She didn't understand how rude, disappointing and scary it was for us. She also never responded to her grandmother's innocent e-mail asking how she was doing over a week ago. Considering she just sprung for a $$$ computer (and she's her grandma) this was also unacceptable.

We have always been a very close family and she has never been a teenager with an attitude or was embarrassed of her mother. We had many things that we enjoyed doing together. I'm glad she's adjusting so well, but it's tough to be totally off her radar. That is something I have to deal with, but she does need to learn that it's unacceptable to not keep her word and to treat her family with respect. I thought that was a given, but she needed a reminder.

 

[Monykalyn]

if she calls tonight I'll fly the helicopter some more

This cracked me up! I am trying very hard to not ask my DD about following up on stuff (like the study abroad-there are hard deadlines for applying for grants that come early).
She called yesterday excited about her chem lab and wanted to tell me all about it. Other than finalizing what time I will be there Friday to get her her I don't expect to hear much from her this week.

She is ~2.5 hours away so easy to pop home if she needs to, although she didn't take her car. Since this is a 3 day weekend she wants to come home. Then we will see her over parents weekend and then probably not til thanksgiving. She did say something about wanting to see her sister march in Bands of America super regional in October but not sure if that will happen.

I didn't get home much after freshman year , but I also had a job starting sophomore year in the town where college was. Previously I was commuting home weekends to work at my old job (seasonal work at 6 flags LOL)

 

[Aliceacc]

ACK.... I need advice.

My son has been away at school since Thursday.

He texted today that he thinks his wisdom tooth(or teeth, not sure) have come in and are giving him trouble.

He's 3 hours away, and my school year started yesterday. (My husband's started Monday, but he can't drive until October.) I have no idea of how to get from here to there via public transportation, and my son doesn't have a car.

Here are my options as I see them:
- get the name of a dentist in PA who takes our medical plan, call tomorrow, make an appointment for Saturday afternoon, leave early Sat morning, and hope it can be handled there and then-- and, yes, it's a holiday weekend.

- call our dentist. Leave at early Saturday morning, go get my son, get in to the dentist Saturday afternoon, then return him to school on Sunday.

Both plans assume that he doesn't need to see an oral surgeon.

Any suggestions anyone???

 

[mjkacmom]

ACK.... I need advice.

My son has been away at school since Thursday.

He texted today that he thinks his wisdom tooth(or teeth, not sure) have come in and are giving him trouble.

He's 3 hours away, and my school year started yesterday. (My husband's started Monday, but he can't drive until October.) I have no idea of how to get from here to there via public transportation, and my son doesn't have a car.

Here are my options as I see them:
- get the name of a dentist in PA who takes our medical plan, call tomorrow, make an appointment for Saturday afternoon, leave early Sat morning, and hope it can be handled there and then-- and, yes, it's a holiday weekend.

- call our dentist. Leave at early Saturday morning, go get my son, get in to the dentist Saturday afternoon, then return him to school on Sunday.

Both plans assume that he doesn't need to see an oral surgeon.

Any suggestions anyone???

Find a dentist by his school, have him make an appointment (is uber an option?). Dd13 had one or yesterday, dd20 had them all out in August before her freshman year. Getting an appointment for wisdom teeth removal takes time. Dd13 got an appointment within 2 weeks of her appointment (took 3 weeks to get the consult) because her's was blocking her 2nd molar, and it's even hit or miss if we got it removed in time for the molar to come down. We scheduled dd20's 2 months in advance.

Think of this like an illness (which will happen). Maybe have him contact the on campus infirmary for a referral. If he needs to see an oral surgeon for removal, you probably want to schedule it when he has a break.

ETA - Saturday appointments are probably impossible to get as a new patient. Fortunately, uncomfortable wisdom teeth are not an emergency. This is a good way to get him a dentist there in case of an emergency.