My Teen Is One Year Away From Going To College....

[dairyou]

Inspired by another thread of parents getting ready to let go of their kids in August I thought I start this one.

My DS is 17 almost 18 and is one year off from going away to college. I must be a bad mom because I am looking forward to him going away. He is a good boy and good student but his attitude drives me crazy! He will only be 3 hours away so it won't be too far but it will give us some distance.

I'm worried that once he's gone I will experience things I didn't think would happen. Maybe I finally come to my senses and miss him terribly and then will be a wreck because I didn't prepare myself for it.

So anyone else almost there in sending your child away to school?

Deb

 

[mfd25wife]

Inspired by another thread of parents getting ready to let go of their kids in August I thought I start this one.

My DS is 17 almost 18 and is one year off from going away to college. I must be a bad mom because I am looking forward to him going away. He is a good boy and good student but his attitude drives me crazy! He will only be 3 hours away so it won't be too far but it will give us some distance.

I'm worried that once he's gone I will experience things I didn't think would happen. Maybe I finally come to my senses and miss him terribly and then will be a wreck because I didn't prepare myself for it.

So anyone else almost there in sending your child away to school?

Deb

Mine is one year away, also. But, she will be staying at home. We have a good university about 10 minutes from our house so it won't make $$ sense to pay room & board for her to stay on campus. But, we all want her to stay home for a while anyway. While she has good grades, she is not disciplined enough, yet. If she continues in her thought of what she wants to do as a career, she will have to move eventually for school anyway so she is in no hurry.

 

[Rose&Mike]

Inspired by another thread of parents getting ready to let go of their kids in August I thought I start this one.

My DS is 17 almost 18 and is one year off from going away to college. I must be a bad mom because I am looking forward to him going away. He is a good boy and good student but his attitude drives me crazy! He will only be 3 hours away so it won't be too far but it will give us some distance.

I'm worried that once he's gone I will experience things I didn't think would happen. Maybe I finally come to my senses and miss him terribly and then will be a wreck because I didn't prepare myself for it.

So anyone else almost there in sending your child away to school?

Deb

Hi Deb. I'm one of the mom's dealing with this year. I think senior year can be a bad year for attitude. There were a lots of days that DH and I found ourselves fantasizing about what it would be like when we wouldn't have to deal with the sarcasm, smart mouth, etc. Luckily it improved immensely as the year went on. About halfway through the year DS told us--you know I actually like hanging out with you guys. I asked him if he could say it again so we could tape it. It's just been since April when he actually made his decision about where he wants to go that it's been really hard. I guess cause it's real now. No do-overs. So, no I don't think that makes you a bad mom at all. Good luck with the applications and choices.

Rose

 

[wdw4us2]

Finished with Senior year beginning of June and starting to deal with college now.

DD and I have a great relationship, most of the time. There were some tense moments during her senior year when her attitude was nasty and I finally was able to figure out what was wrong. College bound seniors are under immense pressure most of the year between college applications, ACT/SAT scores, keeping grades up and a host of other activities. If your son seems to be particularly snotty, you might want to consider this and try to talk to him. Once we got that out in the open, the rest of the year went smoother for us.

I can honestly say I did not wish for her to be going away because of her behavior or our relationship. I have only been happy about it in that she is starting the next phase of her life and is excited about it.

 

[ORMom2Four]

I also have a 17 year old who will be a Senior in the fall.

She will be staying home and going to community college next year. I would like to send her away to college, but only because I think it would be a good experience for her to live away from home. Her attitude is pretty good at home.

 

[smschex]

DD will be going off to start her sophomore year of college next month, but I vividly remember that senior year. I decided it was God's way of making sure I wouldn't be so sad to see her go! She was stressed to the max with AP classes and college applications and the attitude showed it. It did get better toward the end of the year as we finalized all those decisions and it was terribly hard to let her go, but we survived and all of us grew through the experience.

 

[Val]

I will have a seniorDD in college this fall AND a seniorDD in high school (AND a DS in 8th and a DD in 6th! There are days that I would send all three younger ones far, far away. I have discovered that by the time you REALLY enjoy being around your young adult kid- they MOVE AWAY! Looking forward to driving out to NY in 10 days to see DD21.

Senior year in high school is more stressful than junior year- yes, the ACT is over, but now the college aps, last minute visits, and those dreaded envelopes come. I do think that the fighting increases as a way to "break the bond" just before they leave.....although I still cried through 3 states after dropping oldest DD21 off her frosh year. DD17 wants to go to school in Oregon and DH is afraid how many states that will give me to cry through!

I am in shock because my 'baby' goes to junior high....but i am NOT ready for the female drama that goes with it. DS13 is much easier at this point- grunts and very little drama. As long as he can run (he is in track/Xcountry) he is good.....I am hoping his pulled hamstring gets better REAL quick (been down most of the summer). I need him to be busy as we start the senior years/jr hi drama with his sisters!!!!!

Good luck to all moms of frosh and seniors....and to think we thought those first few months were the hardest. They sure tricked us, didn't they!

 

[Kirby]

It's called "senioritis".

Our baby is going off to college next month. Her senior year wasn't too bad. Was pretty good in fact. We took care of her ACT very early on, also her college applications. We knew by December where she was going to go. It was all down hill from there.

 

[golfgal]

We also have a 17 year old, going to be a senior. I think the attitude is common as they know their childhood is coming to an end and it is exciting and scary at the same time. Our rule has always been that the kids MUST go away to college-meaning live on campus. There is SO much to be learned having to do for yourself, yet they are still in a somewhat controlled environment. It is worth every penny for living expenses for the chance to grow up and learn to do things on your own-much easier to learn freshman year in college vs your first year in the workforce

 

[minkydog]

We also have a 17 year old, going to be a senior. I think the attitude is common as they know their childhood is coming to an end and it is exciting and scary at the same time. Our rule has always been that the kids MUST go away to college-meaning live on campus. There is SO much to be learned having to do for yourself, yet they are still in a somewhat controlled environment. It is worth every penny for living expenses for the chance to grow up and learn to do things on your own-much easier to learn freshman year in college vs your first year in the workforce

I agree with you. We've already been through this once and we're in the chute with the next one. I think God lets teens go through this very obnoxious senior year attitude so we'll make sure that they *do* leave the nest.

 

[Axel]

I'm one of the ones going off to college this fall (GO WILDCATS!) and I can safely say this:

My mom doesn't look upon it as losing a daughter, she looks upon it as gaining a closet.

Plus, I'll be home on weekends.

 

[NCRedding]

My DD is 16 and starting her senior year in the fall. We've done the start of colleges visits and she is still trying to narrow her choices.

I DREAD it! She's my only and I can't imagine life without seeing her every day. I'm trying to figure out ways to keep myself busy and entertained. I want her to go to college and start the next phase of her life; it just seems like it got her a lot quicker that I expected!!

 

[golfgal]

I agree with you. We've already been through this once and we're in the chute with the next one. I think God lets teens go through this very obnoxious senior year attitude so we'll make sure that they *do* leave the nest.

No kidding--it is kind of like how all 3 year olds are so dang cute--keeps their parents from killing them when they are such turds at that age

 

[NHdisneylover]

We also have a 17 year old, going to be a senior. I think the attitude is common as they know their childhood is coming to an end and it is exciting and scary at the same time. Our rule has always been that the kids MUST go away to college-meaning live on campus. There is SO much to be learned having to do for yourself, yet they are still in a somewhat controlled environment. It is worth every penny for living expenses for the chance to grow up and learn to do things on your own-much easier to learn freshman year in college vs your first year in the workforce

I agree. My first semester in college I went to the university in the town I grew up in (changed later as I became more certain of what I wanted to study). Even though my parents lived only 15 minute's walk from campus I lived on campus in the dorms that semester (and on campus where I moved to the the rest of hte year and hte year after that). I wanted to be "on my own" AND my parents wanted me to have that learning experience. I am an only child and very clsoe to my parents (and I don't think we had "issues" my senior year) but we all still knew that growing experience was as important as the classes I would be taking.