Sending the "Kids" Off to College

"They grow up so fast." That's how the saying goes. One minute you're a new parent shopping for diapers and the next minute you're getting ready to move them into their college dorm room. A special Memorable Moments entry reflects on her twin daughters moving on, her husband and her dealing with an empty next and an entire family about to grow into a phase of life.


"As my husband and I spend our summer weekends dorm shopping with our college bound twin daughters, we reminisce about different stages of their lives and feel so proud of the young women they have become.

Everyone always told us “enjoy your children because they grow up so fast” and as I would sweat and grit my teeth while grocery shopping with 3 kids in diapers, I would hear from friendly folks passing me in the aisles, “this is the easy part...just wait!”. I assumed these folks just didn’t have children as it certainly didn’t feel as though they were growing up fast and how could it get any tougher than it already was?

Now, 18 years later, we are preparing to send them off on their own, and when we look at them, we realize yes, they did indeed grow up fast. We have heard of the “empty nest” syndrome for years, never thinking about what it would feel like when it happened to us. Well…it’s about to happen.

In 3 weeks, our house will become much bigger (and emptier) as our son returns to college and our daughters follow. (not to mention all of their friends who have made our home their second home all summer long). On one hand, my house will be clean! There will be food in the refrigerator! The piles of their laundry will disappear! There will be gas in my car! On the other hand, it will be very quiet. But seeing our kid’s excitement about their next step in life brings excitement about the next step in our own lives.

We have spent the past 2 decades focused on raising our 3 children. The passion that brought us together became re-directed as we started a family. The kids became our passion. Perhaps unlike some who are about to experience an empty nest, we are looking forward to it. We hope we have done all we can to give them the tools to make good decisions in life. Most importantly, they trust each other and they trust us to always be there when they need us.

Next year, we celebrate our 25th wedding anniversary and we are thinking about what we should do and where we should go. The funny thing is, the kids are talking about it too…as if it’s only right that we go somewhere as a family for the occasion.

We have our past memories that we cherish, we are making current memories in all we do today, and what is most comforting to us as parents, is that there will be many future memories. So while our nest will soon be empty, and it might pull at our heartstrings in the beginning, we know this is a time for all of us to continue to grow. Individually yes, but most importantly…as a family."

What are your memories from when you sent your kids off to college or when you went off to college yourself?