To all of you dropping your "babies" at university this autumn..

Third time for us - doesn't seem to get much easier and will really have an empty nest in September :( DS3 off to Sheffield. He is v excited, it is such a rollercoaster - nail biting wait for A level results then elation at how well he had done. Has signed up to the uni Facebook site and got his halls sorted. Just had a beautiful bouquet of flowers delivered from DS1 for my birthday tomorrow - burst into tears! He graduated, moved out and started work last month, so v emotional year. DS2 back to uni in 2 weeks also :(

Oh that's good that it is not just me, crying when she isn't leaving for years. That is reassuring that it will get better.

i think it may be because dd is an only child, so it will be a shock that I won't know how to behave without having to be a mother first and foremost, if that makes sense.

GetOrfMoiCarbsClaire I felt exactly like you when dd was 16. I am really surprised that I feel ok with it now. It helps that she is desperate to go and I have had practice with her being away travelling this yr for months at a time.
Don't worry I think you'll find it easier than you think. I used to cry when I thought about it.

ponders she's doing french and economics. Yes think gap yahs get allocated in july. Bloody expensive isn't it. But must admit I think the accomodation was a large part of dd's choice.

GetOrf, I was like that when DC1 went (although to be fair she'd been living elsewhere during her gap year; but was still local). anyway I cried when we dropped her off! Perfectly normal IMO

studying Politics & Philosophy, what's DD doing?

he wanted Endcliffe but has been given Ranmoor - gap yah students get allocated first there must have been a run on Endcliffe. He hasn't accepted it yet, he's rung them to see if he can change but if not will accept, it looks lovely & is just across the road from Endcliffe. (Very expensive though...)

I am dreading it. DD is nearly 16, and has a couple of years left before she leaves home, but I cannot think about it sensibly without getting upset. I have no idea what I will do when she leaves.

I know this sounds ridiculously melodramatic. It's stupid isn't it.

oh really! what's he studying? And is he in halls.
DD in endcliffe froggat

they might have a 'study week' in Oct, ggirl - they def get one some time, just not sure it's then.

DS2 is going to Sheffield too - he is a bit nearer to us but I still don't expect to see much of him - he has friends going to Manchester & Newcastle & I suspect they'll see much more of him than we will!

I was dreading it ..seeing her leave. But she has been on gap yah travelling and tbh I haven't missed her that much.
She's been home now for a few weeks and she is definitely ready to leave.
She won't be back before xmas I don't think because she's going to sheffield and we're on south coast , well maybe..do they have a week off in between??
Anyway I am fine with her going now.
I so remember that feeling of desperately wanting to get out of my hometown.

ds2 went to university- came back to visit a few weeks later (with his washing). When he spoke to his mates he said 'I'm going home Sunday night', meaning home to university.

Glad he'd settled well but gutted in some ways that he'd already mentally moved out.

hmmmmmmmmmmm - DS2 informed me yesterday that as far as he's concerned, once he's gone in Sept he will never live here again. Which was nice.

So I think I'll sell his guitars & rent his room out

and Yellowstone.

Mine are spaced out a bit more so I'll never have more than two away at uni at the same time. DD1 didn't even come home for the past two summers so I think I can safely say she has flown the coop.

You probably have the packing and preparing down to a science at this point..

Anyhow I thought your DS was a boarder math and going to uni close by? He's doing medicine, no? Congratulations to him for getting his grades and getting in.

I find they're back before I've had time to catch breath. At the moment mine are going to uni at the rate of one a year.

I can't even look at photos of DS as a baby any more because of the start of university. DD1 I sent off without half as much tissue use . DS still seems so much in need of handholding, such a homebody in so many ways, very helpful, very appreciative of home cooking... DD1 by contrast used home as a crash pad for a long time. She was (and is) very fond of us all and visits frequently, but she never wore her heart on her sleeve in that regard the way DS does.