EMPTY NEST SUPPORT THREAD-Part 2

[MissMarplesBloomers]

Part one lasted seven years! Thanks RustyBear for the great idea.

I have one DD off this year and another one starting Sixth form so will be here for a few years!

So how are all the DC's getting on with the lists/packing etc?

madeofkent and mrshodgilbert Bristol's head of SU seems to be great on this...

www.telegraph.co.uk/education/educationopinion/10314588/The-Freshers-Week-experience-needs-to-be-transformed.html

mrshodgilbert hope things improve for your DD. Is she feeling any happier or just doing her best to keep going? I hope she meets some nice course friends next week when lectures begin. Have a wonderful evening.

Hello again, she does seem happier thanks, just a bit fed up that so many of her flat mates have bailed out. That's the downside of being so close to home I guess. I don't know if this is unusual or becoming more common as the general costs are rising.

Roll on Monday and a bit more structure and mixing during the day.

Well dd and a very stressful day today.

She decided to have an early night as her lectures began at 9am.

She overslept and then realised she'd been sent an email in the middle of the night from her department, saying they must print of x, y and z before coming to the lecture.

She had to download these and then her internet decided to play up, so she couldnt do it. She got very stressed, poor thing and has spent the whole day wanting to cry.
She absolutely hates being disorganised.

I'm going to phone her in a bit.

That does sound stressful ExcuseTypos. Poor girl - I hope she is ok this evening.

Oh no! What a nightmare ExcuseTypos, unis are very sympathetic to 1st years and unlike school you tend to be just one of hundreds so relatively anonymous so I'm sure her printing issues will not be a big deal.
DD is one of those who has to be organised of she feels a big mess so things like that would have stressed her too.

DD frantically trying to do her dissertation proposal essay which is apparently in next week. She is very stressed out so I won't mention she needs to start packing or ask why she left it until this week!

Aww poor Mini Typo -how upsetting. I hope her day improved & her tutor was understanding?

Thank you everyone. Have just spoken to her and she is fine now.

The whole university was having issues with the Internet so no one had downloaded or printed off anything. The tutor was very understanding.

Dd said she was off to cook something with a flatmate and to have a calm evening watching films.

ExcuseTypos I'm glad your DD is fine now. It"s hard when there's a problem and they are far away. DD3 was having a problem with her laptop and DH wished he could just go and fix it for her. It's sorted now. She seems to have settled in well was out when I phoned last night and was going out to the quiz night tonight,

Glad she got sorted Excuse typos, & if everyone was having problems that probably made her feel better! A calm evening in sounds just the ticket!

mummeeee- sounds like your DD is settling in very well too , we all love a good quiz!

Yes Missmarplebloomers she has surprised DH and me by how well she has settled. She"s always been shy and not very good at talking to people she doesn''t knowx But she went in and started talking to the other girls straight away on Saturday.

We went to see dd last night. I'm not sure if it did any good really. She was pleased to see us all but was fairly quiet all evening and got upset when we left. She does seem to have a bug of some sort though. There were a few students around the city dressed in school uniform which was the event she particularly wanted to avoid, they seemed to be having a good time though.

I'm waiting for a phone call to say if she is coming home tomorrow for the night or whether she wants to come today. It all seems to depend on how many of the others will be around. Obviously flat mates are the luck of the drawer but hers seem a bit absent.

hard for her mrs hosge when the flatmates arent around.sounds good for yours mummee :)
Mine appears to be having a ball!

DD skyped yesterday and was even observed eating grapes (shock, horror). She has made friends with her flatmates and their friends but was off to the ball last night with a school friend.

Also, my cat finally returned. She was away for 17 days but was there when I got up this morning. She seems fine, not injured or half-starved, but I'm so pleased to have one of my babies back home

Good luck to everyone whose DC are going this weekend

DT2 went yesterday and I found it really hard (still do actually), so far the only contact we've had is the response "yeah great" to a "how's it going" question. I desperately want to speak to him, but don't want to hassle him, how long do you think before I can ring him without seeming like a desperate parent?!

DT1 is now packed and ready to go tomorrow so another hard day ahead - I can't go into the empty bedroom yet and if I think about it too much start wanting to cry.

I know this is much more me mourning for their childhood I think (and therefore my impending old age!), but am surprised at how difficult I'm finding it.

Well mine is coming home this evening, she was coughing well on the phone earlier. I'll be raiding the medicine box this evening and will hopefully return her back on Sunday feeling positive and ready for anything.

Well done to all those who are settling in and good luck to those about to go.

Frosty, it must be very difficult to be sending two away at once. Do you think dt1 has picked up how much you want to speak his/her brother? Maybe they will be more responsive when they go. Maybe Sunday morning , not too early, might be a good time to catch him.

Jellie, I'm pleased your cat has returned. I would be in bits if it was one of mine. I suspect ours are in for a weekend of extreme stroking.

The slight problem is that the boys themselves are not really speaking to each other much - no arguments particularly, but after 18.5 years together they're very definitely feeling the need to separate, whether that state of affairs will continue I have no idea.

I've emailed DT2 re some post from the bank that's come and just said that we'd love to hear how he's getting on when he's got a moment, and that I'd ring him early next week before I go away for work for a couple of days. I think that way he won't think I'm harassing him, but that I am interested in how things are and haven't forgotten him!

I'm sorry your DD isn't well, hopefully a good dose of TLC and home comforts will get her back on form. Stroking cats is very good therapy too - I think my boys will miss the animals more than anything else!

Just making up a medicine box - Vitamin B tablets, a bottle of collis brownes, milk of magnesia, andrews liver salts, echinacea, paracetamol, plasters, germolene, TCP lozenges and a vicks stick. Anything missing?

What is collis brownes? I put in ibuprofen too so it can be alternated with paracetamol if really poorly. I also got a bottle of boots night time tickly cough medicine, it seems to aid sleep and some beechams cold/flu capsules. Strict instructions not to overdose on paracetamol went with that one. If she wasn't coming home tonight I think she would have been taking the last 2 this weekend.

I've no experience of twins at all but certainly understand how siblings can need their space. This might be just what they need right now, they should return home together with totally different experiences to share.
Does this mean you have no more dc at home?

I still have dd2 who makes enough noise for several people. I'm sure I will be feeling bereft when she goes in 2 years, I doubt she will study so close to home. I really don't feel too bad about dd1, maybe because I know I could see her within an hour and just take her for coffee or lunch. It would be very different if she were hours away.

Oh yes, one more boy here - almost 15, and really looking forward to not being bossed about by his big brothers and although he won't admit it, I'm sure he will miss them a bit. I know the boys need to go and be themselves, it's just me being selfish having been so involved all their lives, and them being so little and vulnerable when born (3.5 & 4.5lbs), I can't quite get to grips with both of them disappearing away from my beady eye!

When does your DD start lectures Mrs? I do wonder if a shorter intro before lectures would be better, then the ones that aren't party animals may not feel quite so left out. Neither of mine are, and I was thinking that maybe if they had their lectures to get to grips with it might suit them better......not that I can do anything about that!

collis brownes is for diarrhoea - he's sharing a house with 4 girls so hopefully they will mother him if he's poorly. Thanks for the reminder about ibuprofen

I sent DD off with just about everything you can think of, except mattress topper, so driving over next week to deliver it.Oh and her shades of grey books, they were under my bed, say no more.

Good luck to everyone moving this weekend.

After a traumatic first weekend DD seems to have settled in and the number of texts and phone calls have dropped although I have chuckled at some of the things she's eaten - god help them when its her turn to cook!

We were going to see her tomorrow (only an hour away) as she wants to see her dog and there's a country park we often visit 15 mins from where she is. Unfortunately DSD (also a fresher but 60 miles away in the opposite direction) has been taken to hospital with apendicitis and DH is still at the hospital. He's thrown himself into freshers and has had 2 weeks of solid partying on top of a week in Ibiza so I initially thought (evil stepmother that I am) it was either his liver struggling to cope or something he ate but the poor thing's had it removed this afternoon.

On a lighter note I'm not impressed coming home to an empty house and having to walk the dog, go on a poo hunt and empty the dishwasher - DD did have her uses after all!!