Moving Into College - Part 2

We moved our boys into school on Monday. 

You know, you would think that with two children going to the same school, this would be easy.

I was wrong.

Our van went into the shop on Friday for an oil change and stayed in until Monday night with some serious issues that didn't get resolved until Monday afternoon when the parts came in.

So, that left us with a Honda Civic and two boys to move into school.

It was also the first day of school for daughter.

She is participating in dual enrollment at the Community College this year, and her day at the high school is finished at 11.  She is expected to be off campus once her morning classes are finished.

Did I mention that we were down to one car?

Monday morning, bright and early, middle child packed up the Honda with his stuff.  Husband drove, and middle child, daughter, and I all piled into the car, each of us with things on our laps.

We dropped daughter off at the high school.

Husband dropped me off at work.

Husband and son went to school.  Son checked into his dorm.  When they opened the trunk to unload the car, they found that he had loaded the trunk so tightly that his clothes popped out of the trunk and onto the ground.   They were spring-loaded!!  They picked everything up, tossed it all onto his bed, and husband went back home. 

Thank the good lord our house is only an hour away from the school.  Otherwise, we probably would have had to rent a moving van.

Husband picked up daughter from school.  He went home, and oldest child proceeded to load his stuff into the Honda.

They stopped by work and picked me up, and we went to school.  Oldest child checked into his dorm room while we unloaded the car.  Gone are the days when I would lovingly help the kids unpack their stuff and set their rooms up.  We tossed everything on top of the bed and left.  He's 21.  I think he's old enough to handle unpacking his own crap, and setting up his own room.

I then went to check out middle child's room, to make certain he had made some effort of unpacking.  While there, I noticed something kind of cool.  Even though the boys are in different dorms, they can see each others rooms.  They are directly across the street from each other.  

We decided we'd have one last meal - lunch- in the dining hall together.  (Gotta love dining hall food.  Decades after I finished college, I still have horrible flashbacks to "mystery meat" and "scrod".)  Granted, their food is better, and they have more choices, but I still think I cook better than anything you can find in a dining hall.

We head back out to the car.... but wait.... what's this?  Husband has lost the keys.

Great, search, search, and search.  We finally find the keys in the grass on some random pathway.  We arrived back home, too exhausted to think, and just sat and stared at each other for a while.  Daughter rummaged through the freezer and put dinner together for us.  It was a very quiet meal.  Really, really quiet.

This week has been very bittersweet.  I tell you, I am emotionally wiped out.  Daughter is starting her last year of high school.  Oldest child is starting his last year of college.  She's looking at colleges all over the country.  He's looking at Graduate Schools all over the country. My nest is going to be very empty next year.  I'm thrilled that they are all flourishing, but I am also missing my nest, and my wonderful little kids.    This is going to be a tough year.