Anonymous wrote:Pretty insane to send your kid that far away. They’re not likely to ever move close to home and you’re never going to be a close family. Such an odd choice.

DS is going to CA for college. We went for drop off first three years and parent weekend first year. He is here for every break and is graduating next year and plans to move back to the East Coast. It was good to see and live in another part of the country. I know kids who are closer and never came home for Spring breaks or other holidays. Physical distance is not much of an issue in the digital world. Also, they have to go where jobs take them.

Anonymous wrote:For those of you who visit often, how long do you stay? My job is not flexible, and I find it difficult to just go for a couple of days due to the time changes and the distance travelling.

Usually two nights, but we're in the same time zone. She did not want me longer than that. They don't have a ton of time and want to socialize with the new friends when they can.

I went often freshman year because my child is an athlete, rarely came home, and I could be at competitions. I loved having the visits, and so did she, but it really isn't much time together with their busy schedules.

Once during the school year.

Plus they come home over winter break.
And usually 1-2 weeks at the end of summer.

Anonymous wrote:Pretty insane to send your kid that far away. They’re not likely to ever move close to home and you’re never going to be a close family. Such an odd choice.

What a crazy comment. If the kid is 4 hours of a drive away or a 4 hr plane ride away, it’s the same. Kid could be at VT or UCLA…away is away. There is:

Parents weekend
Fall break
Tgiving
Winter break month
Spring break
Summer

I also visited 3x. Kid and parents are vent close and kid abd sibling are close. Did you settle in the city of your college?

My dc goes to Miami so I go at least once a semester, if only for myself. Ha!

For those of you who visit often, how long do you stay? My job is not flexible, and I find it difficult to just go for a couple of days due to the time changes and the distance travelling.

Just starting freshman year, so we'll see how this pans out ... but my current plan is to fly out once in October, then again sometime in Feb/Mar for a ski weekend (kid is out west near good skiing - we usually take a ski break sometime around then anyway, this year we'll just choose the location to include him). He'll come home over Thanksgiving and winter break; spring break is tbd. We'll probably go back out in the late spring if he doesn't come home for spring break. Not sure yet how moving out of the dorm is going to work, one of us might go out to help with that.

We see our son about once a month, between holidays, parent weekends and other trips to the university he’s at. Often only meeting him for a meal or walk or two. He’s been working and traveling abroad all summer so we’ll see him more when school is back in session.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Pretty insane to send your kid that far away. They’re not likely to ever move close to home and you’re never going to be a close family. Such an odd choice.

What? People on DCUM send theirs to St. Andrews or McGill all the time.

Not the ones that are selfish and can’t cut the cord.

Anonymous wrote:Pretty insane to send your kid that far away. They’re not likely to ever move close to home and you’re never going to be a close family. Such an odd choice.

What? People on DCUM send theirs to St. Andrews or McGill all the time.

Anonymous wrote:My DD is a sophomore on the other side of the country. We are navigating the challenges including sending her to move in/ move out by herself. I was curious for others in the situation, how often do you visit? We are planning on once this year for Parent’s Weekend in October. Her dad is possibly also going for Father’s weekend with her sorority (I went to mom’s weekend last year). How about you? Is it different if it is your son vs daughter?

Once. Then don't leave.

Anonymous wrote:Pretty insane to send your kid that far away. They’re not likely to ever move close to home and you’re never going to be a close family. Such an odd choice.

Weird comment. I didn’t raise them to be my companions, raised them to be curious and work hard and seize all life has to offer. Glad they are enjoying another part of the country and growing. Closeness has zero to do with living nearby. You can live in same home and have no relationship, it’s the effort.

Anonymous wrote:Pretty insane to send your kid that far away. They’re not likely to ever move close to home and you’re never going to be a close family. Such an odd choice.

Pretty insane comment. My kid went to school in CA and has no desire to live there after college. Even if they did I’d still be happy for them to find a place they were happy. Whether you are a close family depends on a lot more than college geography.

To answer OP’s question, we aimed to see our kid once per semester, but it was no hardship to visit CA— often we’d plan a trip and then add on a visit (or invite them to join for a few days).

Anonymous wrote:Pretty insane to send your kid that far away. They’re not likely to ever move close to home and you’re never going to be a close family. Such an odd choice.

Not op but this is exactly what I am scared of.

Pretty insane to send your kid that far away. They’re not likely to ever move close to home and you’re never going to be a close family. Such an odd choice.