Anonymous wrote:OP here. Thanks for your responses. I'm really feeling alone because most of my friends have younger kids, and the ones who've gone through this are sooo far beyond it.
I didn't expect to be so overwhelmed by this change. I've been so caught up in the college search, but it's over now, and, OMG, DD will be leaving home in a few months!!
I'm excited that she's excited about college, and her summer job, and all the fun things she's going to be doing and learning, but I feel so sad that I won't be able to be there to experience them with her, as I have for her entire life!
Maybe I'll get all my crying out now so I don't embarrass DD during her graduation!
Our house will be so empty without her, and that's what I'm really dreading. I'm tearing up reading through the responses and writing mine!
Anonymous wrote:It helps to choose something fun to look forward to -- a hobby that you didn't previously have time to pursue, etc. I am looking forward to going camping with hubby once the kids are out of the house. Right now our weekends are too busy to do that and I love camping. I have also begun running 5K's on weekends (I'm fat and run slowly!). It's nice to have planned activities to look forward to, because once you no longer have the kids activities, you will be a bit at sea with all the free time.
Anonymous wrote:I love my kid and he loves me, but we are both ready for him to go to college.
Anonymous wrote:I have an 8 yr old and dread that he'll be in 3rd grade next year! We're very close and spend a lot of time together, and I dread the day he leaves our home. He's our only, too. When he was 4, while taking his bath, he asked me about how school and grades worked, so I explained to him that after K, you go to 1st grade, then to second, fast forward to college. His little lip started trembling, then fill blown crying, over how he never wanted to leave home, never leave me. I will never forget how I felt as I sat on the toilet, talking to him about him growing up. I just love him soooo so much!
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Well, I've got a 7th grader and a 2nd grader and I routinely cry at the thought that we only have 5 more years with the older one. Makes me so sad to think about it, I have loved being their parent and having a full house. Life is transitions though, right? You need to let her go and be enthusiastic about it, but you know that, and you'll get through it. Peace.
You have ten more years. Do you think you will be crying for all that time? Live your life in the present. Enjoy it. Talk to someone professional if you have to.
Anonymous wrote:Well, I've got a 7th grader and a 2nd grader and I routinely cry at the thought that we only have 5 more years with the older one. Makes me so sad to think about it, I have loved being their parent and having a full house. Life is transitions though, right? You need to let her go and be enthusiastic about it, but you know that, and you'll get through it. Peace.
Anonymous wrote:I have an only child in 5th grade. I am cherishing every minute and know that I will probably be so emotional at his graduation that I might need to be airlifted out of there (smile). Just know that you are not alone feeling the way that you do.