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At the end of September we dropped Jill off at her new home for the next nine months. She started her freshman year at Western and drop off was honestly much easier than I thought it would be. Jill is so organized that by the time we were taking her up to school she’d been packed for weeks. She’d planned out every scenario, checked with all her friends that had already settled in at college about what THEY’D forgotten, and double checked her list. By the time we left she was done thinking about it and ready to get a move on!
You’d think with all that organization move in would have been super quick. Surprisingly it wasn’t. It managed to take us all day to clorox the room (yes, that is my germ phobic kid at work), build up her bed, string some lights, lay down carpet and set up her desk. We found a great spot for a late lunch and then made a quick run to the store for all the things we’d forgotten. By the time we got back we barely had time to see Colin’s room before we had to trek back home in time to take Ellie’s homecoming pictures.
I think the key to our tearless departure was the speed that we had to do it in. Jill and I had made a pact that if she didn’t cry I wouldn’t either…and we lived up to it! It was just fine because we both had somewhere we needed to go (Jill had a welcome picnic starting 10 minutes after we left) and she had plenty of things left to set up to take up any extra time she had on her hands.
Since then we’ve enjoyed hearing her settling in stories. It sounds like her roommate will be good source material for stories she tells her own kids, she has some fun neighbors across the hall, and Colin’s suite is in the building across the path and they are all game players and welcome Jill into the fold too. She’s also tried out two church groups and has gone to a club fair to hear about more cool clubs. So much fun to be had!
It’s been a nutty ten days. I can’t believe it’s been that long but then again I can. Good THING I’m so busy because then I don’t have to think about the fact that my kid has left the nest. I think the first time it hit me was just last night when we went out to dinner for my birthday. We needed a table for four. FOUR! And we fit into a booth! Sigh.
The good news is that Western has a family weekend coming up in just a couple of weeks. Ellie and Kate can’t wait to see Jill’s room in person and Jill will just have to put up with all the hugs we will want to give her. Sorry, if you are gone for that long it’s going to take more than a fist bump!
So proud of this kid!