Sending My 18-Year Old to College

I have 2 children and I am sending my older son to college in 3 weeks. I still remember his first day of kindergarten and soon I will drive him to college with all of his “stuff” and leave him to be on his own.

We’ve created lists of thing to buy from clothing, sheets and mattress toppers (but no dorm furnishings since he’s a boy), and a new laptop computer to laundry bags and shower caddies. I’m sure that those of you who passed this milestone are nodding your head in remembrance of doing the same rituals yourselves. He has dropped off his medical forms to be filled out by his pediatrician and had to talk to the people in his engineering school with his questions about different courses. I have stepped back and made him take on his responsibilities when he was not so eager to do it on his own.

Before we actually take that drive to college, I intend to prepare a durable power of attorney and health care proxy/living will and have him sign these documents. I’m hoping that he never is so incapacitated that we need to use them but I’d rather have them in place in case we do. And I’ve also made him give us access to his school records. Now that he is an adult, we don’t have an automatic right to see his grades. But, if we (my husband and I) are paying for most of his college costs, he has an obligation to keep his grades up; I want to make sure at the end of each semester, that he is keeping his end of the bargain.

So, to all of you parents who are like me and going through this rite of passage with your first child, I salute you for reaching this milestone. It’s a big adjustment for the entire family and it will take us some time to adjust. But, hopefully, we’ve all done our jobs well and our kids find that they can cope, adapt, and thrive on their own.

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