"Get In The Car"

So as this time of year gets close again, I always think back to my first college dorm room set-up and here’s my best piece of advice. 

RUN!! 

After all the goodies are put away, posters hung and their room is neat and clean for the first time in forever, RUN!!! Don’t look back. RUN!! Get in the Car!!

When my son went off to college for the first time we spent most of the summer before guessing who was going to cry first, he or I.  Of course, I said, “cry, whose going to cry? I’m going to skip out the door and smile all the way home”.  I couldn’t wait for him to go. 

I don’t know about all you parents out there getting ready for this big day, but I noticed when it gets close, they become crazy. Never fought so much with him in his 17 yrs. I know in their minds we don’t know much, but that week, I was the biggest moron ever.

What I’ve come to find out over the years while getting them ready to go, they are so scared, they don’t know what to do. They talk a big game, “Oh I can’t wait to get out of here”, “I’m not going to miss this place”, “can’t wait to be alone, do what I want when I want”, etc. 

Well, when the week before comes and they say their goodbyes to their friends, like they are going to Mars for four year, reality hits, and they become a bunch of Nervous Nellies. Scared to death.

So I say ignore it!  Let them say what they want, don’t take it personally; they are out of their minds with fear. Mostly, for the unknown.  Who will I hang with, what will I do without my BFFs and so on.  Like I said earlier “RUN”.  “RUN” as fast as you can, get in that car, throw it in reverse and accelerate.  Don’t worry, when you get home, the phone will ring and they’ll want to know how you are and what’s going on! 

Oh, and neither one of us cried! 

Enjoy it; it goes fast, really fast.