Tomorrow our daughter graduates from college. It seems like only yesterday we were driving her up to live in the dorms as a freshman. She has absolutely astounded us by handling everything in regard to this college experience on her own. All she asked us to do was sign the papers, attend the orientation and help her move up. We never helped her decide which classes to take or check on her to make sure she was doing her homework.
For a brief minute we were "empty" nesters. I took over her bedroom as my scrap room and we had a friend of ours move in to the other "empty" bedroom. Now that she is graduating, she will be returning home to live until she decides what she wants to do with her degree. She is going through a lot of different emotions now and I can't help her with any of them, other than to be a good listener when she wants to share. Mostly she wants a little time to relax from all the "adulting" she's done for the past four years and that is okay with us.
I'm not/can't give up my craft room (I've accumulated so many supplies there is no other place in our house to put it all) so we've had to ask our friend to move out to make room for her return. We'll have a few days when the room is "hollowed" out so that she can paint it. We will no longer be "empty" nesters and that's okay with us.
Congratulations to your daughter!
ReplyDeleteThanks John. She is graduating with a BA in Psychology. She's coming home to analyze us :)
DeleteCongratulations on the graduation of your daughter!
ReplyDeleteThank you, Susan. We are very proud of her.
DeleteA new chapter begins for all of you - wishing you all the best!
ReplyDeleteThanks, Deborah! It is very exciting.
DeleteHI Janet,
ReplyDeleteI'll try this again and hopefully this comment will post. What I was saying was what a flood of memories your post brought back. I remember when I moved back home after graduating from college and, like your daughter, I just needed some down-time. Those years of college, although so much fun is had along the way, are really hard and exhausting. Don't freak out if she doesn't hit the ground running looking for a job. It took me 6 months before I finally got off my ass and sent out my first resume. I will admit that I was taking liberties with my new freedom and it took my Mom saying "Ah, when the hell are you gonna start looking for a job??" to get my butt in gear but that downtime is significant. Tell her to enjoy every second of it because once that first career job comes along, it begins a long long journey of reality...Time to get serious about making ones own way in the world. It's definitely an exciting time but I think it's best to start that career journey with a good cushion of rest and relaxation. That's just my opinion anyway.
Congrats to your daughter and to you. Big milestone here.
Enjoy having her back home.
Michele at Angels Bark
Thanks, Michele! She already has a job at Starbucks and is going to work there full time until she decides where she wants to take her degree. So many options with psychology! I agree with the down time and even though she will be working, she will have a lot less pressure on her since she won't have to buy her own food and the only bills she has will be her car payment/insurance. It will be nice having her back.
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