Comments on: Dear Kid, On Being Dropped Off at College.

By: Best Of 2008 » What Would Dad Say

Best Of 2008 » What Would Dad Say — Mon, 05 Jan 2009 21:36:18 +0000

[...] August, 2008: Dear Kid, On Being Dropped Off at College What every parent wants to say when we leave you at college for the first [...]

By: Dave

Dave — Sat, 13 Dec 2008 14:09:08 +0000

GL – Again you nailed it. I want the whole book.

By: Lela

Lela — Fri, 05 Sep 2008 19:21:57 +0000

Love it! I think I’ll print and save it in my 2015 folder. I especially love #1.

By: Conrad

Conrad — Tue, 02 Sep 2008 22:55:46 +0000

GL,

Carly (my new college kid) did great! So did we.

After her first dorm meeting, when we were all out for dinner, she made a very interesting comment, “I feel like a 10-year old with a bunch of college students.”

I told her “They felt the same toward you. They have no advantages.” Humans are great bluffers.

By the next morning, after a long night of talking with her new roommate, she was doing just fine. She’s already making a number of friends.

By: sme

sme — Tue, 02 Sep 2008 13:52:14 +0000

AAhhh! Emotional times, really love this. It is the final run isn’t it that moment when you realise that you have to let go and allow your child to make thre own way- and hope the upbringing and good advice put them in good stead for the rest of their life.

By: Ms. Q

Ms. Q — Mon, 01 Sep 2008 17:33:38 +0000

I don’t have children and my parents didn’t drop me off at college but I still see the value in your list! I especially like the one about making friends, “They all have deep stores to tell, let them tell you theirs and they will want to hear yours.”

Maybe it’s because I dropped out and then went back to college in my mid-twenties but most of my close friendships were formed in college. The people you meet and the relationships you form when you’re forming yourself, they can have a profound impact on your life.

“Carry your insurance card all the time.” but leave your Social Security Card at home!

By: wwds

wwds — Sun, 31 Aug 2008 08:01:44 +0000

Wally…great comment. There is way too much time and energy being wasted on being cool…so many lost opportunities, too. Great comment, thanks.

By: wwds

wwds — Sun, 31 Aug 2008 08:00:47 +0000

Christine…sounds to me like you will have no worries. Just wait for the first Christmas vacation when he comes home, and gets back into the same old routine around the house..clothes on the floor, a mess everywhere he goes. You will then have the next big light bulb moment: that the memory of him being home is BETTER than him actually being home. Write back in January and let me know if this is indeed true for you.
Lol.
Thanks for stopping by, good luck to him. and to you in this new transition.

By: Wally Bock

Wally Bock — Sat, 30 Aug 2008 20:55:41 +0000

Something we could add: Even if it’s cool and others are doing it, don’t pretend this is just another time of your life. This will only come once. Revel in it.

By: Christine

Christine — Sat, 30 Aug 2008 15:53:35 +0000

Thanks for this. As a mom about to have her oldest son and first born go off to college, you hit this right on the head. It is like you were talking to my son. It may be hard for me to not call him all the time, but I will have to work through that. I have to trust that I raised him right and that he will take with him all the good I have instilled in him and that he listened and learned from me. Knowing that I feel I did a good job, I know he will do a great job as well. You just have to “Believe”..Thanks again