I've seen so many cheesy "kid going to college" ads latley

[HEyHEY]

You know where the parents had a hard time "letting go". Has anyone ever really had this problem? When I left my parents were sad because I was leaving and they would miss me. But it wasn't like they tried to make me stay and "couldn't let go." In fact I'm sure my Dad was getting pretty excited after I officially left and the shock wore off. ;-)

What was it like the day you left for college?

[bahrbearian]

1. Parent's were pushing,,,, I was running

[amazona]

2. my parents said you're out when you're 18!

Ha ha! Those ads are ridiculous, aren't they? And they're totally in a fantasy world...kids no longer leave home until they're, like, 30 because of the extremely high costs of maintaining a home. Of course, they can also go into student loan hell for $100,000 but where's the heart-tugging ad in that?

Advertisement is about fantasy, and these days many a college student is a crusty thirty or forty or even fiftysomething (I have two close friends in town in their fifties who just started college) who have to re-tool and get back in debt again in some small hope of getting another career. College being about being young and getting drunk all the time is an increasingly small part of it...but all advertisement is about selling the fantasy of being young, even as the definition of "college student" spirals up and up into middle age.

Amusing.

[ikojo]

3. The day I left for college was like any other day. I packed my bags

My brother Robbie and my younger brother took me to school They helped me carry my stuff up to my room. They made sure I got comfortable. They left. No staying behind, no crying. Nothing like that. I probably cried more after they left than my mom ever did.

I read in the NYT that the department stores, ever eager to commodify all aspects of a person's life, are now trying to encourage college registry where students register with them to encourage people to buy them more stuff. It's another gift grab.

Bill Maher hit it on the head about a month ago when he said that college today is what high school 30 or 40 years ago was like. College students are infantalized as if they can barely take care to wipe themselves after using the restroom. Hard to imagine that it was 18 year olds who fought in WWII.

I think it's due to an extension of adolescence into the mid to late 20s and even 30s. Upper middle class people allowed, by virtue of class privilege, to remain dependent upon their parents for a longer period than are working-class kids.

That's my story and I'm sticking to it.

:bounce: :bounce:

[SOteric]

4. My mother was an emotional train wreck

went I 'left for college.' -And I was only going to a school across town.

But honestly I never knew it at the time. The surface waters were always still with mum. Dad told me about it almost 2 years after she'd died.

[Nikia]

5. My parents drove me to college

It was a long drive. We stayed at a motel over night. We had breakfast and then drove the rest of the way to college. I was on an athletic team so the team helped me move in. At first I was still clinging to my parents but I began talking with my new team mates so my parents decided that it was time to leave. I only saw them a few times during the school year, besides winter break. I was about a day's drive away.

[Lizz612]

6. Not too hard, for me at least

We took a nice long time to get here, 6 days for a two day drive, stayed at realtives, friends, visted the Henry Ford Museum. On the day, they helped me haul my stuff up, mom helped me make my bed and I showed them around campus. Then they left, mom started crying a bit, dad told me not to fail any classes, sister said she would miss me. As they drove off I told sister "I have a hellicopter in my pocket." (old running joke) and that was it. Granted that was only four weeks ago... :)

[LuLu550]

7. I couldn't WAIT for my kid to leave!

he was driving me nuts all summer long champing at the bit to leave. I drove him there, (Ithaca NY) helped him fix up his room, left a card with $50 in it under his pillow, gave him a big kiss and left. As a single mom, I have always given my kids as much freedom as they can handle responsibly. They have done fine and I never cry about them moving ahead. It means I'm doing my job right.

[WindRavenX]

8. Mom cried, dad was happy for me

I had been looking forward to leaving home and starting college for a long time, but I always knew my mom would have a really hard to dealing with her eldest daughter leaving. So while she was composed as they helped move me in, when it came time for us to say goodbye, she hugged me and started crying.
But she apparently has adjusted well :)
It's been three weeks now since my parents have dropped me off on the hillside of Boston College.
My dad and I have a weird relationship; he's told me he misses me when he comes home. I'm usually watching baseball or football, you see, so when he comes home I always update him on what's happened.
Mom misses talking politics with me.
But overall, they're ok, and so am I.