Rite Of Passage

Many people will tell you that there are still three weeks until Labor Day and plenty of summer left. However to parents whose children are getting ready to leave for college summer is all but over and they are experiencing all kinds of emotions. I and many of you have already been through this and in my case I’ll do it again next summer when my daughter leaves for school. However this “right of passage” in which son or daughter leaves home for the first time is difficult if you’ve never gone through it before.

You realize that the little girl or little boy you raised is no longer little but yet you wonder if they are ready to be on their own which really translates into whether they can make it without you. The answer in most cases is yes.

I think there must be a dramatic difference in how you feel based on whether it’s your daughter or son going away. When my son left we were worried about things like responsibility, organization and laundry. When he moved into a fraternity house later the majority of his mother’s focus was spent on cleanliness….or should I say the lack of it. With boys you probably don’t concern yourself as much with safety worries but I’m sure when my daughter heads off to college next summer it will be my #1 fear. It might be a stereotype but you expect that girls would be more organized and responsible and should be better at the laundry and cleanliness part. However you’ll probably sound like a broken record when you remind them to stay together in groups, especially at night and you’ll always be concerned about what goes on at parties. I assume this is all pretty normal but again if you as a parent are going through this for the first time it’s especially mind consuming.

The bottom line to all of this is it makes you feel a bit older and think that it was just the other day you were holding a baby in your arms….a baby who might be tailgating at a football game at this time next month.