by Doctor Science
I got back yesterday from dropping Sprog the Younger off at BALAC (the Boston Area Liberal Arts College where she's a freshman). It took a lot less time than I expected, because they used a move-in procedure I only heard about last year, when an e-friend encountered it moving her sprog into the University of Toronto. I'm guessing it's become common for colleges in urban areas or where parking is at a premium.
What happens is that you drive up with your offspring and a car full of stuff, and they sort you by dorm into a holding area parking lot. Every so often they send a group up to the dorm and direct you to a parking space. You open all the doors & the trunk and stand back as a swarm of college athletes descends on the car, emptying it in a single go and taking everything up to the room without you doing anything. Meanwhile, someone has whisked your kid off to pick up her key and other paperwork.
She gets back in about 5 minutes, and the car is already empty! It's incredibly fast and painless, and also doesn't involve campus being clogged with randomly-parked cars for a whole day.
There were various activities for parents to do in the course of the day but Sprog didn't really want me to hang around, so I left. Among other things, she wanted to spend some time with her roommates, who she'd been getting to know over Facebook for the past month or so. Neither of them had family hanging around -- one is from India, while the other came for one of the pre-orientation activities so her parents had already left to go back to the Midwest. It definitely gives a different flavor to Freshman Week when you can form some connections before you get there. Back in the 70s this was only true for the well-connected, alumni kids with siblings who were also at Princeton, or people from the private schools and handful of public schools that sent cohorts.
The nest isn't really empty, at the moment, because we've also got one of the Boomerang Generation. She's working hard to get out, but it's really difficult these days -- I couldn't believe how many of us ended up chatting in the drug store the other day about "my kid who's on Medicaid".
I don't really feel the cliche of "How'd the time go by so fast?" It seems to me as though it's been a really busy 18 years, full of all kinds of events. I can understand how a relative who doesn't see the kid very often would feel like "they grow up so fast! just the other day you were portable!", but to me it really does feel like a lifetime has gone by in her lifetime.
Although at least half the time when I dream, she's still portable.
Sprog the Younger has always had this kind of personality -- she was the one who fell head-first from a shopping cart, was caught (by the bagger) only two inches from impact, and promptly demanded, " AGAIN!" A member of Future Bungee Jumpers of America, I called her.
I had the super-junior version of this today with the 5 year old off to the first day of kindergarten. Stuck him on the school bus and he was happy as a clam.
Posted by: Ugh | August 27, 2014 at 08:53 AM
If your sprog is interested, the Boston area has several awesome circus schools where non-professionals can take classes and practice. The term circus school is a bit deceptive since they're really acrobat schools. Off the top of my head there's Esh Circus Arts (where I study), Aircraft Aerial Arts, and The Trapeze School of NY (which is moving from the suburbs to downtown Boston); there are probably a few more besides.
Especially in partner acro, I've worked with many fliers who respond to things going pear shaped by excitedly saying "AGAIN!" while I'm terrified for them....
Posted by: Turbulence | August 27, 2014 at 04:31 PM
My husband and I did this about two and half weeks ago. Packed our daughter off to the University of Georgia, although the process was not nearly as efficient as what you describe. I expected to be very emotional when we left but was fine. We also have a child still at home, her younger brother, so we haven't had the empty nest experience yet.
I get what you're saying about the passage of time. When I think about things rationally, I know that the years have gone by slowly and inexorably. But emotionally, I also have the "My God, I can't believe we're here!" reaction.
Anyway, she's excited to be off on her (more or less) own, so we're excited for her. And Skype is awesome!
Posted by: chmatl | August 28, 2014 at 12:15 PM
I delivered my oldest to a small college in Wisconsin last weekend, and the process was a lot like what Dr. Science described. If I'd known in advance what it was going to be like, I would have brought cash or some other gift of appreciation. Probably would have been declined, but it really did save us from the unpleasantness of lugging all of her stuff, and left us free to just do the installation.
Which we did. She's not good at setup and organization, yet.
Posted by: Slartibartfast | August 28, 2014 at 12:39 PM