Life has been busy around here the last few days.
Chicky had spent last week getting ready for her return to college…
It was a sight I had been dreading all summer…
She loaded both of our cars on Wednesday night so we could leave early Thursday morning…
It was going to be nice taking two cars. We wouldn’t have stuff packed to the top. Even Chicky’s car had room to spare…
The Mr. took a picture of us, and we were off.
We stopped after a couple of hours. I had an appointment, so Chicky ate lunch with Coupon Queen and Grand Pooba. Then, we hit the road for the rest of the trip.
We drove to the hotel, checked in, then headed out for some dinner, meeting Guy Friend at Chipotle, a place similar (a little tastier) than Moe’s. For the record, this restaurant has delicious sweet tea!!!
Then, we went back to the hotel.
As we carried our stuff inside, I made a discovery. Unknown to either one of us, we had packed our overnight stuff in matching bags…
She grimaced. I smiled. Like mother, like daughter!
LOL
We got to the room in time for me to indulge in a summertime guilty pleasure…
Yep.
Big Brother.
I can’t help it. I am a people watcher, and not in a weird way but in a lover of history/human behavior kind of way. Evil Dick (pictured below) was one of my favorite contestants from this show…
Chicky watched one of her shows on her computer…
Soon, we headed to bed.
I couldn’t sleep. I’ve already posted about that, though.
We got up and headed out. I was a little sad because I knew that I would be returning to the room later…by myself.
Sigh…
Chicky led the way…a first. She knows her way around Lakeland, where Southeastern University is located…
First, we met in the sports complex so she could attend a team meeting. Then, we had about thirty minutes for lunch, so we ran to Subway. After that, we had to return to the school for physicals.
Finally, it was time to move her in.
What a hot day! It was so much worse than last year, and her room is on the second floor this year…
Not. Fun.
She’s in an 8-man this year. It has a common room…
There are two bedrooms on each side, and each bedroom houses two girls…
The bathroom has two sinks, two showers, and two toilet stalls. Because this is a room with handicapped facilities, one shower is longer and has a bench in it. This is perfect for one of Chicky’s teammates, who recently had hip surgery and will be on crutches for a while.
We started the arduous task of unloading the car.
Because we didn’t have the Mr. there (he had to work), we were concerned about the lack of manpower. Chicky’s roommate from last year made a few trips back and forth.
I quickly figured out that my overachieving self had to slow down…
Oops.
Don’t tell Chicky.
We set a few things in her room. It was going to be a long afternoon…
I didn’t mind though. A mom doesn’t complain about the workload when she knows that she’s not going to be with her baby in a few short hours.
We put stuff everywhere. Her roommate isn’t a soccer player, so she won’t be arriving at the school for another couple of weeks. We took advantage and used her bed to set things on…
Chicky tried to figure out where to put things. Not having her roommate there was a little difficult because she didn’t want to hog the entire room…
I tried to be a good mom and not take over. Chicky “allowed” me to hang her clothes after she put them on hangers. I felt so honored. LOL
We decided to take a break. We went to Bed Bath and Beyond. I had a $5 off of $15 coupon, which came in handy when we bought this $16.99 cart ($11.99 after the coupon). Because there are not bathroom cabinets (handicapped feature), the cart will be used to store toiletries…
We went to Sam’s, where we got her stocked up on water, Gatorade, and snacks…
We just added Chicky and Guy Friend to our membership, so they will be able to replenish their supplies whenever they need to.
This is just another sign that my baby girl is getting older.
Sigh…
While we were out and about, look at what we came across…
Oh yeah.
We just couldn’t pass up the opportunity to visit our favorite store. We were good girls, though, and did not buy a single thing.
The Mr. can exhale now. His bank account was not depleted during this trip.
The fun had to end, though, so we returned to Chicky’s room and continued to unpack…
What a process. As a parent, you have to let your child set things up the way he or she wants things. This can be difficult…especially when you are an anal organizer, like I am.
Fortunately, so is Chicky. She worked hard to get things straight…
After we got her bedding on, she remembered that she needed to raise the mattress so she could stack things on the shelves under the bed.
Oy.
What a job.
We had to take the mattress off of the bed, turn the bed to the center of the room, turn it upside down, and jump on the frame to force it out of the bed posts.
We weren’t strong enough.
Neither one of us weighs much more than a hundred pounds.
We called for help, and a couple of girls came in.
These girls were strong, let me tell you, and it didn’t take long until we got things fixed and put the mattress back on the bed…
Before we knew it, we had to head to the team/family dinner.
I could feel the clock of doom ticking on…the time when I would have to pull myself away from my baby.
I wasn’t hungry.
I didn’t eat.
After the coach said the blessing, I opened my eyes and discovered that they were filled with tears.
Chicky looked at me in that moment, and I was mortified.
I had done so well all day.
I had not cried at all.
I have no idea why I found myself sad all of a sudden. Mentally, I was fine, but I think that looking through the window of that meeting room and seeing the position of the sun in the sky reminded me of the difficult time I had last year.
Fortunately, I composed myself quickly and didn’t let the tears spill over.
We had a good time listening to the coach discuss his philosophy and watching him try to come up with rhymes for the girls…on the spot.
Before too long, it was time to head back to the room to finish unpacking and do the dreaded deed…say goodbye.
Chicky got things fairly organized, which made me feel like I wasn’t leaving her unsettled…
Finally, I was satisfied.
One of Chicky’s suite-mates took a couple of pictures of us, and then we headed outside.
Oh my word.
It felt like I was being escorted to the gallows.
I usually do not have a problem with goodbyes, but when they involve me being separated from my children, then they are hard.
Chicky walked me to my car.
We shared a hug.
Let me explain that Chicky does not give big hugs.
She “allows” herself to be hugged while she stands there, stiff armed. Sometimes, if you’re lucky, she might pat your back…once…if she feels like it.
Seriously.
She’s just not a touchy-feelie kind of girl.
On Thursday, she embraced me.
Oh my word.
It had been years since this child had wrapped her arms around me in such a loving, sincere way.
It felt so good.
As she started to walk away, I hurried back to her for one more hug.
I’m sure she rolled her eyes a bit, but she humored me.
I snapped a few pictures of her waving goodbye.
She was a bit annoyed because we’d done this last year.
After the third picture, she said, “Just pull the bandaid off, Mama.”
What she meant was for me to get it over with…that the pain would only hurt for a little while.
Sigh.
Such wisdom from my child.
And so I drove away.
I didn’t cry as I left, but my heart was heavy.
Although I had told her that I would find something vegan-friendly to eat for dinner, I didn’t. Sorry, Chicky.
I just couldn’t.
When you feel your heart breaking, you don’t want to eat.
I drove back to the hotel and turned off the car.
All of a sudden, I didn’t want to go inside.
I didn’t want to enter a room that would only have my stuff in it…one bed that would be slept in…
That is when I cried.
It had been a wonderful summer. I had watched over my girl as she balanced four jobs, two online college classes and one horrendous college professor who still has not returned my child’s phone call.
I had been there to nurse my girl through the horrible virus that she had suffered through.
We had explored the world together while out on our cruise.
We had discovered a new favorite store…Ann Taylor Loft.
Yes, we had yelled at one another…especially in the days leading up to her departure…but this year was different. We recovered a lot quicker from our anger.
This was progress, folks. It was the growth of maturity in our relationship.
Chicky doesn’t understand why it’s so hard for us parents when she leaves, but she isn’t a parent yet.
We cry because we worry.
We cry because we want to be there to witness their new experiences.
We want to protect them from the hurts of the world, and we want to rejoice with them over their triumphs.
Somehow, it’s just not the same when we’re doing these things from afar.
But do them from afar, I must. It is my duty as a parent to let go, and I am.
Chicky is at a wonderful college…surrounded by other Believers. She is learning what it means to serve Christ in everyday life, and she’s getting a wonderful academic education as well.
She is learning that God is present in a college classroom, on the soccer field, and in the relationships she is developing and nurturing.
As a mom, I couldn’t ask for more. These are the things that lessen the sting of ripping off that bandaid.
God is gracious even in times like these.
Filed under: children, Christian | Tagged: child rearing, college, parenting, Southeastern University | 3 Comments »
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