When it comes to pre-college jitters, students aren’t the only ones who deal with anxiety, but parents too (if not all, then most).
Moving out to attend college is a milestone and a big change for both the child and the parent’s life. The anxiety is even magnified for parents who are going through this “child is off to college” for the first time.
The anxiety is real but you have to accept that this change is what your child needs, and no distance will ever stop you from fulfilling your role as a parent.
To help you navigate through this change with ease, here are a few helpful tips on how you can adjust when your child moves out for college.
Don’t overdo the goodbyes.
As much as you want cry buckets of tears and pour out all the emotions, try to control yourself and be strong for your child. Don’t make it even harder for him/her… just make it quick and painless as possible.
Focus your attention on your other children.
If you still have other kids living at home with you, remember that they need you too. Instead of sulking and being depressed with your other child moving out, focus on your other children’s needs and spend more time with them. Soon enough, they will be leaving too so make the most out of the time that you have now.
Focus on your marriage.
…and don’t forget your spouse too. After decades of marriage, you might have lost focus on your marriage since you were busy taking care of your kids. Use this time to rekindle the romance and do fun things that you weren’t able to do before like traveling, for example.
Take this opportunity to deep clean your child’s bedroom.
As much as you want to do this back when your kid was still living at home, you probably weren’t able to do so. So take this time as an opportunity to clean and organize his/her space.
Explore things that you’ve wanted to do ever since.
Whether it’s a vacation, a new hobby, a sport, or class that you want to sign up for, now is the perfect time to pursue these dreams and aspirations.
Look for new ways to communicate.
Open and constant communication is the key to maintain a good relationship with your child, in spite of distance. Aside from phone calls which can be expensive sometimes, find new and “modern” ways to communicate such as Facebook Messenger, Whatsapp, Messenger, Skype, and the like.
