Diane, last year at this time I wrote a very similar post on here, because we finally had "an empty nest" with our 2 kids both away at college.

I'll admit, I cried and was SO lonely the first month. My DH and I didn't know what to do with ourselves. We'd sit at the dinner table in complete silence, we hadn't been alone for 20 yrs.

Well, let me tell you that by the time the kids came home for Thanksgiving break, we had gotten very used to being alone and we really began enjoying our time together.

I remember when they came home for the long winter break, I started counting the days til they would leave again. I had gotten used to the house being in order and the small loads of laundry etc.

It will definitely get easier as the weeks go by!

Good luck to your daughter and to you as well!

I just wanted to add, as one of those "last to leave" kids, that I was torn up leaving home too!

My parents helped me move into my dorm and at first it felt like a school trip or something, but it hit me: I was living on my own (technically). I was only 1.5 hours away, so it wasn't thousands of miles. But, it was hard to adjust. I really missed my parents.

And I still miss spending time with my parents. I appreciate the change in my relationship with my mom (we're more friends now than mother-daughter), and I appreciate the woman she raised me to be.

So, as one of those kids, I just want to tell ya'll, you ARE missed, even if we're too stubborn to admit it at the time. We always need our parents.

Thanks, emrldsky. That's reassuring! And good to hear. Our youngest will NEVER let on that he was homesick, if he ever gets homesick. Stoic.

My hat's off to all those Moms who send children off to the military. Everytime I start to ride my pity train because my kids are going off to college, I remember all those brave young men and women who volunteer to protect us, and the Moms who love and worry about them. So, many thanks to you!

after reading these posts, it's hard for me not to tear up. i was beginning to believe that i was the only one who knew what i was going through. my daughter's room is across from mine and i can't bare to look at her door. i keep it closed and haven't been in there since she left. i feel like i'm missing a body part and my heart has a hole in it. i always knew this day would come, an expected to feel sad, but i never really realized just how sad i could feel.

my husband flew down with her, something i wish i could have done. but my youngest started school today, so someone had to stay behind. i think it would have been harder for me if i had gone, because i would have been the one to leave her...it would have been a long plane ride home.

thank-you to all of you. you have made this a lot easier. just knowing that i am not alone, and that other moms go through the same thing has mad this more bearable.

I just got back from helping our middle child settle into a new apartment for grad school; and on Saturday we'll take our youngest to college. Two leaving in the same week! I'm going through tissues like crazy.
I keep telling myself that this is all good stuff, but it still makes me so sad.

While running errands today, I kept seeing people who asked about my kids. I cried in the local drug store, the supermarket, at CVS, and in Staples. Not to mention at home by myself, and on the phone.
This last child's leaving is tough.

wow...you got it bad!

Yes, diane, I'm pathetic.

Sad Mom Extraordinaire here.
Took our youngest child to college today. I've been dreading this day since 1991. He's my BABY! I've been through this twice before, but this is killing me. I keep crying. Racking sobs. I'm so sad. He doesn't know anyone there, and his roommate isn't arriving until tomorrow, so he's alone --with his inventory of electronic communication devices!
Okay, I know he'll be fine, but I hate passages of any kind. Time is flying, and I hate that. It was so easy when the kids were little.

cutthecake...be strong! we will get through this. i too, have dreaded this time ever since they were born. i'm slowly getting adjusted to this, but i still have days were all i want to do is cry.

it does help that she keeps in touch by text, phone calls and of course facebook. i have one more at home and he will be leaving in two years. that will be the beginning of my empty nest syndrome!...however, he is going to the same school my daughter's at, and we will be moving to that area, so that's a plus!!

diane,
I'm happy to hear you're adjusting. I'm sure I will, too.

I thought sending the first two off to college was bad, but this is my BABY! Even though he's a big, strong man, he's still my baby.
Many of his friends are the youngest kids in their own families, so several of us moms are going through this now. But I've been a mommy the longest (we have two daughters, 22 and 26).

I have scheduled my job around the 3:00 school dismissal and after school activities since 1988 (even earlier if you include nursery school). So this turns my world upside down.
But I'll get over it. Soon, I hope.
I think part of my frustration is because I have not had a kitchen since the week after July 4 (we're remodeling), and I can't bake! Tthe contents of our kitchen are all over the house, which is driving me nuts. I can't find anything, and I'm tripping over everything.
None of my ducks are in order, and it's getting to me.
Thanks for letting me rant and rave.

When I took my daughter to college 9 hours away I thought I'd just die. I cried for about half the trip home and for the next week, off and on. But at the same time, I felt so proud that she was at a great school, and that I had raised her to be a fearless, adventurous young adult who could make it on her own.

It gets easier, and you do fall into a new pattern that is what the next stage of your life is supposed to be.

Next week, my daughter, now graduated and just married is moving to Denver so her husband can go to grad school. I know I'll feel the same way as I did when I left her at school the first time. She is my favorite person in the world and I hate it that she'll be so far away from me, but again I know she's launching her own adult life and I'm so proud of her. I guess I'll just have to burn up the highway between here and Denver. I'll never get used to saying good-bye, though. I hate it.