The glorious days of spring are here, which means three things in my world: clear blue skies, honeysuckle in full bloom, and moving at least one of my offspring. As another college semester winds down, the packing tape comes out. If I had a dollar for each time I’ve moved my children, I’d have enough to, well, buy more moving boxes.
This month’s move is bittersweet — my youngest graduates from college. Once again, I find myself wondering where the time went. Seems like just yesterday I was loading up her orange and blue totes into my car while holding back tears realizing my baby girl was about to leave our nest. Now, she’s moving home as a Gator grad, but, alas, her stay is temporary. In August, Mike and I will move her to an out-of-state graduate school.
My son has also moved again, this time into his own place and is taking his bedroom furniture from our home. This includes the twin beds he’s slept on since a toddler that previously belonged to Mike when he was a young boy. You’d think I’d have this moving gig down pat, and, in many ways I do. However, I find myself unpacking emotional memories with each move. It’s like the “Groundhog Day” movie, only I wake up every day misty-eyed thinking how my young adults are adulting so seamlessly.
Since most parents practice this same rite of passage, I’m offering some suggestions how to best manage moving kids to college. They’ll hear enough wise words at graduation ceremonies. I doubt commencement speakers include moving tips, so here are mine:
Moving Tip #1: Be a planner. Make a list of what must be moved, when, where and how. Load up coat hangers, cleaning supplies, totes and trash bags, the latter which can be used for moving clothes on hangers in bulk, a trick I learned from my sisters, who are also veteran parent movers.
Moving Tip #2: Be economical. As Mike often says with each move, “Remember, what you move up, you have to move back.” Limit your Target run to must haves, not wanna haves, except for decorative white lights on a string. I think it’s a requirement all college freshman rooms be adorned with little white lights.
Moving Tip #3: Be flexible. The first time I moved our son to college, I was in awe of the controlled chaos outside the dorm. Know this: there is never enough parking space for unloading stuff, so be patient and listen to some cool music as you drive around the campus for an hour until it’s your turn.
Moving Tip #4: Be hydrated. In dead-of-summer heat, bring plenty of water as you walk up and down five flights of stairs because all freshman must live on the highest floor of any residential building. It’s a rule right up there with the little white lights.
Moving Tip #5: Be restrained. There are many things you’ll want to say to your child as you stand outside your car getting ready to leave. Don’t say them. Rather, write them down, then meditate over them with a prayer of gratitude you have the chance to watch your child spread his or her wings, then say only this, “You’re going to do great. Inhale every moment. Have fun and study hard. I love you.”
Moving Tip #6: Be gone. Know when to leave. No sense hanging around embarrassing yourself, although I did threaten to cling to my son’s legs yelling, “Don’t go!” Instead, I collapsed my sweaty self into the car and slept the entire three hours back home without waking and, as my husband said, more importantly, without taking a bathroom break. It was my own little miracle of grace for this emotional mama sorely in need of one.
