Kids Headed Off to College? HOW TO SURVIVE AND EMBRACE IT
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BY KIMBERLY BLAKER
YOU PREPARE TO SEE your adolescent off to college, you flashback to all your child’s milestones, special moments, and fun times you’ve shared together. It feels like only yesterday, your toddler said his or her first word. Soon after, you dropped your child off for the first day of kindergarten, prepared your preteen for puberty, and took your teen shopping for the high school prom. But now, in an instant, your adolescent is headed out into the world, more or less on their own. This is a turning point at which you no longer have much oversight or say in your child’s life. It can be both scary and exhilarating for parents and kids alike. Of course, you’ll worry about your teen’s safety and well-being. But you’ll also revel in your young adult’s enthusiasm, excitement, and dreams for the future. Parents’ feelings about their own life without their child’s daily presence and parenting responsibilities are often met with a mix of emotions as well. Many parents look forward to this point in their lives and the freedom they haven’t enjoyed in nearly two decades. Some parents may even feel conflicted or guilty for looking forward to ‘me’ time. At the same time, many parents (even those same parents) feel a sense of loss. After all, they’ve devoted 18 years to caregiving and raising their child. Many parents lose their sense of self while raising a family. In fact, being a parent can become one’s identity. As a result, parents may feel an even more significant loss when their kid heads away to college.
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O R E G O N F A M I LY . C O M
JUNE 2022
