Reflections from a college mom during #COVID19 quarantine. A thread...

My oldest son is a Freshman in college this year @Mizzou (yay - Go Tigers!). I vividly remember last year at this time when we were finishing his Senior year in high school. So many fun time, but lots of tearing up, knowing that he would leave the nest soon.

As an aside, for all of you Seniors in high school this year and all of the parents of Seniors, I am sad that you are missing this sweet and bittersweet moments. It is not fair

As we dropped my son at college, I wasn't one of those bawling dramatic moms (as I expected to be). I was happy for him that he was starting this new chapter of life & excited for the new experiences he was going to have. However, the house was empty & not the same after he left

I looked forward to every weekend that we would visit him or when he would come home for a weekend. Yet, every time we would part again, I felt a part of me was missing. I thought it would get easier, but it didn't.

So when the #COVIDー19 quarantine began, I have to admit that, very selfishly, I was excited to have my son at home. I missed him so much and I really was happy that we would have time together.

But, after the first week, my (selfish) happiness quickly turned to sadness as I realized how out of place he was. He was out of his study routines; he was having to adjust to new learning practices; and he was missing his friends and new support system

And as the weeks have continued, I feel so guilty that I ever thought it was a good idea for him to be home. He is missing out on so many life experiences.

He should be learning valuable life lessons AWAY from home learning to be independent and make his own decisions and not have to be accountable to anyone but himself if he decides to play video games in the middle of the day.

I miss reminding him every month that he is going out too much and is spending more than his allotted budget eating off campus. (He hasn't spent a cent of his own money in 5 weeks)

I hate that I am the best local resource that his has to help on organic chemistry and Chemical Engineering material balance. He had really learned how to use the campus resources and although still available, it not the same as in person

College SHOULD be a time of learning about yourself, gaining independence, enjoying new experiences, making bad choices, and having FUN. As much as we can try to replicate it at home, it is not the same.

I hope and pray for solutions that allow kids to get back to campus and college life at the latest by the Fall Semester. They need that time and we need that for them. It is time for them to fly and it's difficult to do that at "home."

To all of you in this situation - parents and students - enjoy your time together because it is precious. However, I really long for our time apart because I appreciate more than ever how important it is.