The years fly by, and suddenly, it’s time to take your baby to college.  And just as no one can prepare you for the emotional overwhelm and sense of responsibility you feel when your child is born, no one can prepare you for the emotional overwhelm and sense of letting go and loss of control you feel in the few weeks leading up to college move-in day and the day you say goodbye.

I dropped my oldest son off at college just a few days ago, and I’m here to tell you my heart and my mind were stretched in ways I didn’t even imagine were possible.  It’s obvious to me now that I went through several phases as I was being stretched over those days, coming to grips with my baby growing up and leaving the nest. Allow me to elaborate.

Motherhood is the role of a lifetime. For those privileged enough to call themselves a mother in any capacity, you know what I’m talking about. There’s only one small catch…

“A mother’s job is to teach her children not to need her anymore. The hardest part of that job is accepting success.”

Alas, the one constant in life is that change is inevitable, and motherhood is no exception. What do you do with all of that nurturing and life-giving energy that not so long ago soothed feverish little foreheads and cuddled for hours until sleep came once the kids were grown and flown?