Over the summer, my husband and I moved two daughters to two different college campuses. The first one moved into a small house down by the University of Arkansas campus. We were basically the farm family and pick up truck moving service. After multiple trips to town we got all of it unloaded and left her to organize and decorate to her taste. It is a cute house and I know she and her roommate will make great memories there.
The second daughter made a big move over to Stillwater, Okla. She is just starting her freshman year of college and will be living in one of the campus dorms. We loaded her up and stayed overnight the night before. Stillwater is a cute college town with several local dining options. We enjoyed dinner at the world-famous Eskimo Joe’s to fuel ourselves for the following day. We needed it!
We arrived at her move-in time early so she could obtain her key and get instructions. We were greeted by friendly, helpful RA’s. What should have taken 3-4 trips up the elevator to the fourth floor of her dorm turned into many more. At one point, my husband and I felt like we were moving Elle Woods (Reference from the movie Legally Blonde) to college. We stopped making eye contact with the RA’s as we got to the final loads because we were a bit embarrassed. Somehow, she made everything fit and set up a very cute freshman girl’s dorm room.
We decided on the long drive back to Fayetteville that we were getting too “old” for moving. We are definitely roping her brothers into helping us move her out next spring!
As the nest has slowly emptied, our youngest son laid claim to the open bedroom. We have done some rearranging of the upstairs kids’ bedrooms at home. This has prompted me to do a long-needed closet clean out and declutter project upstairs. I am a notorious procrastinator of inside chores when the weather is nice. As the days have gotten hotter, I have found myself going through keepsake treasures from preschool, sports and Girl Scouts. It’s just the guys and me at home now and I miss the girls.
I have loved every minute of watching my children grow up. I miss seeing my “mom friends” in carlines and at sporting events. Even though our girls have all graduated, I still meet up with my troop leader friends in town every few months to catch up on life. We call these our Girl Scout Leader meetings. Now that everyone has settled in for their new chapters of life – college and high school, I look forward to catching up and comparing campus move-in stories. It takes a village to raise our kids, neighbor.
Jody Harris is a freelance communications specialist, gardener, ranch wife and mother of four. She and her family raise Angus beef cattle and other critters on their northwest Arkansas ranch. She is a graduate of Missouri State University. To contact Jody, go to ozarksfn.com and click on ‘Contact Us.’
