College Update: Packing and Procrastination

I just realized that I haven't updated you guys in a while on the whole traumatic first-kid-moving-away-to-college adventure.  I guess I haven't been feeling quite so traumatized lately.  That's a good thing, right?  I'm sure it will hit me out of the blue one of these days and I'll be all freaked out again.  But for now, I'm OK.

So, are you curious how it's going for a homeschooler getting ready to move off to college?


Surprisingly well.  Believe it or not, admissions was perfectly happy with our "homemade" transcript.  They didn't even need a notarized copy, either.  They just trusted us.  Wow.  I guess it's because you can't cheat on the ACT, which is helpful.  And as long as the ACT score backs up the grades and courses that we put on the transcript, they didn't even blink at it.   And the financial aid stuff is all working out just fine.  We needed to send them some extra paperwork and get the IRS to send some verification forms to the college just because we have so many kids, I guess.  Of course, anything with the IRS is annoying and takes forever, but everything went through and the scholarships are official.  The people at the college have been super nice and helpful.  And just in case you were wondering about how it all goes for homeschoolers... there's really nothing to it!  Seriously.

  They don't even act like it's a thing at all.

I think that's huge, personally.  It just goes to show the progress that homeschoolers are making out there in the world.

As for the home front.  Well, that's a little trickier.  It's hard to figure out how much to "mother" and how much to back off.  I mean, if my kid shows up at his dorm without sheets or towels or whatever other household or clothing item he might have needed, it's gonna seem like his mama didn't take very good care of him.  On the other hand, in order to get all that stuff rounded up and purchased, it takes some serious nagging and hen-pecking and, OK, we'll just call it "mothering."  And since 18 is supposed to be the magical age of adulthood, this young man thinks he's "got it."  Oh well, I guess in a few weeks it won't even matter.  Because it is what it is.  And if he failed to pack socks, then he's just gonna have to deal with it.  And then maybe he'll make a trip back home to visit (and gather up all the other stuff he forgot!).  So, either way I guess I win.  ; )

Some other random stuff:
He's already all signed up for his classes.  They did that at orientation, which is cool.
He's got to open a bank account, which seems really grown up.  I think I'll have my other kids start that their senior year of high school, though.  Oh well, live and learn.
We've already gotten all his dorm stuff, like extra-long sheets, towels, etc.  But I'm sure we've still got lots to buy.
He's got to apply for a work-study job.  And hope he gets a good one.
I guess the new thing is renting your books.  So he needs to do that online.  Much better than the old days of buying and re-selling used books.

There's a whole lot of procrastination at work here, though.  If I didn't know better, I'd think that the kid didn't even care about this whole process.  But I do know better.  And I think he's sortof terrified.  And also excited.  And terrified.  So we're trying to be patient with him and give him a little extra grace when he's snippy.  Because, like I said, he's terrified.  But, by this time next month he'll be getting settled in to his new life.  And I'll be getting settled in to mine.  And Noah will have his own room for the first time in his life.

Cha-cha-cha-changes....

jen