We all need some reassurance throughout life; however, during this specific time of year there is a group of men and women that may need some extra reassurance. To all those parents that are now sending their children off to college for the first time, this is for you.

Whether your kid is moving 30 minutes from home or across the country it is going to hit the heart like a train. This is your baby. You have literally had your child living under your roof for the last eighteen years. It is understandable that you are having a difficult time wrapping your head around the whole college thing.

College is a completely different world. It is unfamiliar and filled with the unknown. You don’t know whom your kid will meet or what they will do when you are not there to check in every day. You will not be able to crack open you child’s door and make sure they are sleeping okay. You cannot take care of them when they are sick or be sure that they are taking care of themselves. You are not going to know their schedule as well as you have previously. You child is going to change but that is okay. This is all okay.

Letting go is extremely hard. We don’t like to say goodbye to the familiar. Comfort zones are great but they are also a scary place. Comfort zones do not allow us to grow and makes change extremely difficult. But at this time you and your child both need to step away from what’s familiar and leap into the unknown. We are human and we have emotions. There will be days that you cry from missing your child so much or you could have days that you feel relieved to have a quiet house. It will be like a daily rollercoaster and you don’t know when the next drop or turn is coming.

As difficult as this transition may be, you need to allow your child to find themselves. You cannot call and text every day expecting to have a full conversation with them. And you may think that they will never want to come home but trust me if there is anything I have learned living 18 hours away it is that my home will forever be there and I will never forget about the family that is there. Now is your time to be brave and say goodbye for a little while. They will need you more than they think but let them figure that out by themselves.

Your child will forever be who they are because of you. You are their roots and they would never be the person they are if it weren't for those roots that you begun. Be proud of your child and even though they are moving onto another chapter in their life, remember that this is another chapter for you too.