Sorry, honey! I will be there one day. It doesn’t even matter if you have more kids at home, it’s still heartbreaking as one phase of their / your life is over.
I so didn’t get it when they drove me to the dorms. I walked away excited without much of a backward glance, and was not understanding their heartache.
When I gave birth to my first child, I held his tiny body in the hospital and cried because one day he would leave home. We want to keep them forever in our arms, small, but then again, we want them to grow and have lives and families of their own.
It’s so hard when they do. You deserve to grieve the end of an era. Grieve, cry, mourn and then when it’s over, you will be through it and ready for the next chapter of your relationship. Kids love quick funny texts during their day, little unexpected gifts (food, money), this next phase can be ok. Don’t shut her out re relationships or anything, let her turn to you as someone she can trust. Remember, you don’t need to be too Hardass any more because she can do whatever she wants and you can’t stop her unless you somehow find out. So be a good voice in her ear. Help her.
It will all be good. You are her mother forever. Cry and mourn but be glad you are only mourning the end of an era -— some mothers are really mourning their kids. You did a good job. Take a bow.
Whoops, correction, you are her dad. Same thing, though.