Kat, it seems like yesterday that I was taking my kiddos to kindergarten. We didn't have any tears, it was something we were all looking forward to. And ironically, the departure for college had many of the same characteristics. Any tears were probably mine, shed briefly because of the long distance and separation over time from this child. But it's temporary and he's out doing what he needs to do. Morgan will get the hang of those long days quickly enough.

I remember my son's first day of the first year he attended College for Kids, when he was nine. Both my kids attended each summer--it was set up at the local community college for talented and gifted kids (they had to have a report card and teacher recommendation to get in). There were four 1 hour classes in the morning and again in the afternoon. Kids could go half day or all day, and they had to take a lunch and pace themselves between classes. The college had volunteers to help the kids (there were regular courses going on also and they helped keep the kids on track). The first day my son hadn't quite understood the whole thing and he got really hot and tired. He came home and put himself to bed as soon as he walked in the door, and I thought he might declare he wasn't going back. But the next day, after a long afternoon and night's sleep, he'd processed it all and went back and had a great time for the remaining three weeks.

I had my mp3 player for music when the stations were limited (I use a little thing to broadcast through the truck radio), and on the drive back I listened to most of Jack Kerouac's Big Sur. Great road book! I had a Nevada Barr mystery also, and listened to the first disk, but found it extremely grim and off-putting - it wasn't a park ranger one this time. Also, since Sprint coverage is pretty good along the interstate, on Saturday a friend here at home kept in touch - we exchanged photos and calls (his adopted son just moved out of his house, so he was also kind of blue for the day - it was a mutual distraction).

SRS