Episode 6: Packing the Car and Your Feelings: When Your Kid Leaves for College

🎓 You’ve bought the twin XL sheets, the desk lamp, and enough granola bars to survive a minor apocalypse. But let’s be honest — this isn’t just about packing your kid’s dorm room. It’s about packing up 18 years of memories, pride, and maybe a little panic into the back of your SUV. Today, we’re talking about the emotional rollercoaster of sending your kid off to college — the ugly crying, the ‘did I do enough?’ spirals, and the strange new world of being a mom with one less mouth to feed. Whether you’re days away from drop-off or still recovering from last year’s goodbye, this episode is part pep talk, part therapy session, and part reminder: you’re not losing them — you’re just giving them more room to grow… even if they still can’t do laundry properly

🔑 Talking Points & Segments:

1. The Emotional Whiplash

Pride and excitement → sadness and grief → sudden joy → random crying at commercials.

Why this emotional cocktail is totally normal.

The identity shift when your role as a 24/7 parent changes overnight.

2. “Did I Do Enough?” Syndrome

That mental highlight reel of parenting “should-haves.”

Reassurance that your work is already in them — even if they can’t fold a fitted sheet.

3. Rewriting the Empty Nest Narrative

How to see this moment as an expansion of your life, not a loss.

New opportunities for rediscovery: passions, friendships, travel.

Why "empty nest" can mean “open nest” — space for new beginnings.

4. Boundaries, Texting & Letting Go (Sort Of)

Setting realistic communication expectations.

Avoiding “text surveillance parenting.”

What healthy independence looks like for both sides.

5. The College Drop-Off Debrief

Funny, awkward, or emotional moments from real parents (listener submissions).

6. Life After Launch

Ideas for filling your time meaningfully.

Reconnecting with your partner, friends, or yourself.

Permission to dream bigger and invest in YOU.

Dinner tonight is sausage & peppers 

If this episode made you laugh, cry, or feel just a little more understood, share it with another mom in the middle of this same crazy transition. And tell me — what was YOUR drop-off moment like? Send me your ‘Confessions from the Car Ride Home’ on Instagram @whyamiyellingpod so we can cry-laugh together in a future episode.

I love you. ❤️