Move In Day

We were all up and out the door this morning by 8 a.m.  Cameron chose the early morning move-in slot as we knew that there would be less people on campus at that time.  We first had to stop at Assembly Hall for Cameron to register.  That was the only process that was frustrating as there weren't a lot of signs posted on where to go.  Once Cameron got through that, however, the rest of the day was smooth sailing.

After sign in, we parked the van in the circle at Teter.  Cameron's room was on the second floor and near the entrance.  There were upperclassmen ready to help us move.  They loaded everything into a large cart and met Cameron at his room.  While he and Doug were unpacking, I took the van back to Brett's to get the Pilot.  We had a few items that still needed unloaded including the refrigerator.  Doug found someone to help with that and soon we had everything in his room.  I felt a little guilty that his roommate had to get up early for Cameron to move in, but it was only one day and we were done by 10:30.

Doug and I helped Cameron unpack a lot of what he brought down.  We quickly realized that the futon would not fit, so that never made it upstairs.  We focused instead on where to put his clothes, shoes, refrigerator, microwave, fan and television.  Doug helped him make his bed as it was on the top bunk and we bought him a long pillow to ensure that he wouldn't roll out in the middle of the night.  Thankfully, he found a ladder and railing in the lounge later in the day.  

While we were unpacking and setting everything up, we realized that the outlets were all in very inconvenient spots.  We also realized that Cameron needed a place to hang his robe.  Once we got everything situation, we made a Target run for command hooks and two very long power strips.  With new power strips in hand, we then made another trip up to his dorm room to set up the television and plug in his computer.  Cameron felt that he could get the rest unpacked himself, so we decided that lunch was next on our list.

Cameron picked Buffalouie's and we enjoyed a meal together before walking through campus.  We gave Cameron some advice on meeting people and what to do during Welcome Week.  We knew that he would figure it out, but Doug had fun telling him stories of his first week at IU and the amount of times that he walked to all of his classes just to make sure that he knew where they were.  

After a few long hugs, we said goodbye to Cameron in the Teter parking lot.  He had already gotten a text from someone that he met at Orientation and was on his way to meet him.  I was so happy for Cameron.  He was ready for a new challenge.  There would be struggles along the way, but I knew that he could handle them.  By the end of the evening Cameron had already made friends with people on his floor and had texted me that he had had a great day.

As happy as I was for Cameron, I still cried most of the way home.  I had enjoyed being a stay at home mom very much.  I would miss the days of having someone at home with me.  Doug and I sat out on the porch tonight talking about our favorite memories of raising the Heinisch children.  Meg texted me to let me know that I could relax now that I was a "retired parent."  The statement made me laugh as I knew that I would never really stop being a mom to Brett, Cal, Meg and Cameron, my role would just change to support system instead of day to day caretaker.  It will definitely take some time to get used to that.