Missing my daughter
Hi Empty Nesters. I am not an empty nester yet but soon will be since my 17F daughter is now a senior. I had never felt such unconditional love from someone as a did with her when she was younger, and she used to want to spend all her time with me and tell me all her thoughts. She was the joy of my life. She stopped wanting to spend time with me or talk to me around 2 years ago. I don’t remember her exact words but one day she said something to me along the lines of, I used to think you were this special entity “Mom” but now I realized you’re just a person. Now she gets annoyed if I try to talk with her, gives me attitude and one-word answers, stays behind her closed room door all day when she’s home, etc. When she went away this summer she wouldn’t even give me a hug goodbye at the airport. I know people say this is developmentally normal and that they will come around when they’re about 25, but that is a long time to wait! When she goes away to college I am worried that I won’t ever voluntarily hear from her and that we won’t have a close relationship. Her coldness and rejection towards me kills me inside every day. For anyone with a similar situation, how did it go when your child went off to college? If she wants nothing to do with me now, I am imagining it will be the same during college.