Recently Brooke Shields mirrored many parents' feelings as she discussed the emotional upheaval to say goodbye to her daughter Rowan as she headed off for college again.
In a video posted to Shields' social media accounts, she cried and talked about how rough it is to send off her daughter.
She said she thought it would be easier the second time as Rowan began college at Wake Forest University last year and had been gone during the summer, but not so.
Each time is hard to say goodbye to your children, even if it's just to college and you've already been through it before.
The full video is below.
The video resonated with other parents.
On Shields' Instagram, other celebrity parents offered words of advice and commiseration.
@brookeshields/Instagram
@brookeshields/Instagram
Over on Twitter, journalist Yashar Ali began a conversation about the video, reflecting on his friends with college-age kids.
\u201cSeeing this from Brooke Shields reminded me how many friends I have who are sending their kids off to college for the first time.\n\nFor all of them it\u2019s been such a tough summer because they know what\u2019s coming.\n\nNone of them have a \u201cI can\u2019t wait to have a quiet house\u201d outlook.\u201d— Yashar Ali \ud83d\udc18 (@Yashar Ali \ud83d\udc18) 1660857263
More parents commented on how seen they felt in the raw honesty of Shields' video, finding beauty in the shared experience.
\u201cThere\u2019s something so beautiful about a shared experience. I saw a video of Brooke Shields and she was crying and very emotional about her daughter leaving for college and a lot of the comments were also moms who\u2019s kid\u2019s were about to leave for college too \ud83e\udd79\u201d— Panda (@Panda) 1660910535
\u201c@yashar Not to minimize the emotions parents feel right now but what a remarkable job you would of done, to raise your kids to know they can fly because the security of 'home ''you' will always be there! Congratulations \ud83d\udc4f\ud83c\udffe now start your new chapter too parents xxx \u2764\ufe0f\u201d— Yashar Ali \ud83d\udc18 (@Yashar Ali \ud83d\udc18) 1660857263
Other parents contributed that, well, it's not just college.
Pre-school drop-off can be heartwrenching as well.
\u201c@yashar This will be me. I couldn\u2019t stop crying the day I left mine at daycare the first day.\u201d— Yashar Ali \ud83d\udc18 (@Yashar Ali \ud83d\udc18) 1660857263
\u201c@ashlee_leeee @yashar It was hard sending my oldest to pre-k even though it was only for a few hours twice a week haha.\u201d— Yashar Ali \ud83d\udc18 (@Yashar Ali \ud83d\udc18) 1660857263
Some confessed to pre-crying for the separation as early as the womb.
\u201c@yashar I been crying about her leaving me for college since I was literally pregnant with her. I'm gonna be a mess.\u201d— Yashar Ali \ud83d\udc18 (@Yashar Ali \ud83d\udc18) 1660857263
Some parents noted the particular ache of dropping children off for the military, which only allowed snail mail for their children for the first few months.
\u201c@yashar I wish my son had gone off to college instead of the army. Snail mail for 4 months when he first moved out after being just the two of us for 17 years...\u201d— Yashar Ali \ud83d\udc18 (@Yashar Ali \ud83d\udc18) 1660857263
\u201c@yashar My son took a gap yr then chose to join the Marines - that drop off was beyond in 2019- zero contact except letters for months. When I see him now it\u2019s a gift!\u201d— Yashar Ali \ud83d\udc18 (@Yashar Ali \ud83d\udc18) 1660857263
And then some of the kids who were once dropped off at college confessed.
They cried, too.
\u201c@yashar Not going to lie, I balled like a baby when my mom left after helping me get set up in the dorm.\u201d— Yashar Ali \ud83d\udc18 (@Yashar Ali \ud83d\udc18) 1660857263
Shields' video helped many parents come together to reflect on a hard and bittersweet moment of parenting.
\u201c@yashar Parents of college bound kids are all pretty much alike, $ or not, famous or not.\u201d— Yashar Ali \ud83d\udc18 (@Yashar Ali \ud83d\udc18) 1660857263
As parents drop off their kids for the firsto—or second or third or fourth—time at college in the coming weeks, Shields' sentiments will ring true to more and more parents.
Celebrities—sometimes they're just like us!