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Challenge: Summer Fun

Time to say goodbye: Chrisley's guide to preparing for college (for kids AND parents!)

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This has been our last summer with our daughter Savannah at home before she heads off to college in the fall. So we've spent a lot of time thinking about how to prepare her -- and us! -- for this major life change. Here are some of the lessons we are trying to teach, and learn ourselves, this summer.

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For the Parent:

How does one prepare to send their kids off to college? We have been thinking about this as we’ve just finished packing our daughter, Savannah's room so that we can travel to Nashville to get her moved into her home for the next 4 years. Our emotions have truly been all across the board during this process. We are excited for her because we know that she is going to thrive in college and have many wonderful experiences that will help her to become the woman that we have always dreamt she would be. We are both anxious because we know that there will be trials and issues that she will face and we won’t be there to see her through it, but we are only a phone call away. We think there are many things that we can do as parents to help our children as they go off to college including the following:

1. Be there for them when times are good and even more so when times are bad.

2. Believe in them – and keep on believing in them.

3. Take time to stop and listen. Sometimes our kids need us to truly listen to them.

4. Pray for your child daily....

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Remember this quote by J.K. Rowling: “Youth cannot know how age thinks and feels. But old men are guilty if they forget what it was to be young.”

For the Child:

I believe this is a task that is many years in the making. I would like to think that my husband Todd and I have instilled in our children many tools that they will use once they are in college. In the Chrisley house, we have always placed a huge importance on our children going to college. Todd and I did not go to college and we would both agree that that is one thing that we would do differently if we could go back in time.

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We also have stressed to our children that you should find whatever it is that makes you happy and that you have a passion for and run with it. There are a few things that we hope our children will never forget:

1. You can always come home.

2. Everything happens for a reason.

3. The day is never as bad as it seems.

4. Give your best every day.

5. Remember that every person has a story and you never know what they are going through.

6. There are people who pray and dream for the very things that you may take for granted.

7. Always know that we love you unconditionally.

8. Never let someone else determine your self-worth.

9. Someone else's opinion of you is not your business.

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After writing down all the advice for both parents and kids, the real work now begins. How will I ever convince Todd that the kids are going to be fine and they will survive without seeing him every day? The question was never if they would survive but rather will he????

For more on CHRISLEY KNOWS BEST visit: http://www.usanetwork.com/chrisleyknowsbest

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