My 3 kids are all enrolled at the same college. Knowing they're together helps, but I'm still struggling with my empty nest.

When I tell people that my youngest daughter is attending the same college as her older twin siblings, I always hear some variation of these questions:

Did they always want to go to the same college? Are you happy you only need to do one drop-off? Are you getting a buy 2 get 1 free discount?

The reaction people have had to them all attending the same school reminds me of when my twins were babies. People were fascinated and had lots of questions.

Even though I am happy that they will have each other at Fordham University in New York, the transition has been hard for me.

They have only been there a few weeks, and I have FOMO every time I talk to them. But this is all part of my transition into an empty nester.

For the past year, I've been trying to mentally prepare for the time when all three kids will be in college. Anytime my youngest was at one of her many after-school activities, I would think, "This is what it's going to be like."

I even went on my first solo trip to start to get used to the idea of being without my kids.

But as the name empty nest implies, there's an indescribable emptiness that is different from when she was living at home. Even though she was busy, she was always at home at night. She acts in musical theater, so she was always belting out songs at home.

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During the first week she was gone, my husband noticed the silence. He said, "There's no singing anymore."

After we moved them into their dorms, I returned home and began cleaning and decluttering. For the next week, I deep-cleaned all their bedding and every surface in their rooms, and donated extra items like sheets, blankets, and towels.

When I told my youngest daughter how I spent my time, she replied, "That sounds like a very empty nest thing to do."