My twins are leaving for college in a week, and I'm struggling to cope. Here's how I'm working through it.

• I'm overwhelmed with emotions as my twins get ready to leave for New York City's Fordham University.
• To deal with my emotions, I'm turning to friends for support and booking a trip to the city.

"Mama, wait," my toddler daughter said.

She waddled beside me, still in the throes of learning to walk. I grabbed her hand to help stabilize her. Her twin brother had perfected his stride and darted in front of us. I then felt someone grab my shoulder, forcefully yanking me back and forth.

"Mom, wake up," my 18-year-old daughter said.

When I opened my eyes, the confusion set in and then I realized I had yet another dream. Since the beginning of my twins' senior year of high school, I have had recurring dreams of them as babies or toddlers. The dreams are always so vivid that when I wake up, I can still smell their baby blanket or hear their high-pitch baby voices calling me "Mama" like they used to do.

But in just a week, my twins are heading off to college, and I'm still figuring out how to cope.

I've been overwhelmed with emotions at the thought of my twins going off to college

Besides the dreams, I have a wide variety of emotions. One minute, I'm so excited for them that they are going to Fordham University in New York City. The next second, I'll start crying. Sometimes, the tears start to well up in my eyes at the strangest times. Once I was bench-pressing weights at the gym, and a memory of them popped up in my head. Before I knew it, I had to wipe away tears — hoping no one saw me.

At times, I wondered whether this was normal. When I was pregnant, there were plenty of resources and guides that let me know what was normal and what to expect. I also joined two mom clubs before the twins were even born. The more-experienced moms provided support and guidance while I was pregnant. Most of the information out there now is geared toward how to get your kid ready for college instead of how to prepare the parent. The mom groups, which used to help me figure things out, petered out when my twins were about 5 years old.

I've recently turned to my friends who have kids the same age as mine. Turns out, I'm not alone. The other parents also have experienced a variety of reactions to their kids leaving for college. Knowing I'm not the only one has helped me to feel more "normal."

Looking at baby photos has helped me

After having one of my many dreams, I scrolled through their baby photos on my phone. Their bright-blue eyes stared right back at me. I couldn't help smiling. It helped me to deal with my emotions.

When I was their age, I remember my mom staring at me and saying, "I just blinked and you grew up." At the time, I thought that sounded ridiculous and probably gave her an eye roll. Because as a teenager, it seemed like it took forever to get to that point in my life. But now I get it. It's hard for me to understand how they went from these little, helpless babies to independent adults, even though I'd been there the whole time.

I've turned to my friends and family for support

Last week, I posted on my social media, "Two weeks from today they go to college. I didn't know it was possible to feel so excited and sad at the same time!"

I received an overwhelming amount of support from friends and family, many of whom said they knew exactly how I was feeling. Some of my friends who live near my twins' college told me to give my kids their cellphone numbers in case they needed anything.

That support helped me feel more excited and less sad.

I learned that planning a trip to see them helped ease the pain

To help cope with the initial separation, I planned a few fun days in New York City with my husband and younger daughter. We'll visit the twins at Fordham.

We booked a room at the new Hard Rock Hotel since we loved staying at the one in Florida. One of our favorite aspects of the hotel was watching the '80s music videos on the lobby TV. Sometimes we just hung out there to watch the videos. Hopefully, we can recreate that in New York. And then we are going to do touristy things like visit the Empire State Building and see a Broadway show.

Carefully planning that trip has taken my mind off of what's to come.

In the end, I'm trying to focus on the positive and my children's accomplishments

I keep reminding myself that under all this sadness and grief, there's a sense of accomplishment. I managed to raise these kids for 18 years, and they have worked hard to get to this point. Reminding myself of how far we've come helps me see how much they have grown and how independent they are.

Even though I know it's going to be hard, I know that they are ready to embark on this adventure. I also know that they will be home for Thanksgiving and then for a month during winter break. It'll all happen in just the blink of an eye, right?