Kelly Ripa Says Dropping Her Youngest Son Joaquin Off At College Was A ‘Brutally Painful’ Experience

Becoming empty nesters has not been easy for Kelly Ripa and Mark Consuelos.

During an episode of Live with Kelly and Ryan, the 50-year-old talk show host recalled the emotional experience of dropping off their son Joaquin Consuelos at the University of Michigan, where he started as a freshman last month. While the parents have had practice with their 24-year-old son Michael and 20-year-old daughter Lola, her youngest child leaving the nest for school understandably impacted the momma a lot. She explained to her co-host, Ryan Seacrest:

“We became empty nesters. We took our youngest son to college, we dropped him off. It was hard. It was really hard.”

Ripa then took a walk down memory lane, recalling when her children were young, and she would tuck them into bed at night, saying:

“My kids had this thing that they used to love that I did when they were little. I would tuck them in bed, and I would give them kisses and cuddles, and then I would say goodnight, and I would leave, and then I would come back and be like, ‘One more, one more,’ and they would giggle and laugh … and it was always like, exciting.”

The tradition eventually stopped when they became teenagers and felt the act was “weird.” However, the kids started up the routine again when Lola asked if they could sleep in their parent’s room, so they were there in the morning when Kelly turned the big 5-0 in October:

“They loved it. And then I started doing it again … Whenever they were home, I would do it.”

Awww! Ripa even carried on the tradition when Joaquin went off to college, asking for one last hug before leaving him there. She tearfully shared:

“We dropped him off at school, and we gave him a hug. It was actually brutally painful. Anyway, I gave him a hug, and I said, ‘I did not realize that 18 years would go so fast.’ And he didn’t say anything. He was just giving me a hug. He turned to walk away, and I said, ‘Wait, Joaquin, one more. And he kept walking. I knew that … it was happening to him, too. The emotion.”

Kelly continued:

“It’s funny. It seemed like it would be forever from the time Michael left to Joaquin leaving.”

They certainly grow up so fast! While his departure has been difficult on the parents, there still has been a silver lining for Kelly and Mark as they partake in some quality alone time together. The couple has enjoyed some romantic beach dates since getting the house to themselves again. They have even chilled out on the couch without any of their children nearby in a recent Instagram picture, in which Ripa captioned: