Mom Who Spent the Night in Daughter's Dorm Reacts to Criticism: 'Focusing on the Positive' (Exclusive)

Mar. 15, 2025

Lori Miggins and her daughter Taylor in her dorm room.Photo:Courtesy of Lori

Courtesy of Lori

Lori Migginsis extremely close with her three kids. So, when it was time for the North Carolina mom to drop off her oldest daughter, Taylor, at Appalachian State University, emotions began to rush in.

When Lori learned that Taylor’s move-in date was a week earlier than everyone else’s, including her roommate’s, due to her involvement with the cheer team, she came up with an idea to ease the transition for both of them. Lori, 48, decided she and Taylor, 18, would drive up in separate cars and spend the night together in the dorm. The move-in date also happened to fall on Lori’s birthday, adding a special touch to the occasion.

She shared the idea with her husband, Robert, who thought it was a great plan. “You’ll have more time to move furniture around, do all the things, and I’ll see you the next day,” she recalls him saying. So, that’s exactly what Lori and Taylor did.

“I was like, wow, you’re going to be here alone; if you want me to spend the night, I can,” Lori tells PEOPLE exclusively, recalling the conversation with her daughter. “Then I talked to the roommate and the roommate’s parents, and they were like, ‘Yeah, absolutely. No problem.’ They didn’t think anything of it.”

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Lori Miggins and her daughter Taylor in her dorm room.Courtesy of Lori

“It’s funny because I videoed that little blurb right before we went to bed, thinking maybe I’d do something with it one day,” she adds. “Then I made a Reel, and it went crazy.”

“And it just blows me away with the negativity. People didn’t even read what happened; they’re just jumping to conclusions. I’m focusing on the positive.”

Looking back on the night she spent in the dorm, Lori says it was “awesome.” Growing up, she and Taylor traveled a lot for cheerleading, so the sleepover felt like they were back at a competition. They spent the whole day setting up the room, running errands to pick up forgotten items and enjoying a nice dinner.

By the time they finished everything on move-in day, the two were exhausted and went straight to bed. Taylor slept in her bed, while Lori settled into the roommate’s bed on the other side of the room, which she had covered with a sheet. The next day the two spent the day walking around campus and even took a trip to the dining hall together before parting ways.

“I just said to her, ‘You’ll probably remember this night for the rest of your life. This is pretty cool what we’re doing right now,'” Lori recalls their conversation before bed. “‘This is going to be one of those moments you’ll tell your kids about. You only go to college once. You only have your first night once, and it’s pretty cool.'”

Lori Miggins and her family.Courtesy of Lori

But while Lori will always cherish her sleepover and memories of moving her daughter into college, there was one thing she says she wasn’t prepared for.

“The mattress was so uncomfortable because she brought all the bedding, the pillows, and the mattress topper that they tell you to get, and I’m literally on a sheet and a blanket on the mattress,” Lori explains. “I’m like, whoa, this is bad. It justifies the expense, though.”

source: people.com