Growing up! Kate Gosselin’s oldest daughters, Mady and Cara, are headed off to different colleges in New York City this fall, and they are looking forward to their next chapter.

“They’re both so excited,” the 44-year-old revealed to People magazine. “They agreed all along that they don’t want to go to the same school because their ambitions are so different.” Of course, the mom of eight is happy for her girls but admitted she has “mixed emotions” about them moving out of her Pennsylvania home.

The blonde beauty is already in planning mode, too. “Within six days, Mady has to be dropped off, Cara has to be dropped off, and the little kids begin their first day of high school,” she said. “Keeping straight the deadlines and dates for two different schools is mind-blowing.” However, the TLC star knows when to let her kids do their own thing. “The best advice I’ve heard is not to feel too obligated to stay,” she said. “The kids don’t really want that; eventually you have to be the one to drive away.”

Kate is hopeful that Mady and Cara will return to their humble abode at some point down the line. “We are all going to miss them. I don’t care if they only come home to see the dog — as long as they come home!” she exclaimed. The Pennsylvania native and her ex-husband, Jon Gosselin, share eight kids — 18-year-old twins Mady and Cara along with 15-year-old sextuplets Hannah, Leah, Alexis, Joel, Aaden and Collin — and it seems like Kate’s house will be extremely empty since Hannah and Collin both live with Jon and his girlfriend, Colleen, full-time. Luckily, she still has Joel, Leah, Alexis and Aaden to hang out with.

Kate decided to dip into the dating pool again this year with her new show Kate Plus Date. “Mady and Cara are going to college, and my little kids are going to high school, and pretty soon I am going to be alone, just me and the dogs,” she told Extra in June. “It was kind of now or never.” Fortunately, her children seem to have her back and want the best for her. “My kids are so supportive,” she continued. “They keep saying, ‘Do something for yourself, you’ve done everything for us.’”

Kate was nervous for the new adventure, and revealed, “I was scared to death … The last time I dated, I had a pager … To go through a really painful divorce and have that all unfold led me to do the safe thing, which was just be me, mainly because I didn’t want my kids to have to go through that again. I have to get it right — the stakes are really high.”

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I couldn't resist buying this shirt today…. it called to me, because I am what it says lol! #MomProbs 😂#TiredAsAMother

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Well, hopefully, Kate will be surrounded by her pets or a new man when her kids fly the coop!

Kate Plus Date airs on TLC Mondays at 10 p.m. ET.

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