Julie Bowen Gets Emotional as She Drops Son Oliver, 18, Off at College

Julie Bowen’s son is officially a college student!

On Friday, Sept. 26, the actress and mom of three, 55, shared a series of photos on Instagram as she dropped off her oldest son, Oliver, 18, at college for his freshman year. In one photo, Bowen can be seen hugging her son, and in another, Oliver makes a heart out of his hands with his dad, Scott Phillips.

A third photo shows Bowen and her son smiling together in a mother-son selfie, and in the last photo, Bowen gets a ride on her ex-husband Phillips’ shoulders in Oliver’s dorm room.

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“Sweet Baby Oliver…you were born 5 minutes ago, so how can I possibly be leaving you at college? You made me a mother, and I learned more (and been humbled more) from being your mom for the past 18 years than I could ever have imagined,” Bowen sweetly wrote in her caption.

“Now I have to learn to do the hardest thing a parent has the privilege of doing and let you go. No, it’s NOT forever, but it’s the end of one big chapter, so – yeah – I’m going to cry,” she continued. “(I’m also 100% percent going to sit on your Dad’s shoulders to work on the lighting in your dorm room.) I love you, Monkey. Always No matter what. 💚💛.”

Alongside Oliver, Bowen and her ex-husband Phillips are parents to twin sons John and Gustav, 16.

Although Bowen is an iconic actress, she’s previously shared that her sons are less than impressed — except when they learned she’d be in the Happy Gilmore sequel.

During a July appearance on Jimmy Kimmel Live, Bowen revealed the request her son asked her after he believed that actress Sydney Sweeney was replacing his mother in Happy Gilmore 2.

“‘Mom, they’re doing a sequel. You’re not in it,’ ” she said, imitating one of her sons. “And I was like, ‘Oh, uh, that’s cool.’ [And, he says,] ‘Sydney Sweeney‘s in it. Yeah. She took your role.’ I was like, ‘What is happening?’ [and he asks] ‘Can you get me on the set?'”

Guest host Chris Distefano then said that her son only wanted more information from Bowen about the movie because he wanted to get closer to Sweeney, 28. The mom of three then joked, “Well, f you, you little asswipe because guess what? If I’m not in it, I can’t get you on the set.”