<p>My mom said that this semester, she may be willing to come visit me at school for a weekend and bring along a couple of my friends from home. They know her well enough that we could all spend time together and it would be fine. And of course, with my friends there, I wouldn't get any time alone with just my mom. However, I would still want some time alone with my friends, and I'm sure my mom would understand that. The thing is, she'll also be driving 6 hours to see me, and so I would feel bad leaving her alone to hang out with just them for more than a couple hours total. At the same time, it would be kind of weird to hang out with two of my friends and my mom together for a whole weekend.</p>
<p>What do you think the right balance would be? Obviously I'll be discussing it more with her, but I'm just wondering about other people's opinions.</p>
<p>I think it might be easiest to do night time activities with them. Usually, friends your own age will want to stay up later than will your parents. Of course then, if they can’t walk back to the hotel, they would need to sleep over in your dorm. Would that be okay with your roomates/allowed by your dorm rules?If so, sleepovers would be another great way to spend time with just them.</p>
<p>As for getting quality time with just your mom, I think if she brings up multiple friends, you could at times suggest activities for them to do in town while you did other things with your mom. I go to college in a touristy town so this is easy where I live, but if you go to a rural or suburban college, you might need to get creative.</p>
<p>I think it’s going to be hard to balance. I drive 5.5 hours when I see my daughter to pick up/drop off/unload the car of ‘stuff’, and as soon as she is with friends, it’s ‘adios mom’… and I totally understand that. I usually spend a bunch of time alone enjoying the hotel/amenities, running to stores to pick up things we couldn’t drag from home, etcetera. Make sure you understand how much time your mom wants to spend with you… Is she coming because you invited her, or did she invite herself and is bringing friends as a reason to see how you are doing/where you live/etc? I have taken my daughter and a couple of friends shopping and/or to eat out… but settle upon who pays for what, who is staying where, etcetera ahead of time like Millancad recommends. It will definitely be a busy weekend for you once it happens, and even more so if you have any tests coming up right after they leave. Enjoy the visitors. :)</p>